There is something inexplicably pleasing about the CB1100

[jimgl3_imp]

it is the best bike Honda ever made imho.

and this is my favorite video, which just seems to capture the feeling you describe, and which I have also.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMH8n8C04UQ

all that said, I've still never quite gotten over the fact that they stopped the green back lighting of the dials. I really wish mine had that. Anyone know if 2013 gauges will bolt on 2014?

[Stichill_imp]

Whenever I talk with friends about the CB1100, people say that the bike looks nostalgic but that Honda may have engineered the soul out of it. The implication being that its character approaches utilitarian, almost sterile.

I've ridden a 2013 CB1100 for a day in 2014, and last fall ferret was kind enough to let me ride his DLX for a few miles. Honestly I don't have enough of a lasting mental impression to say whether or not the bike imparted any kind of riding character. I mainly remember it felt weighty and solid, except for some wiggle on rough surfaces when cornering.

Thoughts?

[LongRanger_imp]

Smoothness, presence and grace = Lacking in character and soul? Perhaps.

Rode the M620 yesterday. The suspension is firm and unforgiving; the engine is lumpy and recalcitrant below 4000 rpm but clears out and wails beautifully and purposefully above that. I'm not sure about soul, but the thing certainly has character. You need to engage it. You need to control it. The CB? Quite the opposite. You hop on and it takes you for a ride. It's effortless. Roll on, roll off. The Duc can't do that.

[the Ferret]

Funny thing about weight. Like most things it's relative. For those coming from a 250, the CB will seem big and heavy. For those coming from a Goldwing it will seem small and light. I'll bet if someone traded you a CB halfway thru your Texas trip you'd have thought it was a super moto lol.

As far as character goes, I must be think skinned or thick headed. I've NEVER understood the charachter thing. I have owned Harleys, Triumphs, BSA's, Hondas, Yamaha's, Suzuki's, Kawasaki's and an Aermacchi, and ridden about everything else..Ducati's, KTM's, Indian's, Moto Guzzi's BMW's, and I have never described one as having character compared to another. To me they were either good motorcycles or not as good motorcycles depending on whether I enjoyed riding them. Whether the power delivery was suitable, the brakes worked well, whether they handled well, sounded well, whether they were reliable, pleasing to the eyes and ears. Like I said I've owned 29 street motorcycles that I can recall, and I don't recall ever telling someone that one of them had character. They either make me happy, or they don't. Most have.

I think the CB is a great motorcycle. It's features please me. The looks, the sound, the feeling when I ride it. The brakes work well, the power is broad, and it handles well. It gets good mileage, it's got great ergos. It's been ultimately reliable. Does it have character? Who knows? It's just a great motorcycle as far as I am concerned. I feel the same about my ST, and they are hundreds of pounds different in weight.

On the other hand my son's Ducati is one that "supposedly" has character. I dislike the ergos, I dislike the powerband, and I don't particularly care for riding it. I don't find it particularly attractive, it hasn't been very reliable, the rear brake squeals horribly, it vibrates. It's rather loud ( that may be the special Italian exhaust he put on ti). Even my son won't ride it further than 50 miles from home. He was glad that he bought a 5 year extended warranty, and has used it. If those are the features that describe character, give me souless and appliance like please.

[Stichill_imp]

"Soul" and "character" are hard to define. I think some might conflate these terms with mechanical intrusiveness, whereas lack of sufficient mechanical presence might cause some to declare the bike lacking in soul and character.

The ultimate lack of soul or character would be an actual flying carpet: vibration-free, silent, utterly smooth. Perhaps the CB1100 falls into a Goldilocks zone where it lacks harshness but is not so smooth as to become blandly absent from the rider's consciousness? Or, is it mechanically bland (relative to alternatives) and devotees find that to be a desirable trait?

[VLJ_imp]

As it turns out, I've been riding my CB1100 every day lately. Towards that end, I just went all out in polishing and waxing the tank and instrument cluster, removing scratches...and it actually worked. I was shocked.

