VIBRATION - deciding too much; and living with it.

[Willmarth_imp]

The vibration thingy...as the miles roll on, it seems to be getting worse.

Nope, not gonna sell. Nope, don't want this machine - which was built TO PERFECTION in Soichiro Honda's model plant - to be taken apart in search of mysterious malady, on the bench of a backwoods Montana shop.

But, as they say, decisions must be made. There's a fork in the road...take it.

First, how much is too much? This engine starts and purrs smoothly at about 1000rpm. It pulls strong out the gate, and between 2000-2500rpm is smooth as silk. In 1,2 and 3rd gear, that's fine for traffic.

From 2500 to 3000, things get a little buzzy. That's for fast acceleration in traffic in lower gears.

3000 to 4000 things get a bit out of hand. Mirrors are still fine but my left-hand, which seems more sensitive, starts getting the neuralgia tingles. This is the RPM band when accelerating to highway speed on our limited-access signaled arterials.

Above 4000...which I've run it up to to see what happens...or at highway speeds, which out here in the West is about 85...it gets ugly. Just under 5000rpm, the tank starts to buzz. A little higher and I feel it through the well-padded seat.

Is this normal, in others' experience? I know a four is gonna have some harmonic issues. I can live with it...there is so much else with this machine to love. But I don't want the engine tearing itself apart.

NOW. What is a good way to mitigate the buzz through the grips? I have the factory bars and weights. I read the other thread about someone who replaced or tried to replace Honda bars with aftermarket...how exquisitely-engineered were those weights.

Fair enough. Is there a better sort of grip? I wear off-road riding gloves; they help but they're not a full solution. The bars are fine for me. Keep the bars and weights and try heavily-padded grips? I have big hands; a larger circumference won't hurt me.

Thanks for the feedback.

I am a new owner of a leftover 2014 standard model that I purchased marked down to $6,199. My other bikes are also 2014 models and include a CB1000R, a deluxe Interceptor, and a standard CTX1300. The V4s in the Interceptor and CTX are both super smooth throughout the rev range and the CB1000R gets buzzy around 5,000 RPM. I didn't know quite what to expect with the CB1100 but agree with this post about the vibration. I absolutely love the bike and will learn t live with it but am glad to hear that others are experiencing the same thing and it's not just my bike. I would hate to have the dealer monkeying around with my bike trying to find a non-existent problem.