03-01-2018, 06:55 PM
My apologies as I thought the subtitles were automatically displayed for everyone. Oops. 
VLJ, the sketch that you are referring to wasn't the design brief for the CB1100. That was the sketch that lead to the CB1100's "predecessor", the CB Four concept which was based primarily on the original CB750. Back then the CB1300SF was leading the market in the large-displacement class over in Japan. But Mitsuyoshi Kohama could see that Honda was going to be in trouble as the market over there was shifting in terms of the aging demographic of Japan's riders along with their growing preference for adult bikes (or as some people would say, bikes for us older geezers, lol). As Kohama put it, "the imports would surely kill us". The main reason for the CB Four concept was to gauge the reaction to Kohama's belief that the time was right for Honda to develop a new air-cooled bike to address this need. It turned out that he was right as Harley Davidson had taken over the top sales share for large-displacment motorcycles in Japan by 2003.
To me, the key thing about the CB Four as it relates to the CB1100 was that Kohama used it as a tool to get across what he wanted out of the CB1100. One of the more important side notes about at least one of those CB Four sketches was that it contained three Chinese characters that stood for BEAUTY, CRAFTSMANSHIP, and EASE. These were to be the driving forces behind whatever form the new CB was going to take on. (Honda later created a version of this sketch with Kohama's notes along with the Chinese characters translated into English.) It doesn't matter whether or I'm riding or just looking at my CB1100, I'd say that they definitely nailed it when it comes to these three things in terms of both look and feel.
I have to thank the ferret for turning me on to the book titled "Honda Design, Motorcycle Part 2 1985 ~ 2013". It's a great book and it's obvious that the CB1100 was one of the more notable motorcycle designs for Honda during this period of time given the amount of content they dedicated to the CB. A lot of the information in the book can also be found elsewhere on the web, but the book is great if you really like to geek out over design-related topics like I do.
One of those things that Kohama was looking for when coming up with what whatever the next CB was going to be was that it needed to embody plenty of "Honda-ness" as he put it. This is where he and his team really started to fixate on every little detail of the CB1100, and Kohama was extremely specific about this as it turned out. You can see that the CB Four concept featured a flange-less tank. Some might prefer this look, but it doesn't reflect "Honda-ness". Of course the single most defining bit of "Honda-ness" is the CB1100's centerpiece: the air-cooled, inline four engine. This was also significant as it was something that HD could not compete with when it came to heritage.
The other really big thing with regards to Kohama's approach that I find particularly fascinating was the strong focus on design over styling. He and his team paid a lot of attention to how the bike looked as it sat free of most items like the seat, bodywork, etc.. He stated that items like the front fork angle, the engine mounting position, the frame shape and contours, downtube lines and tire sizes were all extremely important to them. This is where he Mitsuyoshi likes to use the analogy of building a house. In essence, if you don't get the framing right, it won't be a great house after you cover the framing up. And in the case of the CB1100 after it was finished, the goal was to reflect many different eras of the CB's history rather than just one specific model. (This explains why I'll never get my hands on those beautiful headers featured on the 2007 CB1100F concept bike modeled after those the CB400F, lol.)
Mitsuyoshi noted how things like the side covers that fit within the frame were important to him as he wanted a more engineering-based style of design work when it came to the CB1100. People talk about form over function, and vice versa but I simply like to think of Kohama's approach as "functionally beautiful". It should come as no surprise that another story dear to my heart is that while others within Honda wanted to increase the size of the original tank, Kohama wasn't willing to budge on this. The size and shape of the tank were very important to him. Even if Honda had forced his hand, Mitsuyoshi noted that he wouldn't have been willing to change the shape of the tank. Instead he would have been forced to approach the frame and body groups of the team to provide more space to change the tank's bottom plate to increase capacity which was not something he wanted to do either.
Over time this original vision started to lose some of it's definition as decisions were made both from a functional (such as the larger tank, different instrument cluster, etc.) and styling-based (side panels covering the frame) standpoints. I get this, it's just how things usually work with models that stick around for a while. I think the fact that the original design remained intact for as long as it did (five years) says quite a bit about the work that went into it. And while I'm grateful that Mitsuyoshi stuck to his guns when it came to his vision, I can appreciate the fact that the DLX, the EX and the RS all have their place within the history and the folklore of the CB1100. This ultimately provides the joy of ownership to a wider cross-section of people who end up calling themselves CB1100 owners.
Ferret, the most notable thing that the guys in the German video picked up on was that one of the keys to the CB1100's "harmony" are the 18" wheels and tires the bike was designed around (one of those items that Mitsuyoshi noted was like part of the framing in his house analogy). The 17" wheels and tires definitely bring a certain style to the CB1100 that did not exist before, but aren't quite in harmony with the rest of the bike's design. In the case of the Motorad journalists, this extended to the impact it had on the feel of the bike while riding it as well (they preferred the feel of riding with the 18" setup). And the Germans also seemed to have picked up on the fact that EASE does not make for a "sport bike" lol. This strikes me a bit like some SUVs that come with extremely large mag wheels and lower profile tires. It's not really in line with how the vehicle was originally designed or with it's intended use, but some people really dig this look and it makes them happy. And so it goes...
