02-27-2018, 02:35 PM
Cory,
I grew up with dirt bikes, riding just for fun with no motocross racing involved. I was a pretty scrawny kid and never rode any bike bigger than a 125. But I learned quite a bit during that period of time. I stopped riding after I graduated from high school. 37 years later, I returned to riding — this time on the street. I took the MSF class and bought a Honda Hawk GT (410 pounds wet). It's a great bike, was not intimidating and at 5' 8" it fit me really well. I've never had any regrets about buying the Hawk.
I instantly became infatuated with the CB1100 when I saw early photos of the bike before it was released here in the States. I placed my deposit on one the day Honda officially announced they were going to bring the CB1100 over here. My biggest concern back then was the fact that it was a "big bike" (over 1000cc). I was also worried about the weight of the bike. When I picked the bike up from the dealer I had to ride it home in rush hour traffic during a downpour — it proved to be no problem at all as this bike functions so nicely. I find the CB1100 to be a wonderful bike to ride. I certainly wouldn't mind if the CB were a bit lighter. That's somewhat due to my height as I sometimes have a hard time getting leverage over the bike while moving it around when straddling it. I think that just as I had absolutely no issues returning to riding on the Hawk, I would have been just fine on the CB1100. If I was your height, all of this would have been much less of a worry for me.
If you don't have the proper mindset for riding on the street then I don't think it will matter if you start off on a CB1100 or a much smaller bike. But given the fact that you've already developed a good deal of helpful riding skills in your youth, I also feel that with the proper mindset you would be just fine on a CB1100. I wouldn't give this same advice to someone who had never ridden at all before. But you have no doubt already learned more than enough to be able to hop on a CB1100 and ride it without a problem.
I do feel that I benefitted quite a bit from the MSF course before joining the fray out on the streets and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is in a similar position as the one I found myself in now more than a decade ago. When I hopped on the Hawk and rode off down the street for the first time ever I was embarrassed as I was sure that people could see me grinning from a block away (and I was wearing a full face helmet). Everything felt immediately familiar and wonderful. I have no doubt that I would have felt the same way had I been riding a CB1100 instead. Best of luck to you with your decision!
I grew up with dirt bikes, riding just for fun with no motocross racing involved. I was a pretty scrawny kid and never rode any bike bigger than a 125. But I learned quite a bit during that period of time. I stopped riding after I graduated from high school. 37 years later, I returned to riding — this time on the street. I took the MSF class and bought a Honda Hawk GT (410 pounds wet). It's a great bike, was not intimidating and at 5' 8" it fit me really well. I've never had any regrets about buying the Hawk.
I instantly became infatuated with the CB1100 when I saw early photos of the bike before it was released here in the States. I placed my deposit on one the day Honda officially announced they were going to bring the CB1100 over here. My biggest concern back then was the fact that it was a "big bike" (over 1000cc). I was also worried about the weight of the bike. When I picked the bike up from the dealer I had to ride it home in rush hour traffic during a downpour — it proved to be no problem at all as this bike functions so nicely. I find the CB1100 to be a wonderful bike to ride. I certainly wouldn't mind if the CB were a bit lighter. That's somewhat due to my height as I sometimes have a hard time getting leverage over the bike while moving it around when straddling it. I think that just as I had absolutely no issues returning to riding on the Hawk, I would have been just fine on the CB1100. If I was your height, all of this would have been much less of a worry for me.
If you don't have the proper mindset for riding on the street then I don't think it will matter if you start off on a CB1100 or a much smaller bike. But given the fact that you've already developed a good deal of helpful riding skills in your youth, I also feel that with the proper mindset you would be just fine on a CB1100. I wouldn't give this same advice to someone who had never ridden at all before. But you have no doubt already learned more than enough to be able to hop on a CB1100 and ride it without a problem.
I do feel that I benefitted quite a bit from the MSF course before joining the fray out on the streets and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is in a similar position as the one I found myself in now more than a decade ago. When I hopped on the Hawk and rode off down the street for the first time ever I was embarrassed as I was sure that people could see me grinning from a block away (and I was wearing a full face helmet). Everything felt immediately familiar and wonderful. I have no doubt that I would have felt the same way had I been riding a CB1100 instead. Best of luck to you with your decision!