Collectible

[Red Mist_imp]

It's a nice thought, but at this point, I'm just happy that Honda brought back the CB1100, any CB1100 for another year. I hope they sell well enough that we'll see the CB back in 2015. If not, who knows — the 2014 Standard could turn out to be the "rarest of the rare" here in the States.

When it comes to big ticket items, I've found that in those cases where I've been fortunate enough to buy exactly what I wanted at the time of purchase, those items will stick with me for a long time. That's what the original CB1100 represents to me. I had a similar feeling the first time I saw the original Audi A4. I was in Europe and the car had not yet been released in the States. When I first laid eyes on one, I thought it was the best looking sports sedan I had ever seen. A few years later after Audi brought the A4 to the States, I bought one. I still have it. When I bought the car, our son was an infant. This year he gets his learner permit and will start driving it (I wonder how many other kids his age will learn to drive a manual transmission?). The A4 has gone through numerous iterations since I bought mine, but I still like the looks of the original design the best.

Different story with my Hawk GT, yet still similar. When Honda released that bike back in 1988 I reeeaaallllyyy wanted one. The only thing that stopped me was myself (not buying a bike back then was probably one of the few wise decisions that I made at that age). Finally in 2007, I found a clean, stock, candy blue '88 just like the one I sat on at the dealership all those years ago. This time I bought it, and I'm glad that I did. The only time I've ever thought about selling it was when I've pondered raising money for some dirt bikes for my son and I. But honestly, I have a hard time imagining parting with it.

By now you can probably figure out the trend. Regardless of how collectible the CB1100 may or may not become, the original design will always be the one that makes me smile the most, or pause the longest while I simply admire it. I knew it when I very first saw the bike.

Some designs simply resonate more strongly with us than others. For a few here, that means getting rid of the 2013 CB1100 for a 2014 DLX. I can understand that. If Honda were to bring the EX model to the States at some point down the road, we would probably see another group of 2013 owners make the transition to that bike (maybe even a few '14 DLX owners).

In the end, I'm guessing that most of us purchase what our hearts tell us to. Being fortunate enough to buy what we like is a blessing. If any of these bikes were to become collectible at some point down the road, that would just be icing on the cake.

I don't know about this bike being much of a collector's item, there are so many out there worldwide, but it might be a curiosity some day.

Despite the extra weight and lack of sporting performance that some other new retros (R Nine T, for example) have, I like the design and function and feel of the CB1100. It's plenty quick and has what I was looking for.

Any clown wants to smoke me on a R Nine T, we'll do a rematch, lemme g'home and get the GSX-R...