Van asked me to have a word with you fine gentlemen.

[Cormanus]

Am I afraid to admit I've never heard of her? Nah. But thanks for drawing her to my attention, Ulvetanna. I'll be on the lookout. VealJay's experience of what you can find at a Honda dealer has opened my eyes.

[Houtman_imp]

I think Monica would even look better without her fairing.....

[the Ferret]

VLJ that was awesome I must say. Best introduction of a CB evar!

I also love how you are now telling ME how smooth, fast and ultimately rideable the CB 1100 is. Quite the turn of event since 2013 lol.

Think I will copy and send your intro to Jeremy in Texas lol

Oh and congrats and welcome to the club!

[RockHop_imp]

Italian model? Guess you bought a Ducati by mistake

[LongRanger_imp]

VLJ, congrats on your new girl. After all the rumination, I'd say many of us are probably shocked and awed by your decision to purchase, but perhaps now you've found the same passion we've been trying to share. Good job. Ulvetanna, you're next!

[VLJ_imp]

Italian model? Guess you bought a Ducati by mistake

Monica Bellucci Wrote:See, apparently there's this Honda motorcycle called a CB1100 EX, and Van says it reminds him of me. A lot. A whole lot. As in, it's rather disturbing, just how much this motorcycle reminds him of me. I try to tell him, "Van, how can that motorcycle be me, and I, it? That beautiful lady is certainly dressed in red, but she is not Italian. When you caress her just so, she does not respond with the seductive purr of bella Tuscany; rather, she has a certain Asiatic allure, which is wonderful in its own right, but it's more saki than chianti, don't you see?"

Always, he dismisses my gentle remonstrations with a knowing grin. "It's not about birth certificates, or colors on a flag," he tells me. "It's about who you are...what you are. In any language, born of any nation, this bike is you."
Cormanus, my buddy had me reduce the size of my XSR dyno-run pic down to this site's accepted limit, and still the site wouldn't attach my link. He's a tech wizard, but couldn't explain why it wasn't working. So, instead, he had me send him the pic and my password, and posted it for me.

I'll probably have to do the same again, to post any cellphone pics of Monica.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Am I afraid to admit I've never heard of her? Nah. But thanks for drawing her to my attention, Ulvetanna. I'll be on the lookout. VealJay's experience of what you can find at a Honda dealer has opened my eyes.

Iron Sky, an Australian production, tons of Australian TV.

The movie was quite successful and a sequel is due out this year.


"You will buy a CB1100 or ELSE!"

[peterbaron]

Am I afraid to admit I've never heard of her? Nah. But thanks for drawing her to my attention, Ulvetanna. I'll be on the lookout. VealJay's experience of what you can find at a Honda dealer has opened my eyes.

Very good and proper Cormanus = it indicates that while you are riding, your eyes focus on the road, nowhere else ...lol...lol..

pb

[VLJ_imp]

VLJ, congrats on your new girl. After all the rumination, I'd say many of us are probably shocked and awed by your decision to purchase, but perhaps now you've found the same passion we've been trying to share. Good job. Ulvetanna, you're next!

As I've been trying to explain to everyone here, there is no reason to be shocked that I pulled the trigger on this one. I've wanted this bike ever since the first pictures were revealed, way back in 2013. (I don't recall whether I was aware of this bike before Honda announced they were bringing it here in 2013.) mickey knows how badly I wanted the 2014 Deluxe, in large part because it had the 4.6-gallon tank, ABS, red paint, and sixth gear.

I was ready to grab one back in 2014, but there was no indication from Honda that there would be a 2014 model, never mind the new Deluxe model. When the winter bike show here in America came and went with no news from Honda about a 2014 model, I finally gave up and bought the Street Triple R instead.

Immediately thereafter, the 2014 Standard and Deluxe models were announced during the Euro show.

I was gutted. I'd already bought the Triumph, and Honda didn't bring back the CB in 2015 or 2016.

When the 2017 EX was announced, and Honda said they were bringing it here, I knew I had to have one. The only caveat was that there was no way for me to test ride a CB, and with all the talk of how underpowered, heavy, and buzzy-at-certain-RPMs the CB is, especially compared to the bikes I've always ridden, I wasn't going to buy one without first answering my questions regarding the bike's power, buzziness, handling, and overall comfort.

That's where you and this site joined my journey, which likely would have remained static were it not for Eric stepping up out of nowhere to give me a test ride on his 2014 Standard. Minus that test ride, I probably never buy a CB1100. I had too many doubts. The desire was still there, strong as ever, but I couldn't pull the trigger on something so expensive, knowing I may not enjoy riding it.

The ride on Eric's bike answered my key questions about the bike. I wasn't overly concerned regarding the flaws I found. I became convinced that the heavy steering on his bike was simply a tires-related anomaly, and the drive lash and somewhat clunky tranny didn't concern me, either. I figured I could work those issues out, or simply get used to them, as they were not significant enough issues to be deal-breakers.

On the plus side, the positives I found during my test ride on Eric's bike far outweighed the negatives, which I thought I'd made clear in my post-ride review. Apparently I failed, as mickey and others here seemed to focus solely on the criticisms while discounting not only the praise I gave Eric's bike, but also the final summation, which was that I was finally down to just two options, the '17 EX or the Z900, and I knew the Z900 wasn't the same sort of long-term solution that the EX represents to me.

