02-13-2018, 04:15 AM
Guys, keep in mind that I'm primarily talking about the subjective topic of styling here and in the spirit of the forum I'm trying to be as polite as I can be right now with some of my opinions. Opinions is all that they are, nothing more. I can appreciate a bike at many different levels without agreeing about everything regarding the looks. I find the Z900 RS to be a very fascinating motorcycle and I'm really happy to see Kawasaki go for it with this bike. But if I were to walk into a Kawasaki dealer to find a new Z900 RS sitting on the floor next to a super clean W650 that someone had just traded in on one, I personally would be far more tempted by the W than the RS.
You'll notice that I'll say very little about the XSR. I just bite my tongue when it comes to that bike, lol. People can go on all they want about performance advantages of this or that and I'll give them that. I get it. When it comes to my own needs those things just really aren't that interesting to me. I've posted my videos, you can see how I ride, I just don't need any more performance than that which my CB already offers. As a general rule for me those performance gains tend to come with a clear visual cost to my eye when it comes to retro or retro-styled bikes. At some point in the crossover between vintage looks and performance, motorcycles just lose my eye's interest. Once a certain point is crossed I find myself much more interested in bikes like the Z650/Z900, the Street Triple, the SV650 or the CB1000R. (Yamaha is such a design/styling disaster "in my opinion" that they don't currently have a single bike that appeals to me.)
For me, there's nothing beautiful about the new CB tank shape and I'm not nearly as big a fan of metallic paint jobs as I am of pearl paint jobs. I do feel that the new shape works better on the CB1100 RS than the EX as the more modern shape works better with, and mimics spirit of the wider & shorter 17" wheels/tires. I'm glad that the Honda logotype is an emblem as opposed to a decal, but I much prefer the winged badge. Had Honda visually referenced some their older tank designs in some way (other than just the metallic paint) then the new CB1100s would hold much greater appeal to me. But regardless of what is a hit or miss with me personally, it's still very obvious to me that the CB1100 remains a project of pride driven by Honda's passions for engineering, quality and heritage. I'll just leave it at that. We all like what we like. I'd much rather someone disagree with me about this stuff and be happier with their own bike than to agree and be disappointed with what they own, lol.
You'll notice that I'll say very little about the XSR. I just bite my tongue when it comes to that bike, lol. People can go on all they want about performance advantages of this or that and I'll give them that. I get it. When it comes to my own needs those things just really aren't that interesting to me. I've posted my videos, you can see how I ride, I just don't need any more performance than that which my CB already offers. As a general rule for me those performance gains tend to come with a clear visual cost to my eye when it comes to retro or retro-styled bikes. At some point in the crossover between vintage looks and performance, motorcycles just lose my eye's interest. Once a certain point is crossed I find myself much more interested in bikes like the Z650/Z900, the Street Triple, the SV650 or the CB1000R. (Yamaha is such a design/styling disaster "in my opinion" that they don't currently have a single bike that appeals to me.)
For me, there's nothing beautiful about the new CB tank shape and I'm not nearly as big a fan of metallic paint jobs as I am of pearl paint jobs. I do feel that the new shape works better on the CB1100 RS than the EX as the more modern shape works better with, and mimics spirit of the wider & shorter 17" wheels/tires. I'm glad that the Honda logotype is an emblem as opposed to a decal, but I much prefer the winged badge. Had Honda visually referenced some their older tank designs in some way (other than just the metallic paint) then the new CB1100s would hold much greater appeal to me. But regardless of what is a hit or miss with me personally, it's still very obvious to me that the CB1100 remains a project of pride driven by Honda's passions for engineering, quality and heritage. I'll just leave it at that. We all like what we like. I'd much rather someone disagree with me about this stuff and be happier with their own bike than to agree and be disappointed with what they own, lol.