How did you discover the CB?

[c-breezy_imp]

I just have to say, I'm really loving this thread and reading about how all of us came to unite via this bike.

[Ben70_imp]

About two years ago I thought it would be fun to get back into motorcycling for a number of reasons, "while I still can" being one of them.
I thought an old '70s BMW would be fun if I could find one in good enough shape, cheap enough. Then after doing a little research and youtube watching I considered a MG V-7, and a Triumph, all of which led me to some comparisons that included the CB. It was widely dismissed as lacking character in the reviews, but oh yeah, by the way it always started, ran great, didn't leak, and had a dealer network second only to H-D.
Checked out a few at farther flung dealers but found one used at my local dealer just before last summer.
I lurked on this forum, read the CB1100 thread on ADVrider and picked it up at the end of last summer.
It was love at first sight, but after riding it I found I needed more room, which I solved with lower pegs and a higher seat (re-upholstered).
This excellent forum also contributed to my decision, for the quality of the members and the good information. I too am left wondering why this machine never was widely (or even narrowly ) promoted by Honda.

Ben

[BayAreaRick_imp]

I too read about the CB1100 on the ADVrider forums. It was the logical upgrade to my 2002 Nighthawk-750. I liked what I saw at the motorcycle show (used to be in San Mateo, CA - now gone) when the 2013 came out but just I didn't wan't to pay that kind of money (at MSRP sticker) and it wasn't 'exactly' right. Wow, once I saw the 2014 DLX - that was the one. They were difficult to find, expensive (packed over sticker), so I just waited. I happened to have been right thinking that two years after they were originally sold and no longer available in 2016, many original owners put them up for sale for various reasons, with low mileage - all over the place.

Found the one - in New York, I am in California. Had 1,920 miles on it, cut a good deal ($7,300) and had it shipped home!

[zippooriginal_imp]

[/size][/font]I had 3 CB750's that I rode from '72 through '80. I sold them off decades ago.
After recently moving I experienced the huge urge to ride again. I looked around for a bike that would make me happy. I nearly settled on a current Honda that ultimately I wouldn't have been unhappy with.
Thanks to a Honda dealership sales man who was completely inattentive and lacking I was left with the time to really check out the model I was ready to buy. Even without riding it I determined that this model was not what I would be happy with.
While still waiting on the sales jerk to get to me I made a discovery. In the very back corner of this showroom I found a new lone 2014 CB1100. I tried it on and it was like being back on my old 750, I loved it!
The jerk sales idiot quoted me a price that was out of the park for a bike that was (although new) two years old. His price was $500 more than the old original MSRP! I told him where the f... he could go!
I was hooked on the CB1100. It took me three weeks but I found a lone CB at a little dealership in north Phoenix, and it had a discounted price. On faith I rented a uhaul cycle trailer and drove the 400 mi. to get that CB.
Well I got it and I've been loving it ever since!

[rotor]

Curious because whenever people see me and ask about the bike, it's typically followed by "I didn't know they (Honda) even made a bike like that."

Even some other CB owners I've spoken with say they only discovered the bike via their own proactive research and didn't even realize it existed before stumbling across it. Obviously many bike enthusiasts here would have known about it because they likely read or subscribe to publications that did reviews and covered its release but I'm just wondering.

Honda has really done itself and the resale market for owners no good with their seeming complete neglect with marketing and other campaigns to raise its profile.


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The same here - I stumbled across it a couple of years ago while assembling a list of in-line four "road-bikes" (as opposed to "sport-bikes") by all the vendors on my "approved vendor list".

[COCB1100_imp]

Curious because whenever people see me and ask about the bike, it's typically followed by "I didn't know they (Honda) even made a bike like that."

Even some other CB owners I've spoken with say they only discovered the bike via their own proactive research and didn't even realize it existed before stumbling across it. Obviously many bike enthusiasts here would have known about it because they likely read or subscribe to publications that did reviews and covered its release but I'm just wondering.

Honda has really done itself and the resale market for owners no good with their seeming complete neglect with marketing and other campaigns to raise its profile.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The same here - I stumbled across it a couple of years ago while assembling a list of in-line four "road-bikes" (as opposed to "sport-bikes") by all the vendors on my "approved vendor list".

