Sayonara to the CB1100, with an exit interview.

[ClassicVW_imp]

I forgot that I have two fall overs, not one. 15 or so years ago I was a new motorcycle cop. I wasn't young, it was two years before I retired. Well, after supervising the road closures and detours for my town's Christmas tree lighting ceremony, I went to park the bike, a heavy Police model Harley, to the rear of the crowd in a freshly prepared parking lot of small gravel stones. Well, after extending the side stand and hopping off, the bike kept gong over until it was on its side. Apparently, the sand and gravel lot wasn't compacted and the stand WAS down but just sunk right in.

Well, adrenaline and the fear of an embarrassing moment to be potentially viewed by 400 members of the public kicked in. I picked that Hog up in one fluid motion in seemingly a split second after it touched the ground. The crowd was facing away from where I was and AFAIK, not one person witnessed it! I'm certain I could not lift such a heavyweight bike again without similar motivation.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Gravity is at all times accelerating us and all mass around us toward the center of the planet. There is no getting around it. We're blessed and endowed with certain abilities to resist gravity, and at first, these usually work quite well, to the point where we don't even identify gravity as a force of acceleration. But we wear out, or learn some kind of lesson, somewhere along the way.

When the ST1100 first arrived, I loved it and almost bought one. The deciding factor was not the weight or size, just finances at the time. A guy I knew had one, and let me ride it. I didn't drop it, but he did later on, in the parking lot of our favorite watering hole. The bike was designed with protective hard plastic bumpers over steel guards, so no real damage was done, and the V4 configuration made it pretty easy to get it upright again.

I concur with Empty Sea, if one is dropping his or her bike, or having a lot of mishaps with footing or balance, better figure out why.

In many cases it is because the person started with a bike too big to really learn balancing techniques and low-speed clutch/brake skills, and is just "managing" the bike. That's where a machine like the Wolf Classic 150 can be of great value, to build skills. Not to mention I always wanted a minibike or something like it when I was a teenager, but being a dirt poor farmboy in the Kansas wastelands wasn't cutting it financially. So I have one now, and I learn something every time I ride it.

I can honestly say I have never dropped any motorcycle while riding it, or astride. I cannot ever remember doing so. I am short, so it has nothing to do with having long legs, or a burly build. I chalk it up to having learned to ride in the dirt, and having a lot of tall dirt bikes, some with seat heights up to 37". And I always had to contend with short legs. One has to learn to be very smooth and precise at every stop, and observe off-camber surfaces, sand, oil, gravel, and the like constantly, because there is not much chance to save the bike if it starts to go over when the legs are short.

[url=http://www.cycleworld.com/learn-rarely-used-technique-to-motorcycle-riding-ienatsch-tuesday]Nick Ienatsch's article about this was a little surprising to me, because I just assumed someone like Nick had learned these techniques himself, but he really was never a dirt rider and so just never adapted fully to the challenges. So even a guy with a lot of racing and street riding in his background may have missed something to add to the skill set.

But all in all, I did not trade in my CB1100 because it was too heavy; that is, the weight was not a factor in terms of worrying about dropping it. I still have an F800GS with a 33"+ seat height and it's plenty tall, and plenty top-heavy. But the bike suits my riding needs, it's a fairly light twin with a lot of capabilities. As I said in some other posts, the CB1100 was heavier than I like as a machine when riding it. The Triumph Street Cup is probably about the ideal size, weight, and configuration for me, I guess it's around 470 pounds, good riding position, nice twin with gobs of torque. I do ride aggressively on the street when the roads are clear and clean and I like to brake hard; the CB1100 can certainly be ridden this way (I hope whoever buys my former bike takes care with the brakes because they are exceptionally powerful with the stainless lines and HH pads), but one always feels the weight and it becomes taxing after a time. If I rode up a gear, just cruising along at a nice clip, it would be no factor.

