The true beauty of this motorcycle. (another LONG read)

[emptysea]

I did not find beauty in the CB1100 when I saw it, but it was still the look of it that drew me in. Before I continue, you need to understand that I am a comparative infant to the world of motorcycles and motorcycling. I never owned a motorcycle in my youth. In fact, the CB1100 is only the second motorcycle, not counting my wife's bikes and scooters, that I could call my own. There were times as I grew up, though, that I wanted to learn to ride; in seventh grade, when a friend of mine got involved in BMX and then motocross. In eighth grade, when Rian Najibi rode a minibike to school and hid it in the bushes behind the school (he was suspended for that). In high school, when another friend was a volunteer at the local fire department and their EMTs used Kawasaki KZ400s to navigate heavy highway construction in the area at that time. It was this last example that left an indelible image in my mind of what a motorcycle should look like.

When the 2013 International Motorcycle Show came to Chicago, I already knew of the CB1100, but I was happy with my current motorcycle and really not in the market for a new bike. Then I saw it in person at the show and instantly thought back to that KZ and my image of a motorcycle. I bought it.

So, I'm not sure that it's the beauty of it or just that it represents to me a pure and correct motorcycle. Either way, though, I will always own a CB1100