10-06-2017, 03:03 PM
It's a slow night...my rides will be less frequent and for shorter distances as the NW rains begin to compete with beautiful fall days. My KLR650 is my rain bike--the CB1100 is just too pretty for me to ride it daily in adverse conditions. But I still ride it a couple times of week all winter long.
I bought my '14 standard new Jan 2 of 2016, so I'm coming up on two years of ownership. I went back and forth between the Triumph Street Twin, Moto Guzzi V7 and the CB1100. At the time, the Street Twin was just coming out and I didn't figure they would lower MSRP at around 9K something, and the Honda was simply a much better bike than the MG, so I went with the standard for less than 8k--a good price then.
Initially, I'll have to admit, I wasn't so sure of my decision. It felt fine on a test ride, but at nearly 6'4" I soon felt I was too tall for the bike on hour plus rides. It was too quiet, too refined...or was it? Besides the KLR650, I had a Sportster before the CB...a 2004 1200C. The internet forums said upgrade this, buy exhaust that, new seat, etc...and I listened. This time I was determined to let the CB1100 stock self speak to me before I did anything major to it. Instead of a new seat, I added a foam pad to raise the height and comfort. Instead of rushing out to buy exhaust, I tried to retrain my brain to accept its smooth hum. But for a long trip, I put on crash bars and forward pegs to have somewhere else to put my feet.
Now, nearly two years later, I ask myself..."so, what do you you think?" Keep in mind I'm one of those lucky ones with the high / low idle issue for 4 months now at 10k miles on the bike. I still have the original tires on the bike. I haven't had to adjust the chain since the 600 mile service. I have had zero issues besides the idle. The exhaust...sounds wonderful...the seat...awesome. I can't think of anything I want to do to this bike other than...ride it!
I am concerned about the idle issue long term. It doesn't stall on me, so that's huge. But despite this issue, I am growing to really dig this bike. Today I got on for the first time after two weeks (bought a new pickup, so the CB got neglected for a spell). Wow. Such a sublime ride. I know you folks like your red CBs, but if you're gonna go black, the combo of chrome, other bits of sparkle, the red/grey relief on the black tank, tubeless tires (a first for me!) with black rims...for me they add up to a beautiful machine.
Lone story short...I'm liking my bike more now, let's say a good 50% more, than when I first bought it, even though it has that issue.
What say ye? After two, three, four or more years of ownership, what do you think of your CB1100 now? Has it exceeded your expectations? Does it do all you want it to? Or are you thinking it's time to move on because of this or that?
Like I said, slow night.
Oh, and thanks to all those who run this site and make it work, not sure if that gets said enough. I look forward to daily seeing what's going on in the CB1100 world.
I bought my '14 standard new Jan 2 of 2016, so I'm coming up on two years of ownership. I went back and forth between the Triumph Street Twin, Moto Guzzi V7 and the CB1100. At the time, the Street Twin was just coming out and I didn't figure they would lower MSRP at around 9K something, and the Honda was simply a much better bike than the MG, so I went with the standard for less than 8k--a good price then.
Initially, I'll have to admit, I wasn't so sure of my decision. It felt fine on a test ride, but at nearly 6'4" I soon felt I was too tall for the bike on hour plus rides. It was too quiet, too refined...or was it? Besides the KLR650, I had a Sportster before the CB...a 2004 1200C. The internet forums said upgrade this, buy exhaust that, new seat, etc...and I listened. This time I was determined to let the CB1100 stock self speak to me before I did anything major to it. Instead of a new seat, I added a foam pad to raise the height and comfort. Instead of rushing out to buy exhaust, I tried to retrain my brain to accept its smooth hum. But for a long trip, I put on crash bars and forward pegs to have somewhere else to put my feet.
Now, nearly two years later, I ask myself..."so, what do you you think?" Keep in mind I'm one of those lucky ones with the high / low idle issue for 4 months now at 10k miles on the bike. I still have the original tires on the bike. I haven't had to adjust the chain since the 600 mile service. I have had zero issues besides the idle. The exhaust...sounds wonderful...the seat...awesome. I can't think of anything I want to do to this bike other than...ride it!
I am concerned about the idle issue long term. It doesn't stall on me, so that's huge. But despite this issue, I am growing to really dig this bike. Today I got on for the first time after two weeks (bought a new pickup, so the CB got neglected for a spell). Wow. Such a sublime ride. I know you folks like your red CBs, but if you're gonna go black, the combo of chrome, other bits of sparkle, the red/grey relief on the black tank, tubeless tires (a first for me!) with black rims...for me they add up to a beautiful machine.
Lone story short...I'm liking my bike more now, let's say a good 50% more, than when I first bought it, even though it has that issue.
What say ye? After two, three, four or more years of ownership, what do you think of your CB1100 now? Has it exceeded your expectations? Does it do all you want it to? Or are you thinking it's time to move on because of this or that?
Like I said, slow night.
Oh, and thanks to all those who run this site and make it work, not sure if that gets said enough. I look forward to daily seeing what's going on in the CB1100 world.