Just a distillation of my perspective, the CB1100 would still be in my name had it been 50-60 pounds lighter because it would have been a better bike for my personal tastes. Had it come in at the weight and general dimensions as the early Z650 Kawasaki (about 470 pounds), with about 70-80 HP, I'd still own it, I'm pretty sure.

All that said, I am well aware that I could drop a bike or have an incident any day, and so I prepare myself the best I can. No one's immune to gravity.

[lola_imp]

Some of the BMW'S with the boxer layout on paper are heavier than the CB but are surprising light to maneuver walking with it or at slow speeds in my experience with the BMW's. Its just that weight is situated lower compared to the CB. I agree with wolf and whoever comments on the CB being top heavy feels heavy because since I have put my CB on a super diet it still feels that way (top heavy) at low speeds. But no motorcycle is the Pinnacle of all, but I know to most of us the CB is livable despite itty bitty flaws.

Good luck wolf! enjoyed reading your posts.

[LongRanger_imp]

Wolfie, great words as always. If you ever find yourself in the Denver area and have an itch to ride some great roads, look me up. You're certainly welcome to my stable.

[Guth_imp]

Putting the issue of dropping bikes aside for the moment, here's my take away from all of this: In effect, it took three new bikes to replace Ulvetanna's CB1100. That's one of the more notable testaments to the bike in the history of this forum.

[redbirds_imp]

You did pick some fine bikes to replace the CB. Enjoy your new rides.

[usa_imp]

Wise decision Ulvetanna.

Although I try not to be influenced by the folks who always crave for larger and larger motorcycles, I did give in and tried out a few 1400cc to 1800cc cruisers (750 - 800+ lbs). Things went fine for a whole day demo rides. But it took only one distraction at a stop at a traffic light where there’s a drop-off on the right side, the 800lbs bike leaned slowly over to the right and continued its course. I was able to slow it down on its course but was not strong enough to get it back up right. Fortunately, only a few scratch on the pipe but nothing serious. Two other demo-riders helped me to get it back up. If I was by myself ...

After that demo day, I was confirmed that I should never buy a motorcycle that I can not physically handle the weight. From there on, I look at my 470lbs "small" bike with fresh eyes and no longer consider the big heavy ones.

[Sam Mac_imp]

Well Buddy I wish you all the best in whatever ride you go for. I'm almost 66, I manage to lay my CB over a few days ago putting it up on the center stand. Slow roll and only damage is a couple scratches in the right side engine cover. I had no problem picking it back up. Hope you hang around, I figure you'll be back sooner or later.

[the Ferret]

Putting the issue of dropping bikes aside for the moment, here's my take away from all of this: In effect, it took three new bikes to replace Ulvetanna's CB1100. That's one of the more notable testaments to the bike in the history of this forum.

true dat!

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Well Buddy I wish you all the best in whatever ride you go for. I'm almost 66, I manage to lay my CB over a few days ago putting it up on the center stand. Slow roll and only damage is a couple scratches in the right side engine cover. I had no problem picking it back up. Hope you hang around, I figure you'll be back sooner or later.

Those centerstands are real iffy. The only times I've dropped bikes were fooling about with centerstands. Good thing you got away with very minor damage. That's why I just installed the OEM engine guards a few weeks ago. But they'll help sell the bike, I think.

Some of the BMW'S with the boxer layout on paper are heavier than the CB but are surprising light to maneuver walking with it or at slow speeds in my experience with the BMW's. Its just that weight is situated lower compared to the CB. I agree with wolf and whoever comments on the CB being top heavy feels heavy because since I have put my CB on a super diet it still feels that way (top heavy) at low speeds. But no motorcycle is the Pinnacle of all, but I know to most of us the CB is livable despite itty bitty flaws.

Good luck wolf! enjoyed reading your posts.

Absolutely right about the boxer engines, the CG is really low for most of them. I did try an RNineT though, the scrambler, and it felt quite top-heavy. The lowered R1200GS felt very light though.