2015 CB1100 Article in RideApart

[Pauley]

http://rideapart.com/articles/2014-honda...uxe-review

Good article. Favorable to the CB1100. A bit of obnoxious hyperbole though - "smoother than a jar of Skippy peanut butter and just as delicious", but gotta agree.

[ValleyCat_imp]

I missed my chance on a local 2014 DLX. Now they're gone. I find how he calls it a 2015 hopeful. I thought maybe a white was around the corner...can't exactly say why I was so drawn to the color. I'd rather have red now. Dang. So stupid.

[ride4now_imp]

Nice Pauley...thanks for sharing. The author nailed the issue with the horn vs. turn signal placement. He's right...it is backwards! I hope there is a 2015 version. He talks about the changes with the 2014 model year and states that he picked up this 2015 from Honda in California, so let's hope he's right!

[the Ferret]

Pleasant article to read.

[Cormanus]

Thanks, Pauley. I can't agree that any big bike is perfect for beginners; nor can I rid myself of the suspicion that he liked the bike a lot more that he said, but felt he had to pay homage to the power merchants of motorcycle journalism.
By the way, I think the claim it was a 2015 model was a typo.

[xNE0x_imp]

Few things I would like to pick apart from his review:

"It's almost hard to imagine that between your legs breaths a 1142cc air cooled inline 4 cylinder engine. Many will say that this bike is underpowered and too heavy, and it is but that’s not why you’re buying this bike. Even if you wanted more power, there are a number of modifications you could potentially make to give it a bit more zest."

Yet another jab at horsepower. Why is everything about horsepower? Where is the claim this bike had jaw dropping performance? I never saw such claim, but I did read the article written by the designers of this bike before I bought it. They nailed it in my book.

"The power comes on so smooth and even, it almost feels like an electric motorcycle."

An electric motorcycle has more torque vs horsepower. I guess I would like to know what CC electric motorcycle he's ridden, and comparing it to.

"While cruising along the highway, there were a couple of times where I was in 6th gear between 70-80mph and I found myself needing to drop down a gear or two to find the power to overtake another vehicle."

The older CB's did not have any accelerator pumps, or modern carb technology. This dump and thump he's explaining is nothing when you've ridden it's older brothers. You would need to always get the rev's up, dump a gear, then power shift up to get the "thrill". Sounds like he's wanting a sport bike's "twist of the wrist" experience, and didn't get it.

"Due to the displacement and compression of this engine, the CB1100 DLX produces some rather noticeable engine braking when downshifting and closing the throttle."

Again, ride it's older counterpart. This is perfectly normal, and should not be a surprise to him. The older inline fours had a 9.0 x 1 compression ratio, which is not much different than the 9.7 x 1 ratio of the cb1100. This difference should be hardly noticeable if at all. My CB750K is running 10x1, and I can't tell the difference between them. I think this drag or engine braking he's complaining about, is because he is use to a bike like the NC700X with coated pistons. When you try to use engine braking on an NC700X, you will notice there is hardly any

"I would even go so far as to say the Honda CB1100 is the perfect big bike for beginners or larger/taller individuals and for those seeking a beautiful cafe-styled bike with more power and performance than a Triumph Bonneville or Thruxton—all while remaining cheaper than the Moto Guzzi 8V SE and BMW R-Nine T."

My sales rep told me that most salesman will say that about any bike to get a quick sell, offering confidence to the buyer and presenting the bike as less intimidating. When the word "beginners bike" gets thrown around like this, my first thought runs to a greenhorn setting his duff for the first time on a motorcycle. And that, is where I disagree with these types of statements. The fact is, the CB1100 is a 570 lb bike with 87 hp. It is by no mean's, a beginners bike. Any motorcycle safety instructor will tell you, start small.

Other than that, the review was positive


Sorry for the rant!

[Guth_imp]

All in all it seems like the guy enjoyed his time with the bike.

[metallyguitarded_imp]

I still question whether he's in fact reviewing a 2015 model or the 2014. It's interesting that the title and in a couple spots in the article he refers to it as a 2015 but the link to the article has 2014 in the address. