CB1100 First Impressions

[Lord Popgun]

Radar detectors are illegal in Virginia too.

[jamestkirk_imp]

Thanks for the replies.

I've installed higher compression pistons in some bikes in the past and the blue juice has made a big difference for that application. I agree it has no place in modern engines. Psychological I guess. However, 100LL has no ethanol and a long shelf life. Nonetheless, unleaded 87 it is then!

Dylithium Crystals=Warp Speed!

-Kirk Out

Update:This just happened at a local station. Lucky me!

[Capo]

The CB's engine is mildly tuned and highly developed. AV gas won't do anything positive without a host of other engine and ECU mods, and even then, likely not worth it. If you're concerned about 'bad gas' or ethanol, a dollop of StaBil or Sea Foam regularly will take care of that. Of course, an eyedropper of Castrol R in the gas will give you that delicious, pungent throwback smell as you ride!

[Motogeezer1949_imp]

Guhl advised 89 octane after the re-flash. I have 89 ethanol free at a Wawa near me. Out on the road I use whatever. Coming up on 20k miles, no issues.

[jamestkirk_imp]

On my '79 CB, 6000rpm @ 75mph on the highway was the sweet spot. Real smooth. Around town the routine always favored higher rpm. It kept the charging system operating well and the engine just ran smoother that way. Many CB DOHC guru's on various forums often spoke about tickling the redline once daily to 'blow out the crud'. So, I always avoided 'lugging it' if at all possible.

In comparison on the CB1100, at 75mph it's at 3500rpm. 6th gear, yea, nice. But overall it seems that keeping rpms low on this bike is the norm. It just feels wrong to me. I found this page in the owners manual puzzling...


(notice the typo?) So they're telling me that I should be at 28mph when downshifting from 6th to 5th? Huh? Or, I should shift into 6th gear at 37mph. Uummm, OK?

How do you folks ride this bike?

-Kirk Out

[flynrider]

Thanks for the replies.

I've installed higher compression pistons in some bikes in the past and the blue juice has made a big difference for that application. I agree it has no place in modern engines. Psychological I guess. However, 100LL has no ethanol and a long shelf life. Nonetheless, unleaded 87 it is then!

Dylithium Crystals=Warp Speed!

-Kirk Out

Update:This just happened at a local station. Lucky me!

Good choice. The 'LL" in 100LL means it has a lower lead content than the old 100/130 green aviation gas. 100LL actually has several times more tetraethyl lead than old leaded car gas.

It doesn't just destroy the cat, but also will kill the O2 sensors almost immediately.

Lastly, the relatively low compression engine on the CB11 gets no benefit from the higher octane. If my experience with my old O-300 powered Cessna is any guide, the lower temperatures and pressures of the low compression engine will lead to unburned lead deposits accumulating on the exhaust valves.

About 25 years ago, when low octane (red) avgas disappeared I was having valve work done almost every year running 100LL in the O-300. Conversely, I had a '69 ragtop Mercury with a high compression 429 that would ping on premium 92 octane (it was designed for 99 octane premium, which was no longer available). By running the Cessna on 87 octane car gas and the Mercury on 100LL aviation gas, all of my problems were solved. The right fuel for the right engine.

On my '79 CB, 6000rpm @ 75mph on the highway was the sweet spot. Real smooth. Around town the routine always favored higher rpm. It kept the charging system operating well and the engine just ran smoother that way. Many CB DOHC guru's on various forums often spoke about tickling the redline once daily to 'blow out the crud'. So, I always avoided 'lugging it' if at all possible.

In comparison on the CB1100, at 75mph it's at 3500rpm. 6th gear, yea, nice. But overall it seems that keeping rpms low on this bike is the norm. It just feels wrong to me. I found this page in the owners manual puzzling...


(notice the typo?) So they're telling me that I should be at 28mph when downshifting from 6th to 5th? Huh? Or, I should shift into 6th gear at 37mph. Uummm, OK?

How do you folks ride this bike?

-Kirk Out

I hear 'ya. My (5 speed) '13 model runs 4250 at 75 mph in 5th and that seems low to me. I guess it just depends on what you're used to. I'm used to inline 4s that ran 5K or better at highway speed. As such, I often find myself going down the highway in 4th gear. I don't shift into 5th until 75mph or above. I suppose if I had a 6 speed, I'd never use the top gear unless I was planning some long distance cruising at 95 mph.

I think the recommendations in the book were written as a comedy exercise. We had a thread about it years ago and I don't think even the most conservative rider would shift at the recommended points.

[Cormanus]

I've nothing to add to Flynn's wisdom about the changes. Good pick up on the typo!

[the Ferret]

I'm probably one of the more conservative riders on the board. For the most part my bike lives in the 45-60 mph zone, and a lot of that, even at 45 mph, is in 6 th gear (between 2500 and 3500 rpms). My normal shift point is around 3000-3200 rpms, and my bike has never been over 5000 rpms, and never anywhere near redline to "blow the crud out". (What a hokey wives tale) but there is no problem running this engine to redline, either occasionally, or all the time for that matter. Engines are designed to run within a certain range and the range on this bike is from 2500-8000 rpms. It's ok to run this bike in any gear between those rpms (although it is electronically rpm limited in certain gears meaning you will not be able to run it at 8000 rpms in certain gears) but other than that, it will not harm this motor to run it anywhere between those rpms and it's not " better" for it to run it at any given rpm than another rpm in that range, and the only "crud" you are going to blow out of a modern engine is the crud in your head.

This bike is designed to run on 87 octane and up to 10% ethanol, and running that will not harm your motor unless the bike sits for extended periods of time without some gas stabilizer in it. Running a higher octane is useless, and a waste of money, but will not harm the motor. Running pure gas will not harm your motor either. These bikes will run 100,000 miles whether you run 10% ethanol or pure gas, whether you run 87 octane or 93 octane.

This is not just my opinion, it's all right there in the manual Honda gives you for the treatment and care of your motorcycle.

Modern materials, EFI systems, 02 sensors, ECUs etc are all engineered to keep this motor running basically no matter how you treat it, but applying 1970s automotive wives tales, and back yard garage procedures to 2015 engines is a waste of time. Times have changed, and so has engineering, and materials, and what your uncle or the local hot rod enthusiast, thought he knew in 1970, just no longer applies to modern motors or motorcycles. Engineers have learned a lot in the last 50 years, and what they have learned has been passed onto and into your CB1100.

Coming up on 20,000 miles no issues.

[4 Paws_imp]

I frequent a near by gas station that sells unethanoled (is that a word?) high test - approx 93 octane. On the CB my seat of the pants dyno can't tell a difference. Same with my wife's CaAm Spyder - no change in performance.
Believe it or not my Ural - 1950's technology airhead - can tell a HUGE difference. Book says run hi-test in the Ural so I normally do.

After several tanks of ethanol free hi-test in the CB I switched back to what the book recommends. Those Honda engineers know their stuff. Less expensive gas means more time to ride.

[mininsx_imp]

When I first got my CB I tried 87, 89, and 92 octane gas in it and I found no difference whatsoever in performance. My other two bikes require 91 or above so that's what they get; the CB gets 87.
About 15 miles from me I could get 110 octane gas if I wanted to, but what's the use? (In case you're wondering, there's a dragstrip nearby this tiny town and one of the stations sells 110 at around six bucks a gallon.)