The same here - I stumbled across it a couple of years ago while assembling a list of in-line four "road-bikes" (as opposed to "sport-bikes") by all the vendors on my "approved vendor list".
Nice.

So what is the list of bikes you ultimately came up with that satisfied that criteria? Who makes the cut with respect to your list of approved vendors (manufacturers)?

I take it you are strongly partial to inline 4s motor formats?


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[rustyski_imp]

I loved the old school CB 1100 look. I waited and waited. It was between a victory Bagger and the CB. Since I already had the Vaquero I decided on the used 2013 cb1100. Begged my wife to drop me off at the dealer and brought it home.

I found the CB1100 forum first and that helped me decide :-)

I bought my '14 DLX Thru this forum. Had it shipped to IL.

"There's nothing better than having a motorcycle, except 2 or 3 or 4 motorcycles"

hahahaha"

Ride on .....



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[dave]

I first saw something about the CB1100 coming to America in CycleWorld magazine in early 2012, I believe. The first time I saw one in person was in July 2012 at the Laguna Seca race track in Monteray, Ca. Honda had it on display, up on a raised stand, and I couldn't help going back multiple times to stare at it. I told my wife "all that bike needs to be perfect is spoke wheels, 4 into 4 exhaust, and to paint that silver side cover red". I told her I wanted to buy one, but the first thing I would do after buying it would be to repaint the side covers. I began looking a year later, and when I discovered the 2014 model was even better looking than the 2013 model I knew I had to have one. I put a down-payment on a Dlx model a few months before they were available and waited.

[F800GT_imp]

I know about the CB1100 from looking up the CB750F that I knew from my childhood.

[rotor]

Curious because whenever people see me and ask about the bike, it's typically followed by "I didn't know they (Honda) even made a bike like that."

Even some other CB owners I've spoken with say they only discovered the bike via their own proactive research and didn't even realize it existed before stumbling across it. Obviously many bike enthusiasts here would have known about it because they likely read or subscribe to publications that did reviews and covered its release but I'm just wondering.

Honda has really done itself and the resale market for owners no good with their seeming complete neglect with marketing and other campaigns to raise its profile.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The same here - I stumbled across it a couple of years ago while assembling a list of in-line four "road-bikes" (as opposed to "sport-bikes") by all the vendors on my "approved vendor list".

The same here - I stumbled across it a couple of years ago while assembling a list of in-line four "road-bikes" (as opposed to "sport-bikes") by all the vendors on my "approved vendor list".
Nice.

So what is the list of bikes you ultimately came up with that satisfied that criteria? Who makes the cut with respect to your list of approved vendors (manufacturers)?

I take it you are strongly partial to inline 4s motor formats?


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The list is short: Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki.

I am not prepared to look at brands that are here-today-gone/resold-tomorrow "name-shells", IMHO BMW products carry an unacceptable "snob-premium" price differential, I am not prepared to look at products that have only a marginal market penetration, and I believe the problematic reliability reputation of some brands is more likely deserved than not. When I spend my hard-earned money, I have every right to indulge in my prejudices.

Quote:So what is the list of bikes you ultimately came up with that satisfied that criteria? Honda CB650F, Yamaha XJ6, Kawasaki Z800. (By memory, incomplete, this was a few years ago. I was looking at replacing a Honda CBF600N which went out of production in 2012). This is when I stumbled upon CB1100.

Quote:I take it you are strongly partial to inline 4s motor formats? There was a while ago here a thread on mass vs. engine power. (I ride solo, so I add 100 kg of mass (me+riding-gear+cargo) to the "curb weight" when determining the quotient). I believe that for my riding (by seat-time 50% urban traffic, 50% multi-day trips) bike must have at least 150 Watts/kg, while more than 200 is not of much value to me. For me to handle it in lively urban traffic, the mass of bike should be not much more than 200 kg (CB1100 is at the extreme end of my mass criterion). Because of long trips, the riding position must be reasonably relaxed, upright - this is where CB1100 is probably the best one, and this is why I ride one. While "the looks" are pretty low on my list of criteria, the nightmare-ugly CB650F is something that has kept me from owning one.

As far as I can tell, it is pretty much impossible to produce a motorcycle that would meet my specs - specifically the mass/power ratio - other than with a transverse in-line 3 or 4 cylinder motor. Or at least I have not seen one yet.