12-04-2023, 06:38 AM
That’s a lot to unpack. I put many happy commuting miles on my ‘93 Nighthawk and it was dead reliable. Sold it to a friend who put even more miles on it than I did and it’s probably still alive somewhere.
To me, the CB1100 riding experience is like a bigger more powerful Nighthawk.
The Nighthawk’s self-adjusting valves are very nice. And they are the Honda Civic of the motorcycle world. You pointed out the tach, which was a weak point due to impossible-to-reach-and-repair solder joints. Mainly, I would be concerned about the availability of rubber bits like gaskets and bushings. Also, they have a lot of hard plastic bodywork that is now very brittle, will only get more so, and will not be replaceable.
I didn’t have the sentimental bond to mine that you do, but I’d have a hard time wanting to work hard to keep a bike like that in pristine shape if I was going to continue putting miles on it.
To me, the CB1100 riding experience is like a bigger more powerful Nighthawk.
The Nighthawk’s self-adjusting valves are very nice. And they are the Honda Civic of the motorcycle world. You pointed out the tach, which was a weak point due to impossible-to-reach-and-repair solder joints. Mainly, I would be concerned about the availability of rubber bits like gaskets and bushings. Also, they have a lot of hard plastic bodywork that is now very brittle, will only get more so, and will not be replaceable.
I didn’t have the sentimental bond to mine that you do, but I’d have a hard time wanting to work hard to keep a bike like that in pristine shape if I was going to continue putting miles on it.