Need advice on CB1100RS

[Ulvetanna_imp]

A lot of help you guys have been! You were supposed to answer with something like "absolutely you should get the new CB1100RS, everything about it is vastly superior to the 2014 model. In fact it so superior that it is no longer safe to even ride an older model. If you don't buy it you will regret it and will cry yourself to sleep every night for the rest of your life. And you will probably die."

See I could show that to my wife and perhaps even convince myself.

Yes, I know - follow your heart, which would be fine if I could just shut up my logical brain. It's not so much the money, one look in my garage shows I'm not scared of spending it, it's more the fact that I would be replacing a perfectly good motorcycle for what largely amounts to cosmetic reasons. My logical brain does not like this.

There has been a lot of changes to the new models but most are very subtle, I don't ride to the performance edge (I'm more Ferret-esque as opposed to VLJ in my riding approach, although very doubtful as skilled as either) so how much would I even notice?

But just look at it!!

Again, I guess it will come down to a split second decision when I see it, as Rocky's local dealer has one my dealer should this week as well.

Will he buy a CB1100? Will his wife believe it was his evil twin Antonio awakened from a decades long coma? Who let the dogs out?

Tune in next week for "As the CB Revs".

Not so. Before VLJ bought his bike I fully expected he would find the 2017 to be far better in the handling and suspension department, and his assessment was just what I figured on.

The 2013-14, no matter what we do to them, forks, shocks, incantations, will never work the way the '17 onward do. Frame, swingarm, steering head, fork offset, all the little bits and pieces that go into that bike add up to a different motorcycle. The only thing really similar about them are the looks.

I do think the spoked wheels on the EX are lighter than the cast wheels on previous models, which also would tend to help handling and suspension. You're looking at an RS, of course, with cast wheels, but weight saved elsewhere.

Either the EX or RS is going to be quite different than previous models. A much more solid handful of motorcycle for those who are looking for a change.

I have expressed an interest in a 2017-onward and still have that interest. I believe Honda have addressed all the concerns I had with the previous version. At any level of riding those are going to be very obvious.

Riding well means getting back into the garage in one piece, mostly, not being the fastest guy out there. No matter whether you think you ride like the Ferret (don't underestimate that guy, btw) or like someone else who's banging shifts off the rev limiter (yes, I admit it) the real goal is control and the newer version will feel better in the hands of any rider.

Like I said, Honda has not been sitting on its hands for ten years. They know what they are about.