Skinny posts

[SportsterDoc]

Thanks Doc, i actually don't have this issue myself but it occupies my mind and i will follow your suggestion, in the meantime i enjoy the cb just as everyone else here.

Thanks max.

Understood, which is why the suggestion of researching cleaning the IAC for future reference.

I was wondering if the throttle body assembly was replaced under warranty when IAC cleaning or replacement would have solved it. That may be covered by extensive threads, but it is too nice outside to stay much longer on the computer.

[Bheezy27403_imp]

at times we (we being the moderators and the administrator) have wondered if the CB was too good of a bike to sustain a forum. I even posted a thread about it once years ago. Wondered if we would run out of things to talk about. The bikes start and run pretty flawlessly and there really isn't much to discuss about them. We are coming up on 5 years on the forum in April and in that time there was some minor paint flaking issues (mostly in England it seems), some minor rust issues under rear fender and front fork trees, and the weird high/low idle issue, oh and a couple of squeaky brakes but for the vast majority of us the bikes have not presented us with issues to post about. I guess the latest is the squeaking clutch pivot. Other than that our bikes have been a joy to own, maintain and ride. We have members with 40,000..50,000..even 60,000 pretty much trouble free miles on them now. Typical Honda. They may not be the most exciting bikes on the planet, not the fastest, not the best handlers, but gosh what great motorcycles.

want to read what your experience could be like if you weren't on a CB, go to a Ducati, or Guzzi forum. I have and after visiting those forums and seeing the issues they have on brand new bikes..transmissions locked up, motors locked up, electrical gremlins, fit and finish issues, I am so happy to have my CB1100.

If it gets a little dull around here at times, I can live with that.

Ferret, with all due respect--I know you haven't swept that "weird high/low idle issue" under the rug, meaning you've gone to lengths to help those of us with the issue by cataloging the symptoms and I thank you for that, seriously. I referred Honda to that page in the letter I wrote them, and printed it our for my customer service manager where I bought the bike.

At the same time, we have several long threads with 35 owners experiencing that problem and then to hear it summed up in 5 words as WHLII (can we coin that abbreviation? Weird High/Low Idle Issue) ...well, I don't know, the bike's (and Honda's) rock solid rep takes a merited hit for some of us.

I get it, probably 10, 20? thousand of these sold since '13 across the globe. and for 35 to maybe 50? of us to have the problem worldwide, it is a small number.

Nevertheless, it makes one such as me--who loves the bike otherwise--ask myself whether I shouldn't trade it in for maybe a Triumph Street Twin, or Scrambler, that way I would get to experience a whole different set of problems, I'm sure ; )

I think if the fix for it were found, and it was $100 or 200 part fixable at 1 or 2 hours, then I could stomach that. What's sad is to hear of a few bikes getting repaired--under warranty--at 1300 and even 3000 plus for that throttle body replacment. If I knew the idle thing would never get any worse than it is now (mine doesn't stall, goes back and forth between high and low, comes and goes), I could live with that.

If/when I ever move on from this bike, it will always carry an asterisk by its name in my book. Great bike, but a small--yet not insignificant--number of them suffer from WHLII.

Regardless, I am still thankfull for this site and thanks mods and admins for keeping it going.

Now, if a fix can be found that doesn't cost north of a grand, that would remove the asterisk. Maybe...in time. Fingers crossed.

How's that? Is this thread getting any phatter?

Ferret, with all due respect--I know you haven't swept that "weird high/low idle issue" under the rug, meaning you've gone to lengths to help those of us with the issue by cataloging the symptoms and I thank you for that, seriously. I referred Honda to that page in the letter I wrote them, and printed it our for my customer service manager where I bought the bike.

At the same time, we have several long threads with 35 owners experiencing that problem and then to hear it summed up in 5 words as WHLII (can we coin that abbreviation? Weird High/Low Idle Issue) ...well, I don't know, the bike's (and Honda's) rock solid rep takes a merited hit for some of us.

I get it, probably 10, 20? thousand of these sold since '13 across the globe. and for 35 to maybe 50? of us to have the problem worldwide, it is a small number.

Nevertheless, it makes one such as me--who loves the bike otherwise--ask myself whether I shouldn't trade it in for maybe a Triumph Street Twin, or Scrambler, that way I would get to experience a whole different set of problems, I'm sure ; )

I think if the fix for it were found, and it was $100 or 200 part fixable at 1 or 2 hours, then I could stomach that. What's sad is to hear of a few bikes getting repaired--under warranty--at 1300 and even 3000 plus for that throttle body replacment. If I knew the idle thing would never get any worse than it is now (mine doesn't stall, goes back and forth between high and low, comes and goes), I could live with that.

If/when I ever move on from this bike, it will always carry an asterisk by its name in my book. Great bike, but a small--yet not insignificant--number of them suffer from WHLII.

Regardless, I am still thankfull for this site and thanks mods and admins for keeping it going.

Now, if a fix can be found that doesn't cost north of a grand, that would remove the asterisk. Maybe...in time. Fingers crossed.

How's that? Is this thread getting any phatter?

