07-15-2013, 04:47 PM
(07-15-2013, 11:14 AM)willsmith_imp Wrote: Well I took a ride on my CB250 up to Mountain Motorsports in Marietta to check out the CB1100 they have in stock! Out of curiosity I checked the VIN... I was surprised that Honda is already on unit number 1632! The salesman speculated that this tally includes those sold in Canada. They said its their 3rd one and they weren't expecting it... The first 2 sold in matter of days but this one has been on the lot for 2.5 wks (as of last week)
The OTD price was quoted in the $11.4k range with tax and assembly fees and all that. A little high I'm sure but I didn't negotiate.
Anyway I had a good look around it and took plenty of pictures. I sat on it and discovered it was a little higher than my CB250 (I guess the US model is 1" higher than non-US?). Other impressions: classic, comfortable, shiny metallic bits.
One last interesting comment by the salesman was that 2 older gentlemen in their 60's had come to look at it THAT SAME DAY and BOTH of them ended up buying the CTX700 instead! Wow! The CTX is way more cruiser, and more plastic, so I was surprised that buyers moved over so far. That to me does not bode well for CB1100 sales.
The CTX700 is $3000 cheaper than the CB1100. That's a lot of reasons to buy it if you just want to go riding. Unless the big CB11 rings a bell for you it doesn't make a lot of sense for most people. A few years ago Ford made a retro/modern 2 seat Thunderbird and the same comment applied to that car. It wasn't the fastest, the best handling, or the most comfortable 2 seat sports car. But to a lot of baby boomers it struck a cord and they had to have one. I wasn't in the market for an 8th motorcycle to put in my garage when I first saw the CB11 in a magazine. I thought (almost hoped) that when I saw one in the flesh that I wouldn't like it. But I loved it and I still do. The CTX700 is like a good riding lawn mower to me, capable, comfortable, and lots of utility.....but no emotion. At least, that's my take on it.
Chip