A note on CB1100 Model Numbers and VINs

[rdprdp01]

Warning: For nerds only
Originally posted on CB1100forum.com

DISCLAIMERS

1. As far as I'm aware there is no official Honda information on this. I've gathered it from various sources on the Internet. I make no warranty as to its accuracy.
2. Other than China, I can find no information on model numbers for Asia.

CB1100 MODEL NUMBERS

2010
CB1100A —Australia
CB1100AA —ABS—Australia
2011
CB1100B —Australia
CB1100AB —ABS—Australia
2012
CB1100C —Australia
CB1100AC —ABS—Australia
2013
CB1100D —USA
CB1100AD —ABS—Belgium, Canada, Europe, Ireland, Russia, UK
2014
CB1100E —China, Europe, US
CB1100AE —ABS—Belgium, Canada, China, Europe, Ireland, Italy (it was called the Nero Lucido), UK
CB1100SAE —EX—Europe, Italy, Russia, UK, USA (sold as DLX)
CB1100SADE—EX—China
2015
CB1100SAE —EX—Belgium, Europe, Germany*
2016
CB1100SAE —EX—Belgium, Europe*
CB1100AG —ABS—Canada, China
CB1100SAG —ABS—China
CB1100SADG —ABS—China
2017
CB1100CAH—ABS—Belgium, Canada, Europe, France, Germany, Gulf States, Korea, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, UK, USA
CB1100CADH—EX—Japan
CB1100CADH—ABS, DCT—China**
CB1100NAH —RS—Belgium, Canada, Europe, France, Gulf States, Korea, Russia, Taiwan, UK, USA
CB1100NADH—RS—Japan
CB1100NADH—RS, DCT—China**
CB1100TAH—ABS—Gulf States, Japan***
CB1100TADH—Japan (Standard with special E-tag package for Japan)
CB1100TADH—ABS, DCT—China**

NOTES
The final letter of the model code denotes the year of manufacture A=2010, B=2011, C=2012, D=2013, E=2014, F=2015, G=2016, H=2017.

* It seems likely that no CB1100s were produced in 2015. If they were, they were not exported to any of the countries on the lists I've found. CB110s were produced in 2016, but went only to China and Canada. The 2016 bikes sold in Europe were manufactured in 2014.

** The three models listed for China in 2017 are described on this website as DCT ABS models, giving rise to a question of whether a DCT model has been made for export to China.

***The 'T' model has the 2010-2016 tank and a 4 into 2 exhaust.

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Honda's internal model identification number

Between 2010 and 2016, the CB1100 has been designated by Honda as SC65. This information is used in the VIN and sometimes in parts fiches.

Check out this website if you're interested in the letters and numbers Honda uses to identify its models. For our purposes "S" tells you this is a bike of 900 ccs or more; "C" tells you it's a street bike. 65 tells you its the CB1100. I've no idea how the number's determined; I think, when Honda wants to identify a new street model of 900 or more ccs, it simply takes the next sequential number. (The RC213V is SC75.)

Forum member Django reported here that, in 2017, Honda has allocated a new model number to the CB1100: SC78. The EX model is to be SC78A and the RS model SC78B.

However, a subsequent search of the US Department of Transport website has turned up model information for two 2017 CB1100s retaining the model number SC65. At the date of editing (4 May 2017) it is not clear whether the CB1100 will have one or both those model numbers in 2017.

I have limited information on how Honda uses the digit after SC65. In Australia in 2011, for example, the CB1100 was sold with the digits SC65U included in the VIN. In the US, though, Honda has used a number to differentiate models. Do date they have been:

SC651: 2013 and 2014 standard models and 2017 EX**
SC655: 2013 ABS model
SC658: 2014 DLX model and 2017 RS**

** The 2017 model numbers will be subject to further review when the new bikes are on the market.

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CB1100 VINs

There's been plenty of discussion about VINs on the forum; perhaps the most useful is in this thread.

The VIN (or Vehicle Identification Number) is allocated by manufacturers on the basis of an international standard. It's designed to be unique to each vehicle. In other words, if, for example, two Honda CB1100s had identical VINs, one of those VINs would be fake. As you can imagine, all this helps with tracing stolen vehicles, ownership, etc.

If you want technical information about VINs see this Wikipedia article.

Until 2016, the CB1100 VIN has taken the form JH2SC65x#^K000001 where:

JH2 = Honda Japan
SC65 = Honda's code for the CB1100.
x = the type of CB1100 and seems to be for Honda's use. In the USA, this digit on the 2013 model was either 1 for a standard bike or 5 for an ABS model. In Australia in 2011 the x was set to "U" which I guess told us it was an Australian model.
# = a check digit calculated from the rest of the VIN—see the Wikipedia article to figure that out
^ = year of manufacture and is the same as the letters cited above—e.g. A=2010, B=2011, etc
K = Kumamoto, Japan—the location of the plant where the bike is manufactured

The remaining 6 digits are a sequential number allocated for each model and model year. So, for example, the SC651 bikes have a sequence starting at 000001; the SC655 bikes also have a sequence starting at 000001.

US VIN Information

For anyone interested, the VIN range allocated to Honda motorcycles between 1989-2015 can be found here on the DOT’s website.

DOT also provides a VIN Search page here. Entering a valid VIN will provide the very limited information Honda provided to DOT when it registered the VINs. You can get the site to work with a partial VIN.

For interest, I have attached the information you can download from the DOT site on each CB1100 model registered. Note the curiosity of the 2013 ABS model which shows as CBR125R, a model which, so far as I can see from the other document, was not imported into the US in 2013. Engine capacity data in the document is consistent with the CB1100.








Other useful US resources are the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Manufacturer Administration Handbook which sets out in great detail how VINs work in the US. It can be found here. For the ultimate authority, the relevant parts of US Federal Law can be found here.

I love this post 

There are secrets wrapped in enigmas in Honda’s naming conventions and VIN numbers. This post reads like what an archeological dig looks like.  

It is beautiful. 

I hope you can shed some light on what CB stands for. All my life, I thought it was an abbreviation for City Bike. I recently learned that is logical but most likely completely wrong!