TEC just released an announcement about o new cam that will open that little Triumph Street Twin up. Claims 30 more HP or 30% more power, can't remember. Either way that a heck of a jump for that 900cc Triumph engine. It certainly turned that bike from a nothing to something to think about.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

at times we (we being the moderators and the administrator) have wondered if the CB was too good of a bike to sustain a forum. I even posted a thread about it once years ago. Wondered if we would run out of things to talk about. The bikes start and run pretty flawlessly and there really isn't much to discuss about them. We are coming up on 5 years on the forum in April and in that time there was some minor paint flaking issues (mostly in England it seems), some minor rust issues under rear fender and front fork trees, and the weird high/low idle issue, oh and a couple of squeaky brakes but for the vast majority of us the bikes have not presented us with issues to post about. I guess the latest is the squeaking clutch pivot. Other than that our bikes have been a joy to own, maintain and ride. We have members with 40,000..50,000..even 60,000 pretty much trouble free miles on them now. Typical Honda. They may not be the most exciting bikes on the planet, not the fastest, not the best handlers, but gosh what great motorcycles.

want to read what your experience could be like if you weren't on a CB, go to a Ducati, or Guzzi forum. I have and after visiting those forums and seeing the issues they have on brand new bikes..transmissions locked up, motors locked up, electrical gremlins, fit and finish issues, I am so happy to have my CB1100.

If it gets a little dull around here at times, I can live with that.

Ferret, with all due respect--I know you haven't swept that "weird high/low idle issue" under the rug, meaning you've gone to lengths to help those of us with the issue by cataloging the symptoms and I thank you for that, seriously. I referred Honda to that page in the letter I wrote them, and printed it our for my customer service manager where I bought the bike.

At the same time, we have several long threads with 35 owners experiencing that problem and then to hear it summed up in 5 words as WHLII (can we coin that abbreviation? Weird High/Low Idle Issue) ...well, I don't know, the bike's (and Honda's) rock solid rep takes a merited hit for some of us.

I get it, probably 10, 20? thousand of these sold since '13 across the globe. and for 35 to maybe 50? of us to have the problem worldwide, it is a small number.

Nevertheless, it makes one such as me--who loves the bike otherwise--ask myself whether I shouldn't trade it in for maybe a Triumph Street Twin, or Scrambler, that way I would get to experience a whole different set of problems, I'm sure ; )

I think if the fix for it were found, and it was $100 or 200 part fixable at 1 or 2 hours, then I could stomach that. What's sad is to hear of a few bikes getting repaired--under warranty--at 1300 and even 3000 plus for that throttle body replacment. If I knew the idle thing would never get any worse than it is now (mine doesn't stall, goes back and forth between high and low, comes and goes), I could live with that.

If/when I ever move on from this bike, it will always carry an asterisk by its name in my book. Great bike, but a small--yet not insignificant--number of them suffer from WHLII.

Regardless, I am still thankfull for this site and thanks mods and admins for keeping it going.

Now, if a fix can be found that doesn't cost north of a grand, that would remove the asterisk. Maybe...in time. Fingers crossed.

How's that? Is this thread getting any phatter?

Ferret, with all due respect--I know you haven't swept that "weird high/low idle issue" under the rug, meaning you've gone to lengths to help those of us with the issue by cataloging the symptoms and I thank you for that, seriously. I referred Honda to that page in the letter I wrote them, and printed it our for my customer service manager where I bought the bike.

At the same time, we have several long threads with 35 owners experiencing that problem and then to hear it summed up in 5 words as WHLII (can we coin that abbreviation? Weird High/Low Idle Issue) ...well, I don't know, the bike's (and Honda's) rock solid rep takes a merited hit for some of us.

I get it, probably 10, 20? thousand of these sold since '13 across the globe. and for 35 to maybe 50? of us to have the problem worldwide, it is a small number.

Nevertheless, it makes one such as me--who loves the bike otherwise--ask myself whether I shouldn't trade it in for maybe a Triumph Street Twin, or Scrambler, that way I would get to experience a whole different set of problems, I'm sure ; )

I think if the fix for it were found, and it was $100 or 200 part fixable at 1 or 2 hours, then I could stomach that. What's sad is to hear of a few bikes getting repaired--under warranty--at 1300 and even 3000 plus for that throttle body replacment. If I knew the idle thing would never get any worse than it is now (mine doesn't stall, goes back and forth between high and low, comes and goes), I could live with that.

If/when I ever move on from this bike, it will always carry an asterisk by its name in my book. Great bike, but a small--yet not insignificant--number of them suffer from WHLII.

Regardless, I am still thankfull for this site and thanks mods and admins for keeping it going.

Now, if a fix can be found that doesn't cost north of a grand, that would remove the asterisk. Maybe...in time. Fingers crossed.

How's that? Is this thread getting any phatter?

TEC just released an announcement about o new cam that will open that little Triumph Street Twin up. Claims 30 more HP or 30% more power, can't remember. Either way that a heck of a jump for that 900cc Triumph engine. It certainly turned that bike from a nothing to something to think about.

Right, they sure did. Only real problem is that chassis is not up to handling 70 HP. Nor is the drive train. I wouldn't want even one more HP added to my Street Cup, that thing starts to get quite squirrely approaching the "ton".

