Thoughts after 1 month of ownership

[tommymck]

I’ve had my 2017 CB1100EX for about a month and I thought I’d write up my impressions so far….the good, the bad and the ugly. Starting with the ugly, I’ve got nothing. The bike is beautiful. I had the opportunity to essentially get half-off with a new old stock 2014 in black, but the cosmetics of the 2017 in red made it worth it for me to spend the extra dough. Financially, that doesn’t make any sense, but the red and spoked wheels just do it for me. The looks of the bike are second to none to me.

There isn’t much bad either, but there are a couple of things that aren’t ideal for me. First, I plain don’t get along with the ergonomics of the turn signal switch. It’s just a niggle to be sure, but I always seem to be fishing for the thing unless I look down to see it. And you can’t easily use it while working the clutch. Second, I wish 6th was geared lower (or is it higher…I always get it wrong….) There is just a couple of hundred RPM drop between 5th and 6th. The bike has plenty of low end torque, and at highway speeds, I’d prefer that it rev’d lower in 6th. If I’m going to accelerate to pass, I’m shifting down to 5th anyway, so having 6th geared higher (or is it lower) doesn’t buy much. And although I love the looks of spoked wheels, I’m a bit of a neat freak. The front wheel is fine, but the rear wheel, with whatever the chain throws back, is a bit more of a pain to keep clean.

Finally, now for the good. It shouldn’t matter so much but looks are just fantastic. Also, the riding position is perfect for the type of bike that the CB is. I thought that I’d try to optimize comfort by trying an aftermarket peg kit that gives adjustability on the peg position. That was a $200 mistake. None of the positions beat the stock pegs and the aftermarket pegs weren’t as comfortable in any position. Generally speaking, the bike is as comfortable, fun and functional as it can possibly be. I thought that I’d end up getting a fairing but at speeds of up to 70mph at least it does great. I’d be concerned that a fairing would cause more trouble than it would be worth.

I mainly use the bike (or any bike for that matter) as a daily commuter when the weather is nice and to tool around evenings and weekends. Typical day is 30 miles at most. I did do a 200-mile day touring locally though and three hours in the saddle was no problem at all. Also, I’ve heard complaints about the suspension, but I’m assuming that these were from earlier models because the suspension on my bike is perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing.

What will I change / modify? Good sense would suggest that I do nothing at all. But I did order the Whitehouse tank and covers in red from Samurider. I really do love the stock look, but I like the idea of switching between stock and retro. It’s an expensive indulgence to be sure. I’ll see if it’s worth it. For anybody interested, I’ll post pics of the swap-out procedure. There are a couple of posts here that touch on it, but I didn’t see a descriptive how-to.

Lots of rain here on the East Coast the past few weeks, but I’ve managed to get some riding in more days than not.