Will the CB1100 be the last of it's kind in America?

[rotor]

I came across CB1100 when looking for a replacement for my current motorcycle (CBF600N).

My ideal bike would have a 4-cylinder 600-800 cc engine, about 200 kg dry mass, seat height of no more than 800 mm, normal upright riding position and power to travel-mass ratio of 150 w/kg minimum and 200 maximum. While I like "the look" of CB1100, for me "the looks" is way down the list of criteria for selecting a bike. (I don't see much of a bike when I'm riding on it, and I couldn't care less about how the bike (and me on it) looks to others I'm passing on the road). While I am open to both air and liquid cooled bikes, I realize that the bike would probably have to be liquid-cooled to meet emission and my power/mass specifications

Why such precise specs? I need one single bike, (BTW just like my current one), that is well-suited for a solo rider in both dense urban traffic, as it is for a 1000's of km trans-continental motorcycle trip that includes riding on fast divided highways.

How is all of the above pertinent to this thread?

CB1100 was close to the bike I am looking for, even though it is somewhat over the displacement (and thus the mass) limit I have in mind. However, there is no bike, from any brand, available on the new bike market in Europe or North America, that would fit my specifications. It might well be that it is not CB1100 specifically that will be no more, it might be that there is no market for multi-purpose motorcycles in general. This market is disappearing as the use of motorcycle as a transportation device for working blokes is yielding to the use of motorcycle as a toy for the rich...?

This is an interesting observation although I'm not sure how much faith I would put in it. Part of the problem for me is that it seems people are getting taller every generation while at 5' 8", I wouldn't be considered tall at all. In general I would tend to think of today's multi-purpose motorcycles being something along the lines of Suzuki's V-Strom or Kawasaki's Versys. Bikes like these would be a bit of a stretch for me — both literally and figuratively due to my height and my visual preferences. While plenty here on the forum have demonstrated that the CB1100 can serve as a multi-purpose bike, it's probably perceived as much more of a niche bike by most.

I can tell you that the priority factors that influenced my decision were almost totally the opposite of yours. I purchased the CB1100 first and foremost because of the looks. Such a beautiful machine sporting the air-cooled, retro vibe really appealed to me, enough so that I was able to overlook the weight of the bike which was a concern (I still wouldn't mind if the CB1100 were another 50 pounds lighter). The only real deal breaker for me would have been a seat height much higher than where things stand right now. (I do like to be able to flat foot it when stopped.)

I'll add that while my CB1100 is not my only mode of transportation, I do manage to spend more time aboard it riding about than I do inside of my truck driving around. This is because I commute via motorcycle year round (in a dense urban setting). I don't ride to work during the nastiest of weather or while the temps are low enough for the bridges to freeze, but I get plenty of riding days in during the year. So while I'm certainly not a hard-core rider when it comes to racking up the miles, I also don't consider my bike to be a toy. I suppose that I'm probably just the opposite of the average casual rider who take their bikes out primarily during the weekends and only during nice weather. This is largely because I'm typically doing things other than riding motorcycles during the weekend, although a few here on the forum finally managed to get me out for a nice ride a while back.

Still if my motorcycle was going to be my only form of transportation, then I can tell you that it probably would not be a CB1100 for me because I do care about looks and I honestly don't think that I would be able to live with the look of permanently mounted luggage or at least permanently mounted luggage racks messing up the lines of the bike. (I have a rear mount rack for my CB and don't even leave it on when I'm not using it for the same reason.) Jeez, now that I think about it, if I didn't care about looks and needed to get by with just a motorcycle, then something along the lines of a V-Strom (with a way to lower the seat height) might actually be where I would end up.

Who, I wonder, has convinced new generations of motorcyclists that being able to flat-foot a bike when stopped is desirable - as opposed to required? It is, of course, a rhetorical question - it is the bike manufacturers, who for some unfathomable reason keep designing and building ever bigger bikes, with ever increasing seat heights. Where the heck is that übermench race of bike riders that can flat-foot the new Africa-twin (87+ cm seat height!?!) hiding? I only see some occasionally playing basketball on TV, never around me in real life...