Will the CB1100 be the last of it's kind in America?

[ChipBeck_imp]

Gentlemen,

Reading this months Cycle World magazine about the new KTM 1290 Super Adventure I am starting to feel like a real dinosaur. With a glowing review that touts it as maybe the best all around motorcycle that has ever been built, how could I not like it?? But I don't like it at all. It's styled like a two wheeled Star Wars storm trooper uniform stuffed inside a crushed set of monkey bars and incorporating every conceivable combination of odd angles and curved surfaces. It assaults the eyes from any angle. Active suspension front and rear with several different modes, accelerometer, lean angle sensors, wheelie control, ride by wire, and an engine with an electronics suite that can deliver power like a Superbike or a scooter depending upon which mode the rider selects after "toggling through all of the options".

Uh, OK. This is what sells today. And it repels me. The CB1100 has been a sales failure in America and I don't think another maker (or Honda) is going to try it again. It looks like riders like me, and bikes like the CB11, are relics. I use to be hip...what happened?

Chip

[JustPassinThru_imp]

We're not hip.

Like the H-D Cruiser market, the market for UJMs - especially the CB750 types...is that of us old guys who remember the 1970s. Harley has found a way to be relevant by creating nostalgia and image around their wildly-obsolete crusier. Honda, a worldwide motor manufacturers with many markets and other fish to fry, has just put this out...no real sales or promotion or image cultivation.

It has to/had to stand and sell on its own merit, without any image-cultivation.

The kids, most of whom - even the ones who ride - don't KNOW the revolution the Honda Four was...couldn't care less. They either want potato-potato-potato or they want to do three-mile wheelies and be able to outrun cops.

We are dinosaurs. Harleys' market spawned a trike industry; I don't know if UBMs will be made into trikes...or if we'll all just get maxi-scooters. But it is what it is...like layered haircuts, like mod Sin-Bin vans...these bikes will disappear with us.

Life goes on.

[emptysea]

I'm just speculating here, but I think there will be a market for standard motorbikes in the US. I think they will largely be styled along the lines of the current CB500f rather than retro styled like our bike, but there may be a small place for a retro-styled bike in the 400-800cc size from time to time.

I am not a motorcycle historian like Chip and Mickey (BTW, wasn't Chip & Mickey a Vaudeville act in the 20s?), but I thought that the idea of the UJM was that the Japanese attempted to design a bike that they could sell, with very minor changes, all over the world. I think they have bikes that do that now, but there are not styled like our bike and I don't think they ever will be. The aforementioned CB500 and CB300 seem to fit the requirements for a standard bike that Honda sells all over the world. I don't think you'll see a larger displacement bike fall into what I think is the UJM model because 2/3 of the world seems to require sub 1000cc motorcycles and the US market leans the other way. For now.

Then again, what the heck do I know? LOL

[1100rider_imp]

I think that most of the motorcycle producers will be trying different looks and displacement over time to appeal to the ever changing market. As we know the development of motorcycle styling is connected to the age group that is buying them. It is very difficult to predict what will appeal to buyers at different times in the market. As an older rider I do not necessarily like them but it is a changing market. I think Honda tried to appeal to the older riders with the CB1100 and that is why I bought one. Not all styles will be a success. I also owned a ST1300 that did not enjoy a lot of success but it appealed to me personally. At least that is my opinion and as we know everybody has one.










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[xNE0x_imp]

Honestly unless someone owned it's predecessor, nobody really like's air cooled engine's now a days. They don't offer the power, or torque of a liquid cooled engine. And apparently even according to most reviews the CB1100's stacked up against, horsepower is everything. And the top horsepower bike always win. I think the biggest problem is the reviews claim it's a beginners bike, and complain about the horsepower not being exciting. Oh well, poor sales figures or not.. I love this bike. You can have your Yamaha YZF-R1M with gut wrenching power, and 0-60 faster than you can imagine for all I care. I won't be selling my CB1100, ever. It's perfect in every aspect, down to the last bolt.

[gossman_imp]

I just find it easier to sit on my porch and yell at kids to get off my lawn. The biggest problem is that the baby boomers are just now discovering the same gap that they had with their depression era parents.

