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A friend and I went riding today and we switched bikes for a bit. Thus I found myself on a Ducati Hypermotard... a very strange beast. Both bikes are air cooled, both have two wheels and similar controls but there the similarities pretty much end. The Ducati vibrated like riding a chain saw and it was quite twitchy. The overall bike is quite short and I felt like I was sitting right over the front wheel. The gear shift took a lot of force to move between gears. It is much lighter than the CB (by over 100 pounds and I could definitely feel the difference). Didn't much care for it at all.
My friend on the other hand said that riding the CB was like sitting in a barcolounger and gave him no sense of excitement. He said it was way too smooth for his liking. My reaction was "um.. too smooth? really? whatever" and then we went back to riding our own bikes and were each quite happy.
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It would be cool to ride a Ducati if only to appreciate what we have in the CB. Did you friend mention any maintenance issues?
These days my sense of excitement is that I'm still breathing and able to ride. Perhaps that's an overstatement but the CB1100 is the perfect bike. And when I want to go slower I jump on the NC700.
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(03-27-2015, 02:35 PM)AndyHe_imp Wrote: A friend and I went riding today and we switched bikes for a bit. Thus I found myself on a Ducati Hypermotard... a very strange beast. Both bikes are air cooled, both have two wheels and similar controls but there the similarities pretty much end. The Ducati vibrated like riding a chain saw and it was quite twitchy. The overall bike is quite short and I felt like I was sitting right over the front wheel. The gear shift took a lot of force to move between gears. It is much lighter than the CB (by over 100 pounds and I could definitely feel the difference). Didn't much care for it at all.
My friend on the other hand said that riding the CB was like sitting in a barcolounger and gave him no sense of excitement. He said it was way too smooth for his liking. My reaction was "um.. too smooth? really? whatever" and then we went back to riding our own bikes and were each quite happy.
I had a chance to ride a hypermotard as well...and the chainsaw comparison is dead on. I felt like I was riding a 2 by 4 board.
open clutch were horrible. some say they like it...to each his own as you put it.
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(03-27-2015, 08:55 PM)CB4ME_imp Wrote: It would be cool to ride a Ducati if only to appreciate what we have in the CB. Did you friend mention any maintenance issues?
These days my sense of excitement is that I'm still breathing and able to ride. Perhaps that's an overstatement but the CB1100 is the perfect bike. And when I want to go slower I jump on the NC700.
Right there with ya brother
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(03-27-2015, 02:35 PM)AndyHe_imp Wrote: A friend and I went riding today and we switched bikes for a bit. Thus I found myself on a Ducati Hypermotard... a very strange beast. Both bikes are air cooled, both have two wheels and similar controls but there the similarities pretty much end. The Ducati vibrated like riding a chain saw and it was quite twitchy. The overall bike is quite short and I felt like I was sitting right over the front wheel. The gear shift took a lot of force to move between gears. It is much lighter than the CB (by over 100 pounds and I could definitely feel the difference). Didn't much care for it at all.
My friend on the other hand said that riding the CB was like sitting in a barcolounger and gave him no sense of excitement. He said it was way too smooth for his liking. My reaction was "um.. too smooth? really? whatever" and then we went back to riding our own bikes and were each quite happy.
That is exactly my comparison between a bike, big or small, and my Maxi-Scooter.
The scooter has an upright position. Full fairing. In the case of the Burgman 650, quiet isolation...as quiet, or more quiet, than the CB1100.
It's responsive on the road, too....BUT. The seating position does not encourage acrobatics.
Entirely different beasts.
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I test rode a Hyperstrada which is the touring version of the liquid cooled 821 Hypermotard. I loved the engine which has a similar level of vibration to my V-strom. I found it to be easily tolerable, like my V-strom. With over 100 hp, it was rather lively.
What I hated was the riding position. The Strada's seat locks you in and the ergos were uncomfortable. The Motard seat is flatter, probably better. I had no real intention to buy when I took the test ride, but had it blown my mind, I might have had to consider selling the CB.
That's the thing, I keep going back to the CB for the way it makes me feel. As much as I enjoy certain aspects of other bikes, I haven't found one that doesn't have some fatal flaw. The CB isn't perfect, but there isn't any one thing that made me want to look elsewhere.
That being said, there are a couple of bikes I have avoided because I am worried I will like them enough to sell the CB.
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