12-12-2017, 04:41 AM
To close out my take on the anorexic condition of the forum, I'd say first of all that the CB1100 was so well-made that any problems were simple and easily resolved. It's also a bike that has a very narrow market; Honda's new CB1000R (and the smaller 150 and 300cc versions of that model) pretty clearly show that the air-cooled CB900 I was hoping for will likely never be made.
The CB1100 is a serious one-off for a modern bike. Mine was absolutely stone-reliable. I never had a single issue with it. The valves were still in perfect adjustment at 8,000 miles when I opened it up for that procedure (took a day), and the inside of the engine was clean as a whistle.
All other major marques but Royal Enfield have adopted liquid cooling in their retro lines, with the exception of BMW, who've continued the air-oil cooled boxer. But the R9T is still a modern design with "retro" styling. Like BMW, other makers are using an existing modern standard like the FZ-09 or CB1000, or Z900R, etcetera, as a basis for a retro design. But those bikes aren't retro. Mono shock, aluminum frames, inverted forks...those items don't say "traditional".
I think bikes like the R9T, the new CB1000R, Z900RS and the like are similar to movies that disclaim the authenticity of the story line by stating:
"Inspired by True Events"
in the opening credits.
In my view, the CB1100 is the only machine not only inspired by true events, but also built using most of the technologies (albeit with modern manufacturing methods) of the 1970s.
But it's expensive, heavy, comparatively slow, and won't attract too many buyers given the wide number of choices out there now.
Another problem Honda's got with that bike is most of the people who own them only have room for one or two bikes in either the garage, the budget, or both. So in getting people to lay their money or credit on the line, a really powerful argument has to be made.
Gorgeous? Yep.
Reliable? Yep.
Practical? Hmmm....$12 or $13K will put a buyer in easy range of a T120-range Triumph, and a Street Twin can be had for much less. A good friend and riding buddy of mine just acquired one of those this summer (2017 model) and it's a great machine which can be had OTD for under $10K.
Looks like Honda sees what's up and is going to be supplying its buyers with the new CB Retro line in the foreseeable future, which naturally does not suggest a livelier discourse on a model which has been discontinued in many regions and for which some versions are not available in others.
Still and all, I may start looking around for a very clean, used 2017 in the next year or two. I can't speak for other former owners, but for me there was definitely something about that bike that takes hold of the imagination.
The CB1100 is a serious one-off for a modern bike. Mine was absolutely stone-reliable. I never had a single issue with it. The valves were still in perfect adjustment at 8,000 miles when I opened it up for that procedure (took a day), and the inside of the engine was clean as a whistle.
All other major marques but Royal Enfield have adopted liquid cooling in their retro lines, with the exception of BMW, who've continued the air-oil cooled boxer. But the R9T is still a modern design with "retro" styling. Like BMW, other makers are using an existing modern standard like the FZ-09 or CB1000, or Z900R, etcetera, as a basis for a retro design. But those bikes aren't retro. Mono shock, aluminum frames, inverted forks...those items don't say "traditional".
I think bikes like the R9T, the new CB1000R, Z900RS and the like are similar to movies that disclaim the authenticity of the story line by stating:
"Inspired by True Events"
in the opening credits.
In my view, the CB1100 is the only machine not only inspired by true events, but also built using most of the technologies (albeit with modern manufacturing methods) of the 1970s.
But it's expensive, heavy, comparatively slow, and won't attract too many buyers given the wide number of choices out there now.
Another problem Honda's got with that bike is most of the people who own them only have room for one or two bikes in either the garage, the budget, or both. So in getting people to lay their money or credit on the line, a really powerful argument has to be made.
Gorgeous? Yep.
Reliable? Yep.
Practical? Hmmm....$12 or $13K will put a buyer in easy range of a T120-range Triumph, and a Street Twin can be had for much less. A good friend and riding buddy of mine just acquired one of those this summer (2017 model) and it's a great machine which can be had OTD for under $10K.
Looks like Honda sees what's up and is going to be supplying its buyers with the new CB Retro line in the foreseeable future, which naturally does not suggest a livelier discourse on a model which has been discontinued in many regions and for which some versions are not available in others.
Still and all, I may start looking around for a very clean, used 2017 in the next year or two. I can't speak for other former owners, but for me there was definitely something about that bike that takes hold of the imagination.