(05-28-2020, 11:54 PM)misterprofessionality_imp Wrote: I've been back and forth lately on what direction to take my CB next. I've found myself in search of an added safety aspect to my daily motorcycling. I realize that as much as I love the CB it is still built like an obsolete bike. It does not have ABS, it has a relatively low fuel capacity for its displacement, it has a relatively less effective suspension in its stock format. We all know there are many other things about the bike that don't quite stand up to modern standards (and it was never intended to, that's part of its charm).
So, in order to act as a counterpoint to the idea of purchasing a secondary sport-touring variety motorcycle to act as a primary commuter with modern safety and creature comforts, i've decided to explore the idea of spending all that money on making improvements to my CB instead. Thus, as a thought experiment i'm posting here to collect ideas on the best/most comprehensive improvements I can make to a 2014 CB1100 Std. with approximately $2500 cash available.
Some options that have interested me so far:
** fuel capacity : $900 (tank off a '14 DLX) increase my capacity to 4.6 gallons. edit: alternatively if i could find a Whitehouse K10 tank on the forum for cheap that would be 4.7 gallons! but i'm not gonna pay 2000 bucks for one new.
** ABS: This is kind of up in the air...I tend to think that If i can purchase a salvage/crashed bike with all the necessary parts undamaged i can get away with this for about $1500. It's not going to be easy to find a crashed '17 though, unless somebody knows of a resource.
** suspension improvements (front and rear): the cost here is probably more than $2500 if i go to the top end. I would appreciate it if anybody can point me toward some front and rear suspension improvements that would make a real difference for less than $1500.
** Seat: K&H solo or Mid Double seat to improve comfort : $600
** Wheels: Converting to spoked wheels would allow me to swap tire sizes and mount the better tires on the market that I currently don't have access to. I can't speak to the cost of this. It may be something that has to go hand in hand with the ABS change, since part of that could potentially involve using the '17 wheels.
** LED headlamp. I'm lost on this one. I imagine it's just a matter of adding an LED component and using the LED lamp off the newest models, but I don't know for sure. anybody that knows more about doing this please chime in.
** heated grips: $150 (oxford heaterz!)
Edit** accessory power connectors!! $50. being able to plug in a GPS and other powered accessories like heated gear is an upgrade i've wanted to make for a long while.
Obviously I can't do all of these at once, but it's worth thinking about the various options that are out there. What about all of you? if you had $2500 to spend improving your CB, what would you do?
I added the '17 DBV forks which were a great improvement- and sold my stock forks to offset much of the cost.
I added the Ikon rear shocks (Koni) - which also were a great improvement.
You can easily do both for less than $1500 even not selling the stock bits.