08-06-2013, 12:12 AM
Cruisers have longer wheelbases and lower centers of gravity, which means less weight transfer to the front tire when braking compared to a sportbike (shorter wheelbase, higher COG). So Harley riders and other cruiser owners are accustomed to using the rear brake a lot, because the rear tire has more weight on it (and thus traction) and therefore is able to provide more braking power. The problem is that it's harder to modulate braking force with your foot than with your hand, and many cruiser riders just stomp on the rear brake pedal in an emergency, lock up the rear tire and crash. (Locking up the rear tire when braking is a very common cause of bike crashes.) Shortly after I bought my Hawk GT I had an older neighbor who warned me not to use the front brake because it would send me over the handlebars, it was the rear brake that was the correct one to use. He was set in his ways, there was no point in arguing with him about. Sigh...
So it's possible, given the target demographic of the CB1100 (older guys who may be coming off cruisers), that Honda deliberately made the rear brake a bit weaker than usual to make it hard for riders to accidentally lock up the rear wheel. That seems unlikely to me, but it's a possibility.
So it's possible, given the target demographic of the CB1100 (older guys who may be coming off cruisers), that Honda deliberately made the rear brake a bit weaker than usual to make it hard for riders to accidentally lock up the rear wheel. That seems unlikely to me, but it's a possibility.