Anyone who wants more performance from the Triumph, just pay the extra money for the Thruxton, even the base model. The chassis is built to take the power as is the suspension and drive train. By the time one spends the money tearing apart the engine and paying for the cams, the difference is about even money.

Ironically, I find myself reading more about the Z900 Kawasaki and the new Triumphs on this forum than about the CB1100! Even Pterodactyl returned to the fold briefly...only to broach the idea of selling his, after 100,000 km.

I liked the bike and still like to read about others who have them and ride them. Maybe everyone is out riding?
Oh yeah...almost forgot.

Happy Holidays.

[peterbaron]

Lol yes I understand, it's got to be extremely aggravating for those of you with the WHLII, but on the plus side, they are not leaving you broken down on the side of the road like a Ducati with a locked transmission, or a Moto Guzzi with a locked up motor, or a BMW with a blown final drive. They are idling + or - 400 rpms too high or too low. Would you rather there was an issue that when you took off in the morning, that there was a reasonable chance that you'd be coming home in the cab of a tow truck with your bike on a flat bed?

You know, if it were up to me, none of you would have an issue with your bikes, ever, and I wish that those of you that do find a reasonable solution.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

+1
....and believe me, the solution will come....more proper & professional info leading to correct diagnosis will pay back..or perhaps Honda will come up with solid solution before forum members find the cure.

pb

[Ulvetanna_imp]

To close out my take on the anorexic condition of the forum, I'd say first of all that the CB1100 was so well-made that any problems were simple and easily resolved. It's also a bike that has a very narrow market; Honda's new CB1000R (and the smaller 150 and 300cc versions of that model) pretty clearly show that the air-cooled CB900 I was hoping for will likely never be made.

The CB1100 is a serious one-off for a modern bike. Mine was absolutely stone-reliable. I never had a single issue with it. The valves were still in perfect adjustment at 8,000 miles when I opened it up for that procedure (took a day), and the inside of the engine was clean as a whistle.

All other major marques but Royal Enfield have adopted liquid cooling in their retro lines, with the exception of BMW, who've continued the air-oil cooled boxer. But the R9T is still a modern design with "retro" styling. Like BMW, other makers are using an existing modern standard like the FZ-09 or CB1000, or Z900R, etcetera, as a basis for a retro design. But those bikes aren't retro. Mono shock, aluminum frames, inverted forks...those items don't say "traditional".

I think bikes like the R9T, the new CB1000R, Z900RS and the like are similar to movies that disclaim the authenticity of the story line by stating:

"Inspired by True Events"

in the opening credits.

In my view, the CB1100 is the only machine not only inspired by true events, but also built using most of the technologies (albeit with modern manufacturing methods) of the 1970s.

But it's expensive, heavy, comparatively slow, and won't attract too many buyers given the wide number of choices out there now.

Another problem Honda's got with that bike is most of the people who own them only have room for one or two bikes in either the garage, the budget, or both. So in getting people to lay their money or credit on the line, a really powerful argument has to be made.

Gorgeous? Yep.

Reliable? Yep.

Practical? Hmmm....$12 or $13K will put a buyer in easy range of a T120-range Triumph, and a Street Twin can be had for much less. A good friend and riding buddy of mine just acquired one of those this summer (2017 model) and it's a great machine which can be had OTD for under $10K.

Looks like Honda sees what's up and is going to be supplying its buyers with the new CB Retro line in the foreseeable future, which naturally does not suggest a livelier discourse on a model which has been discontinued in many regions and for which some versions are not available in others.

Still and all, I may start looking around for a very clean, used 2017 in the next year or two. I can't speak for other former owners, but for me there was definitely something about that bike that takes hold of the imagination.

[LongRanger_imp]

I think Paul Simon said it best: "One man's ceiling is another man's floor." I don't consider the CB to be expensive but I can appreciate how others might.

[use2b_imp]

considering i got mine for $9,600 with $12,000 in upgrades it will never be considered anything but fantastic with zero problems

[Guth_imp]

Additional random thoughts...

niche bike = niche forum

There have been a lot of guys here on the forum that have sold their CB1100s. It only makes sense that a majority of them would choose to move on.

When these bike were (are) sold new we end up with a percentage of those buyers here on the forum. As those bikes are sold off some of the new owners will check out the forum and decide to participate, but there is no way that everyone purchasing a used CB1100 is going to sign up here. So our number of active members is bound to decrease. Unless Honda starts selling a lot more of these bikes in 2018 and beyond this trend is bound to continue.

The only other way that I see this changing is if there is some sort of “air-cooled renaissance” that occurs at some point in the future causing an increase in demand for these machines.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Houtman_imp]

I for one will never sell my 3 CB 1100's , they will be probably the last bikes I will own unless I am too weak to put them on the center stand.

[use2b_imp]

I certainly agree with Guth and never see any CB1100's in Pensacola at all. but there is something special about riding or driving what others do not have.
my daily driver is a model A Ford truck and the only one around. almost all my machines are the only examples in my area and all attract attention everywhere i go. the CB1100 is no exception and makes it even more special