CB1100EX for a new rider? (my daughter)

[Reiver_imp]

My last bike was a NC750S which I would highly recommend for a new rider ( male or female). Very easy to ride with large in built storage and very very good fuel economy as well as looking good with a fair bit of guts about it. Ideal commuter bike.

[CA200_imp]

People used to ask us about what would be a good first bike. I always told them to
buy the newest ,smallest bike you can afford . I saw a lot of young people buy
older UJMs that needed way to much work to make them road ready.

[tommymck_imp]

Well, here's what I did.

[redbirds_imp]

Good choice I think.

[pdedse]

I think that's a lovely bike and wouldn't mind having one.

Yes, it's kick-start only, but once a new rider becomes familiar operating the controls, stalling a bike at an intersection becomes rare. But... I do hope she "practices" that...encourage her to purposefully stall the bike at a deserted intersection, relax, take time to kick it over without being in a hurry. I would have her practice kick-starting on a hill as well until she's very comfortable as it can be a bit disconcerting the first time it happens--particulary if in traffic with an impatient driver behind you.

[baxtercat_imp]

good option and good advice. I've had mine for four years and use it as my daily ride, year round, in New England. Would only add that I have never stalled it, at an intersection or elsewhere, and that the fuel injection helps make it easy to start. Once she masters how to coordinate the clutch and throttle, stalls will not be a worry--but without that, any bike can be stalled and induce panic.

[tommymck_imp]

Agree with all of the advice. I've only had the bike a few days, but have put some good miles on it riding around in the beautiful sunny SoCal weather. It's a fantastic bike for tooling around town. Ideal really. Still though, I'm not super comfortable with it on the Freeways.

The CB1100 would have been a better match for me all around. But to be honest, for the type of riding that I will be doing when I'm here, the SR400 is actually more fun. So far as my impressions so far, here are a few:

1. The kickstart thing is as everybody else mentions. Easy (and fun). My guess is that the engine naturally stops at the beginning of a compression stroke because every time so far, a single full cycle through the kick starter travel with the compression lever engaged puts the piston at the right spot. I don't even look any more. One kick to position and the next kick to start. You do need to do it with some authority though.

2. Fit and finish are good, but not great. A bit of orange peel on the tank (only noticeable in certain light), but generally everything looks good.

3. I hate the positioning of the turn signal switch. No easy way to get to it if you are using the clutch. You have to reposition your hand to get to it. No big deal, but I like signal use to be second nature, and this gets in the way of that.

4. The thing is hard to get into neutral. Again, no big deal, but it's nearly impossible to go from first to neutral (which is probably a good thing) but it's nearly as hard coming down from second. I don't have all that much of a need for neutral in any case, but I do like to start in neutral at least, and it's usually a few seconds fiddling with it to get it there.

5. In my opinion, anybody who complains about power on this bike bought the wrong bike. It has exactly the power it needs to have for its intended use. Even on the freeway, it's completely fine (my complaint about it on the freeway is just that I still don't like the feel of a small bike at those speeds, which has nothing to do with the bike itself.)

Now I just need to find a reason to get a CB1100 back in Maryland, which is what started all of this in the first place. I can't really justify it though since I really like my current ride...

[pdedse]

Very interesting to read the comments, but wait...it is for her, right?

[Banned_imp]

Is that a SR400?

We never got them in Canada so I've never seen one.

Nice looking bike.

[tommymck_imp]

Very interesting to read the comments, but wait...it is for her, right?

Actually, it's really for me to ride when I'm here for work and to visit my daughter. I did want to make sure that whatever I got was something she could ride too. She was going to buy a Honda Rebel used for herself but all of the ones she was looking at were junk. I convinced her to hold off until I got something, to see if she could use that to get her feet wet and then buy something she really wants as she gets more experience. I was hoping the CB1100ex could be that originally.

Anyway. I think this will work out well.