Starting on a CB1100 as a first bike

[Cormanus]

G'day omarj and welcome to the forum.

[Frulk_imp]

For me the key to this issue is where you live (the bay area of San Francisco). I was just there a few months back and its my opinion that is a tuff place to learn to ride. You have steep streets, heavy traffic, lousy road surfaces, in- ground rail systems for trolleys, lot's of stop and go traffic, heavy foot traffic and on and on. In that kind of a learning environment I can see your bike hitting the ground the first few months you have it for a variety of reasons and mistakes a new rider would make including losing your footing on loose gravel/tarmac, applying the front brake too hard in a slow speed maneuver at an off angle going into a parking lot or downhill around a curve, on an uphill while turning slowly and so on. You can get into a used CB pretty cheap these days but by the time you pay to have levers replaced, a tank, bars and so forth it gets pretty expensive.

As you can tell by some of the threads on here our members have a hard time getting money back on their pristine vanity standard cruisers (VSC). Considering that, I can't image there's a market for beat up ones. Better you get something cheap and learn on it and then invest in a VSCB1100A or VSCBDLX/RS1100.

[MM300_imp]

Don't start on the CB, unless you want to drop and bang up your dream bike. Get something smaller and lighter and become at least a somewhat experienced street rider first. I doubt it takes you two years. I was off of my 'beginner' bike in four months. It was a 1990 HD Sportster and yes, I dropped it twice. After that, and over the years, I owned five HD big bikes and never dropped any of them.

[Capo]

The CB is heavy and it's beautiful. You'll likely drop it due to the former and hate yourself for the latter. Not impugning your skill or maturity, but even six months on a mid sized used bike would go a long way, and there's no shortage of CB's around for sale for a relative song for when you're ready. Whatever you choose to do, have fun and take it slow.


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[Lord Popgun]

Welcome Omarj!

I have a VSC

What is an ST1300?

[Ben70_imp]

Hey omarj, welcome to the forum! I understand your desire. You will love the CB1100 if you end up with it, but heed the sound advice already posted. It is a heavy machine and you are probably better off, especially in your riding environment, to pick up some street smarts on something lighter. Weight, (top heavy) will be your big problem, acceleration and braking are so controllable I wouldn't worry about those aspects. Good luck and whichever way you go keep us posted!

Ben

[Bikedude_imp]

Go find a nice low mileage used CB500f it does everything so well if you find out you don't like motorcycling it's not because of the motorcycle. I got one for my wife (it's her 3rd bike) and now she loves to ride and finds excuses to ride whenever she can. I like to ride it too because it's light, it's fun, it gets crazy good gas mileage, it's perfectly smooth at 60mph and has the best turn in and neutral steering of any lightweight beginner type bike I have ever ridden. Put 5000 miles on one of these pass it on to another beginner and then go buy a nice new CB1100.

[Cormanus]

Welcome, Bikedude.

[LikeAfox_imp]

The internet is full of people making strawmen arguments as to why they should not heed the ancient wisdom of starting on something cheap/easy/light. I'm not going to rehash this stupid argument again, not going to address your bullet points, a simple google search will tell what does and does not make a good starter bike. A cb1100 will cross every t under "do not buy" column. Whatever your reasoning may be, it's incorrect. Looks like you've done some homework and already know this.

Maybe some idiot will show up and tell you it's okay because whatever reasons. People convince themselves that driving without seatbelt is okay too. Some don't wear protective gear. Some think that drinking their own pee in the morning is the healthiest way to go. But collective riding experience of millions of riders, backed by insurance statistics, make for a pretty ironclad argument. You're welcome to disregard all that and do what you wish.

Now for actual advise.
Take MSF first and foremost.
Buy proper protective gear. Don't buy anything online because you want it to fit well, especially the helmet.
Buy a standard motorcycle, like a ninja 250. Ride it for 2 years, sell it for the exact amount of money you bought it for. It's your throwaway bike, but keep it mechanically sound.
Don't buy anything brand new because it will lose value. Also because you will cuss it up in some way or another and it will lose more value. So get something that already has scratches for bottom barrel price.
Go to demo events, ride any bike you can get your hands on. If your friends have motorcycles, try to ride em. Bikes, not friends.
Your opinion on what you actually like is subject to a wild fluctuation. In 2 years you'll have a much better idea of what kind of riding you like to do. And there is a range of bikes tailored to every type.

I'll add that a CB 1100 is a vanity standard cruiser bike that shines on short trips and is great for suburban sprawl. A jack of all trades and master of none. You like it because of it's looks, which is cool. But you don't learn to play guitar on a 12 string, I mean you welcome to it, but it won't crush your leg when you forget your kickstand on a hill. I suck at analogies

Good luck

a what??? That's a description I've never heard before.

a what??? That's a description I've never heard before. Well, think about it. It's a very smooth inoffensive and mediocre motorcycle. Nobody here or anywhere bought it because it excels at anything other than looking very pretty. It's made to cruise, not perform.

VSC license plate is available in my state. Hmmmm

[Aka Tsubasa_imp]

The internet is full of people making strawmen arguments as to why they should not heed the ancient wisdom of starting on something cheap/easy/light. I'm not going to rehash this stupid argument again, not going to address your bullet points, a simple google search will tell what does and does not make a good starter bike. A cb1100 will cross every t under "do not buy" column. Whatever your reasoning may be, it's incorrect. Looks like you've done some homework and already know this.

Maybe some idiot will show up and tell you it's okay because whatever reasons. People convince themselves that driving without seatbelt is okay too. Some don't wear protective gear. Some think that drinking their own pee in the morning is the healthiest way to go. But collective riding experience of millions of riders, backed by insurance statistics, make for a pretty ironclad argument. You're welcome to disregard all that and do what you wish.

Now for actual advise.
Take MSF first and foremost.
Buy proper protective gear. Don't buy anything online because you want it to fit well, especially the helmet.
Buy a standard motorcycle, like a ninja 250. Ride it for 2 years, sell it for the exact amount of money you bought it for. It's your throwaway bike, but keep it mechanically sound.
Don't buy anything brand new because it will lose value. Also because you will cuss it up in some way or another and it will lose more value. So get something that already has scratches for bottom barrel price.
Go to demo events, ride any bike you can get your hands on. If your friends have motorcycles, try to ride em. Bikes, not friends.
Your opinion on what you actually like is subject to a wild fluctuation. In 2 years you'll have a much better idea of what kind of riding you like to do. And there is a range of bikes tailored to every type.

I'll add that a CB 1100 is a vanity standard cruiser bike that shines on short trips and is great for suburban sprawl. A jack of all trades and master of none. You like it because of it's looks, which is cool. But you don't learn to play guitar on a 12 string, I mean you welcome to it, but it won't crush your leg when you forget your kickstand on a hill. I suck at analogies

Good luck

a what??? That's a description I've never heard before.

a what??? That's a description I've never heard before. Well, think about it. It's a very smooth inoffensive and mediocre motorcycle. Nobody here or anywhere bought it because it excels at anything other than looking very pretty. It's made to cruise, not perform.

VSC license plate is available in my state. Hmmmm

a what??? That's a description I've never heard before. Well, think about it. It's a very smooth inoffensive and mediocre motorcycle. Nobody here or anywhere bought it because it excels at anything other than looking very pretty. It's made to cruise, not perform.

VSC license plate is available in my state. Hmmmm
Why do you own one of these bikes..........