(By the way, as I wrap this up and review the length of this late-night/early-morning post, I'm thinking of you MTC
)
VLJ, the sketch that you are referring to wasn't the design brief for the CB1100. That was the sketch that lead to the CB1100's "predecessor", the CB Four concept which was based primarily on the original CB750. Back then the CB1300SF was leading the market in the large-displacement class over in Japan. But Mitsuyoshi Kohama could see that Honda was going to be in trouble as the market over there was shifting in terms of the aging demographic of Japan's riders along with their growing preference for adult bikes (or as some people would say, bikes for us older geezers, lol). As Kohama put it, "the imports would surely kill us". The main reason for the CB Four concept was to gauge the reaction to Kohama's belief that the time was right for Honda to develop a new air-cooled bike to address this need. It turned out that he was right as Harley Davidson had taken over the top sales share for large-displacment motorcycles in Japan by 2003.
To me, the key thing about the CB Four as it relates to the CB1100 was that Kohama used it as a tool to get across what he wanted out of the CB1100. One of the more important side notes about at least one of those CB Four sketches was that it contained three Chinese characters that stood for BEAUTY, CRAFTSMANSHIP, and EASE. These were to be the driving forces behind whatever form the new CB was going to take on. (Honda later created a version of this sketch with Kohama's notes along with the Chinese characters translated into English.) It doesn't matter whether or I'm riding or just looking at my CB1100, I'd say that they definitely nailed it when it comes to these three things in terms of both look and feel.
I have to thank the ferret for turning me on to the book titled "Honda Design, Motorcycle Part 2 1985 ~ 2013". It's a great book and it's obvious that the CB1100 was one of the more notable motorcycle designs for Honda during this period of time given the amount of content they dedicated to the CB. A lot of the information in the book can also be found elsewhere on the web, but the book is great if you really like to geek out over design-related topics like I do.
One of those things that Kohama was looking for when coming up with what whatever the next CB was going to be was that it needed to embody plenty of "Honda-ness" as he put it. This is where he and his team really started to fixate on every little detail of the CB1100, and Kohama was extremely specific about this as it turned out. You can see that the CB Four concept featured a flange-less tank. Some might prefer this look, but it doesn't reflect "Honda-ness". Of course the single most defining bit of "Honda-ness" is the CB1100's centerpiece: the air-cooled, inline four engine. This was also significant as it was something that HD could not compete with when it came to heritage.
The other really big thing with regards to Kohama's approach that I find particularly fascinating was the strong focus on design over styling. He and his team paid a lot of attention to how the bike looked as it sat free of most items like the seat, bodywork, etc.. He stated that items like the front fork angle, the engine mounting position, the frame shape and contours, downtube lines and tire sizes were all extremely important to them. This is where he Mitsuyoshi likes to use the analogy of building a house. In essence, if you don't get the framing right, it won't be a great house after you cover the framing up. And in the case of the CB1100 after it was finished, the goal was to reflect many different eras of the CB's history rather than just one specific model. (This explains why I'll never get my hands on those beautiful headers featured on the 2007 CB1100F concept bike modeled after those the CB400F, lol.)
Mitsuyoshi noted how things like the side covers that fit within the frame were important to him as he wanted a more engineering-based style of design work when it came to the CB1100. People talk about form over function, and vice versa but I simply like to think of Kohama's approach as "functionally beautiful". It should come as no surprise that another story dear to my heart is that while others within Honda wanted to increase the size of the original tank, Kohama wasn't willing to budge on this. The size and shape of the tank were very important to him. Even if Honda had forced his hand, Mitsuyoshi noted that he wouldn't have been willing to change the shape of the tank. Instead he would have been forced to approach the frame and body groups of the team to provide more space to change the tank's bottom plate to increase capacity which was not something he wanted to do either.
Over time this original vision started to lose some of it's definition as decisions were made both from a functional (such as the larger tank, different instrument cluster, etc.) and styling-based (side panels covering the frame) standpoints. I get this, it's just how things usually work with models that stick around for a while. I think the fact that the original design remained intact for as long as it did (five years) says quite a bit about the work that went into it. And while I'm grateful that Mitsuyoshi stuck to his guns when it came to his vision, I can appreciate the fact that the DLX, the EX and the RS all have their place within the history and the folklore of the CB1100. This ultimately provides the joy of ownership to a wider cross-section of people who end up calling themselves CB1100 owners.
Ferret, the most notable thing that the guys in the German video picked up on was that one of the keys to the CB1100's "harmony" are the 18" wheels and tires the bike was designed around (one of those items that Mitsuyoshi noted was like part of the framing in his house analogy). The 17" wheels and tires definitely bring a certain style to the CB1100 that did not exist before, but aren't quite in harmony with the rest of the bike's design. In the case of the Motorad journalists, this extended to the impact it had on the feel of the bike while riding it as well (they preferred the feel of riding with the 18" setup). And the Germans also seemed to have picked up on the fact that EASE does not make for a "sport bike" lol. This strikes me a bit like some SUVs that come with extremely large mag wheels and lower profile tires. It's not really in line with how the vehicle was originally designed or with it's intended use, but some people really dig this look and it makes them happy. And so it goes...
(By the way, as I wrap this up and review the length of this late-night/early-morning post, I'm thinking of you MTC
)
(if this was a Nicholas Sparks movie we would be running towards each in slow motion with our arms outstretched, perhaps in a mountain meadow)