01-25-2018, 02:57 AM
(01-25-2018, 01:49 AM)LongRanger_imp Wrote: VLJ, congrats on your new girl. After all the rumination, I'd say many of us are probably shocked and awed by your decision to purchase, but perhaps now you've found the same passion we've been trying to share. Good job. Ulvetanna, you're next!
As I've been trying to explain to everyone here, there is no reason to be shocked that I pulled the trigger on this one. I've wanted this bike ever since the first pictures were revealed, way back in 2013. (I don't recall whether I was aware of this bike before Honda announced they were bringing it here in 2013.) mickey knows how badly I wanted the 2014 Deluxe, in large part because it had the 4.6-gallon tank, ABS, red paint, and sixth gear.
I was ready to grab one back in 2014, but there was no indication from Honda that there would be a 2014 model, never mind the new Deluxe model. When the winter bike show here in America came and went with no news from Honda about a 2014 model, I finally gave up and bought the Street Triple R instead.
Immediately thereafter, the 2014 Standard and Deluxe models were announced during the Euro show.
I was gutted. I'd already bought the Triumph, and Honda didn't bring back the CB in 2015 or 2016.
When the 2017 EX was announced, and Honda said they were bringing it here, I knew I had to have one. The only caveat was that there was no way for me to test ride a CB, and with all the talk of how underpowered, heavy, and buzzy-at-certain-RPMs the CB is, especially compared to the bikes I've always ridden, I wasn't going to buy one without first answering my questions regarding the bike's power, buzziness, handling, and overall comfort.
That's where you and this site joined my journey, which likely would have remained static were it not for Eric stepping up out of nowhere to give me a test ride on his 2014 Standard. Minus that test ride, I probably never buy a CB1100. I had too many doubts. The desire was still there, strong as ever, but I couldn't pull the trigger on something so expensive, knowing I may not enjoy riding it.
The ride on Eric's bike answered my key questions about the bike. I wasn't overly concerned regarding the flaws I found. I became convinced that the heavy steering on his bike was simply a tires-related anomaly, and the drive lash and somewhat clunky tranny didn't concern me, either. I figured I could work those issues out, or simply get used to them, as they were not significant enough issues to be deal-breakers.
On the plus side, the positives I found during my test ride on Eric's bike far outweighed the negatives, which I thought I'd made clear in my post-ride review. Apparently I failed, as mickey and others here seemed to focus solely on the criticisms while discounting not only the praise I gave Eric's bike, but also the final summation, which was that I was finally down to just two options, the '17 EX or the Z900, and I knew the Z900 wasn't the same sort of long-term solution that the EX represents to me.
No one seemed to take me seriously when I described how important it was to me to try to slow down, and in order to do so the bike would have to remain compelling to me at reduced cornering speeds. I admitted that the XSR could of course be ridden more slowly, obviating the need for a slower, more relaxed bike, while explaining that I would never be happy riding the XSR more slowly. There are many better choices than the XSR for slower riding, the CB1100 EX being chief among them, at least to me.
Also, didn't I tell you guys that I already tried to buy the bike twice, a few months ago? Eric beat me by just two days to his '14 Standard. Shortly thereafter, I gave my local dealer a formal offer on his '17 EX. Had he accepted my offer, I would have ridden Monica home that same day.
I'd say these were pretty solid indications that I was serious about buying a CB1100.