I've only had one moment of brake squeal recently, from the front right brake. It didn't do it all day, or even all morning. Just the one time, and that was it. Otherwise, the squeal seems gone. Consistently gone.

Interestingly, my fuel mileage took a sudden leap. My last two tanks averaged 50 mpg and 57 mpg, and my rides were identical to the previous tank's sub-40 mpg result. Same roads, ridden in the same manner. The tank-before-last accepted 3.55 gallons at 176 miles, and my fuel bar had just started to blink. Today it accepted 1.7 gallons at 97 miles.

In terms of character, I'd say this one has as much character as anything I've ridden, other than maybe my GSX-R1000 and Street Triple R. Due to the engine feel, sound, and delivery combined with the chassis' rock-solid stability, I'd describe this CB1100's character as purposeful, resolute, competent, professional, polished, and very forgiving. Sure, she's very smooth, but I'm always aware of the engine's diesel-like core, its stout mechanical heart. It feels like a chainmail-bedecked anvil; dense, sturdy, elemental, with a finely textured finish.

Besides the brake squeal, which seems to be gone now, she's had zero mechanical hiccups. The idle has been perfect. The brakes are stupidly strong and accurate. The handling is almost unreasonably refined. For something with dual shocks, skinny tires, an old-fashioned steel cradle frame, and the sheer mass of a small Panzer, the CB1100 has no business being as light on her feet as she is.

For the most part, the excess heft is a non-issue. It really doesn't seem to have a particularly adverse effect on the handling. The brakes are so strong, so precise, they make it easy to drive hard and deep with her, just as one would with a lighter, more agile machine. Regardless of what she's asked, she never loses her poise. There are times, in fact, when the CB's billet-solidity is particularly satisfying, such as on the highway, or, well, heck, just about everywhere. It's such a reassuring feeling.

The only downside to the CB's weight that I can pinpoint has to do with its taxing effect on acceleration. Give her a big handful, and she doesn't punch her way out of a corner or off a stoplight with the urgency one would normally expect from an 1140cc I4. She moves out, to be sure, but she doesn't leap. Rather, she...proceeds. Give her enough of a goosing, and she'll giggle on down the road with sufficient urgency to let you know she's on the case, but never with such a degree of steam as to upset the apple cart.

Yes, I would welcome a bit stronger hit when I call for one, both down low and up on top. Count me among those who would appreciate another twenty-five ponies in the stable.

Anyway, I want to describe the CB1100 as a trusted, faithful servant, but I can't. That's not her character, at least not in the main. There's too much brawn, too much iron will, too much growling attitude. Alfred the Butler, she ain't.

I keep coming back to James Bond, the smooth, suave, bada** in a tux. I'm talking Sean Connery or Daniel Craig, not Pierce Brosnan.

[Cormanus]

I've always taken 'character' to be a euphemism for mechanically unreliable. Every bike or a car—or anything else for that matter—I've heard described as having 'character' has caused problems for its owner. I want none of it, thanks.

Stichill, I've no particular wish to be contrary, but I can imagine a red carpet with character. Not sure I'd want to ride it though.

[Wisedrum]

Three components mainly build a person. Character, charisma and competence. Maybe they build the CB too, although not being a human beeing but build by humans.
Hopefully, it actually does, it only shows the good sides of all three building blocks.

Wisedrum

[Stichill_imp]

Great commentary, all. VLJ I really enjoyed your viscerally descriptive narrative! Great stuff!

[the Ferret]

After reading VLJs narrative, I've come to realize the reason I've never recognized character in a motorcycle is I just can't think of motorcycle characteristics in those terms. His description if full of human traits assigned to a mechanical object, while I just see mechanical objects as mechanical objects. The only motorcycle I have ever nick named, my ST (nickname STarship), is even named after another mechanical object, instead of a person (such as VLJ's Monica). After all these years it's starting to make sense to me now.

Like Cormanus alluded to though, seems to me the bikes most likely assigned charachter status (like my son's Ducati) are the ones least likely to bring you back home from a ride.