The model A and T roadsters aren't as collectable as they once were. Muscle cars will soon fade away while fast and furious style Japanese cars will increase in popularity. Same goes with motorcycles. I love my CB, best bike I have owned in decades. But it doesn't meet the requirements of new era bikes. To remain successful motorcycle companies are going to stay within the market desires. Honda is doing that. Yet somehow they are willing to toss a bone in our direction, for that I am thankful.

Embrace what we have, and accept the inevitable. I am into ham radio and enjoy tube radios. I know and accept the reality that tube radios are a thing of the past. Many in that hobby refuse too. Let's not be those guys.

[redbirds_imp]

Funny, 40 years ago if the press had tested a bike with power similar to CB, they would been agog, raving about it's stunning power and how it is a bike for experts only. Perspective is everything, never mind that the average rider is not skilled enough to take advantage of the CB's "power" level.

[the Ferret]

I am a dinosaur yes, a velociraptor!

It's unlikely the UJM "as we know it" will make much more of a presence in motorcycle inventories,(it's possible Suz, Kaw and Yam will bring big air cooled 4's in, they have them, just have to wait and see) but UJMs/Standards have actually had a pretty good run the last 14 years spurred on IMO when John Bloor brought back the Bonneville.(hard to believe it's been 14 years already) . Triumph (bonnevilles and scramblers), Moto Guzzi (several V7models plus the new California), Royal Enfield (several models), Kawasaki (W650 and 800), Ducati (GT 1000 and Scrambler) of course Harley Davidson (XL883), Yamaha (SR 400) and BMW (R1200R Classic and R9T) have all been making air cooled motors with basically upright ergos and bench type seats for years now... but....

Just as hair styles, clothes, music and movie genres change, so do motorcycles. Tomorrows UJM's are todays ADV's and their ilk. Powerful, comfortable, canyon carving, sport touring, touring, commuting do pretty much anything pretty well machines. They will never be simple again. The new customer base is demanding more and more electronics and just like my Honda pick-up is closer to a Cadillac CTS in amenities than it was to my old Chev C-10, even though one is fancier, and infinitely more complicated, in the end they are both pick-ups.

Chip, I think both of our son's drive Ducati Monsters with Termioni's. In 30 years, when they look back, those will be their classics. Heck in 30 years anything with an ICE may be considered a classic lol

[jimigalahad_imp]

I think it's possible there won't be many retro 70s models in the future, except H-D of course. I think that market has been tapped and wasn't widely successful. I'm just glad I could finally afford the bike of my dreams when the CB11 came out.

Soon, any "retro" models will probably steal more from the 80s and 90s in the upcoming years. Motorcycle buyers are so fickle. I have no idea how manufacturers decide what to make and what not to. Everyone is very eager to say what they want (PS: I want a round headlight naked 300-500cc or a straight from factory Supermoto that I can fit on) but to actually get people to put their hard earned money down is a whole 'nother thing. It's not like cars which most people have to have anyway...

I'm glad Honda took a calculated chance on the cb11 and it seemed to be a love affair by the designers which I appreciate. But really, Honda is a company that I think will continue to focus on well made, not too expensive, worldwide models.

[JustPassinThru_imp]

Honestly unless someone owned it's predecessor, nobody really like's air cooled engine's now a days. They don't offer the power, or torque of a liquid cooled engine. And apparently even according to most reviews the CB1100's stacked up against, horsepower is everything. And the top horsepower bike always win. I think the biggest problem is the reviews claim it's a beginners bike, and complain about the horsepower not being exciting. Oh well, poor sales figures or not.. I love this bike. You can have your Yamaha YZF-R1M with gut wrenching power, and 0-60 faster than you can imagine for all I care. I won't be selling my CB1100, ever. It's perfect in every aspect, down to the last bolt.

I see it both ways. Air cooling is noisier; more prone to overheating; less powerful than a similar water-cooled unit. It's also simpler - and the winter routine doesn't involve testing and changing antifreeze when laying it up. Plus, no water pump and hoses to fail and decompose.

Water cooling IS the future, and it has nothing to do with our tastes. Emissions laws; it's much easier to meet emissions standards when the engine operating temperature is rigidly controlled. That means water cooling.

So, this is probably the last big air-cooled engine we'll see. Savor it...I know I am.