How common are wheel & suspension upgrades?

[Syscrush_imp]

Hi all. I love the CB1100 and if I was a smart man, I would have bought one when they became available in Canada in 2013. But being a stupid man, I bought a '79 CBX instead and have spent years getting it to look and work the way I think a motorcycle should.

In case you're interested, here's the current state:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/VFV9af]

Vintage CB1100F/CB1100R fans may recognize those wheels... When I bought the bike, it had those wheels and 1100F rotors and 2-piston calipers which worked quite well (although not as well as the current setup).

Anyhow, the CBX is nearly there, and I'm itching for another project. Since I don't have the resources to do another bike, I'm signed up to help a friend do something similar to what I've done with my CBX. She wants a sick CB550. So, what am I doing on a CB1100 site?

Back when I had a CB550, I daydreamed about fitting modern CB1100 wheels to it. Back then, the 1100 was not available in North America, and it was so new that nobody had stuff like wheels available.

I showed my friend a variety of wheel options, and threw the 1100 wheels into the mix out of curiosity, and as luck would have it, that was her fave! So, I'm thinking that I'd like to get my mitts on a complete CB1100 front end - wheel, axle, spacers, forks, brakes, and triples. And a rear wheel with brake rotor and caliper. We have time to wait for the right opportunity, but other than setting up an eBay alert I figured our best bet for finding the stuff we want is probably this forum.

A problem with scoring a front end is that when a bike is wrecked, some or all of the front is often a casualty, so I guess I'm hoping that someone is looking to upgrade their front end to USD forks, radial brakes, and 17" wheels and willing to sell off the old parts. Are those kinds of changes/upgrades common on these bikes, or am I living in a dreamland?

Any advice or pointers on a good source for these parts without paying through the nose at the Honda dealer would be much appreciated.

THANKS!

[the Ferret]

Howdy and welcome to the forum

Stunning CBX!

One member just upgraded his forks and a couple have upgraded their wheels. YOu may get lucky and find a member selling some of the stuff you need in the classifieds. YOu can view them ( pretty sure) but can't post things wanted or for sale until you have been a member for 2 weeks and 25 posts.

[Cormanus]

G'day and welcome, Syscrush. What a gorgeous motorcycle.

[spacetiger_imp]

The CB550 had a 19" front wheel, the current CB 1100 has a 18" front wheel; both are not 17".

You'll need the TTT for what ever fork you go with, the CB550 TTT is not a remote option.

A better option would be to have custom wire wheels made from the hubs of the 2017 CB1100 EX wheels. You can have what ever rim size you want. You can pick almost any fork. My suggestion would be to not use an USD fork. AT best, it would only be for show as the frame will never be stiff enough to make full use of an USD fork. You can easily get a cartridge front suspension on the bike; a disc brake on the rear.

It will not be cheap... What toy is?

Jerry

[chandler_imp]

That is an incredible looking bike.


2013 Honda CB1100

[736cc_imp]

I'm looking for a CBX just like yours.
Wanna trade?
http://detailartist.net/communities/8/00...910686.jpg

[Rocky_imp]

Hello and welcome from the east coast
Great looking bike

[Syscrush_imp]

Thank you all for the kind words and the helpful advice. I'll keep an eye on the project threads and classifieds and see what we can come up with.

Since there's some interest in my CBX, here's a bit of a rundown of what's been done to it:

Upgraded from 35 mm to 39 mm forks, with new slider tubes and modern AK-20 cartridge internals - these are now high-spec modern forks with the vintage look. There's a Superbrace fitted, too, but I'm not sure if it actually does anything. I feel like at 39 mm forks and 800+ lbs of bike & rider, it can't hurt.

Wheels are Honda golden boomerangs from a Canadian CB1100F, fitted by the previous owner sometime in the mid-80's. I have Avon Roadrider tires on them and they work great but I will probably try Classic Attack radials next.

Shocks are YSS 4-way adjustable gas-charged units. These are nice shocks but out of the box the damping is garbage. I had mine revalved for my weight and riding style, and validated on a shock dyno. Swingarm is an aluminum piece from Trac Dynamics.

Front brakes are 310 mm GSX-R1000 rotors with custom adapters and 65 mm Brembo axial mount 4-piston calipers. Lines are a 2-line braided setup.

Triples are custom made to decrease trail by about 10 mm. That plus raising the rear a bit to cut about 1° of rake have made turn-in very good. Obviously not comparable to a modern sportbike, but comparable to something like a Bandit 1200.

Exhaust is a 6-2-1 header hand made by Gary Wolf in '81 or '82, muffler is a modern Hindle 16x2" with their stealth street core and dB killer insert. It looks and sounds the biz! I had it ceramic coated inside and out during the recent engine rebuild.

Engine has upgraded charging system, 13-row oil cooler with thermostat, and an 1147 big bore with forged pistons and some internal ceramic coatings to manage heat and friction. Despite being built for reliability and rideability rather than for power (e.g. stock 1979 cams, near-stock compression pistons, and rejetted stock carbs) it made 105 uncorrected hp at the wheel, which is ~20-25% higher than stock.

I've made a variety of other comfort & appearance mods, but that's the big picture.

Speaking of pictures, there are a bunch more here if you're interested:
Sunrise Mural Bike

Thanks again for your interest and kind words!

The CB550 had a 19" front wheel, the current CB 1100 has a 18" front wheel; both are not 17".

You'll need the TTT for what ever fork you go with, the CB550 TTT is not a remote option.

A better option would be to have custom wire wheels made from the hubs of the 2017 CB1100 EX wheels. You can have what ever rim size you want. You can pick almost any fork. My suggestion would be to not use an USD fork. AT best, it would only be for show as the frame will never be stiff enough to make full use of an USD fork. You can easily get a cartridge front suspension on the bike; a disc brake on the rear.

It will not be cheap... What toy is?

Jerry

To be clear, I'm not looking for 17" wheels - I'm looking to score used CB1100 wheels when a CB1100 owner upgrades theirs.

Quote:It will not be cheap... What toy is? A pack of matches from the 7-11 is like 2 cents - the entertainment per dollar is pretty tough to beat!

I'm looking for a CBX just like yours.
Wanna trade?
[url=http://detailartist.net/communities/8/000/001/368/128/images/12910686.jpg]http://detailartist.net/communities/8/000/001/368/128/images/12910686.jpg

No, I don't want to trade, but I do want to know more about that bike - do you have a build thread or summary of mods somewhere?

My advice for you if you want a CBX is to go for it! TIMS sells like-new restored bikes (and can do upgrades for you if you wish) - if you want to start with something that's all sorted out and ready to go, I think you probably can't do better than this in terms of quality or value. Also, they take trades!
[url=http://timscbx.com/Motorcycles%20atvs.html]TIMS CBX

I'm pretty sure that this is the least painful way into CBX ownership.

[736cc_imp]

My 2013 mods include a Don Vesco Rabid Transit fairing (circa 1980), JB Power magnesium wheels, JDM black tank, MIZ tail cowl conversion, Yoshimura titanium exhaust system; I have pics of it but posting photos on this forum is strangely difficult.
I did own a sweet 1981 CBX for a while but it had scary handling.