No one seemed to take me seriously when I described how important it was to me to try to slow down, and in order to do so the bike would have to remain compelling to me at reduced cornering speeds. I admitted that the XSR could of course be ridden more slowly, obviating the need for a slower, more relaxed bike, while explaining that I would never be happy riding the XSR more slowly. There are many better choices than the XSR for slower riding, the CB1100 EX being chief among them, at least to me.

Also, didn't I tell you guys that I already tried to buy the bike twice, a few months ago? Eric beat me by just two days to his '14 Standard. Shortly thereafter, I gave my local dealer a formal offer on his '17 EX. Had he accepted my offer, I would have ridden Monica home that same day.

I'd say these were pretty solid indications that I was serious about buying a CB1100.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

VLJ, congrats on your new girl. After all the rumination, I'd say many of us are probably shocked and awed by your decision to purchase, but perhaps now you've found the same passion we've been trying to share. Good job. Ulvetanna, you're next!

As I've been trying to explain to everyone here, there is no reason to be shocked that I pulled the trigger on this one. I've wanted this bike ever since the first pictures were revealed, way back in 2013. (I don't recall whether I was aware of this bike before Honda announced they were bringing it here in 2013.) mickey knows how badly I wanted the 2014 Deluxe, in large part because it had the 4.6-gallon tank, ABS, red paint, and sixth gear.

I was ready to grab one back in 2014, but there was no indication from Honda that there would be a 2014 model, never mind the new Deluxe model. When the winter bike show here in America came and went with no news from Honda about a 2014 model, I finally gave up and bought the Street Triple R instead.

Immediately thereafter, the 2014 Standard and Deluxe models were announced during the Euro show.

I was gutted. I'd already bought the Triumph, and Honda didn't bring back the CB in 2015 or 2016.

When the 2017 EX was announced, and Honda said they were bringing it here, I knew I had to have one. The only caveat was that there was no way for me to test ride a CB, and with all the talk of how underpowered, heavy, and buzzy-at-certain-RPMs the CB is, especially compared to the bikes I've always ridden, I wasn't going to buy one without first answering my questions regarding the bike's power, buzziness, handling, and overall comfort.

That's where you and this site joined my journey, which likely would have remained static were it not for Eric stepping up out of nowhere to give me a test ride on his 2014 Standard. Minus that test ride, I probably never buy a CB1100. I had too many doubts. The desire was still there, strong as ever, but I couldn't pull the trigger on something so expensive, knowing I may not enjoy riding it.

The ride on Eric's bike answered my key questions about the bike. I wasn't overly concerned regarding the flaws I found. I became convinced that the heavy steering on his bike was simply a tires-related anomaly, and the drive lash and somewhat clunky tranny didn't concern me, either. I figured I could work those issues out, or simply get used to them, as they were not significant enough issues to be deal-breakers.

On the plus side, the positives I found during my test ride on Eric's bike far outweighed the negatives, which I thought I'd made clear in my post-ride review. Apparently I failed, as mickey and others here seemed to focus solely on the criticisms while discounting not only the praise I gave Eric's bike, but also the final summation, which was that I was finally down to just two options, the '17 EX or the Z900, and I knew the Z900 wasn't the same sort of long-term solution that the EX represents to me.

No one seemed to take me seriously when I described how important it was to me to try to slow down, and in order to do so the bike would have to remain compelling to me at reduced cornering speeds. I admitted that the XSR could of course be ridden more slowly, obviating the need for a slower, more relaxed bike, while explaining that I would never be happy riding the XSR more slowly. There are many better choices than the XSR for slower riding, the CB1100 EX being chief among them, at least to me.

Also, didn't I tell you guys that I already tried to buy the bike twice, a few months ago? Eric beat me by just two days to his '14 Standard. Shortly thereafter, I gave my local dealer a formal offer on his '17 EX. Had he accepted my offer, I would have ridden Monica home that same day.

I'd say these were pretty solid indications that I was serious about buying a CB1100.

As I've been trying to explain to everyone here, there is no reason to be shocked that I pulled the trigger on this one.

No one seemed to take me seriously when I described how important it was to me to try to slow down, and in order to do so the bike would have to remain compelling to me at reduced cornering speeds.
Lol, buddy.

I KNEW you would buy that bike. You see, I view the CB1100 as a heritage sportbike and believe, as you will soon learn, that the machine HANDLES. If you are any kind of rider at all (and I think you are very much so), you will soon be taking that bike to its limits and noticing that, especially on twisting roads where outright top speed is irrelevant, you are outdistancing many riders on much more praiseworthy spec-sheet bikes. Not all, mind you, but enough to give you a pretty good sense of satisfaction.

"You see that dude on that old man's bike? Guy was hauling a**!"

"Dude!? How the blasted, dadgum, consarned heck do you ride that aircraft carrier like that?"

Dude replies:

"It's all in the wrist."

And it is.

Now, if the economy hangs in there, I'll be looking at a new one for my own.

Looking greatly forward to the ride report.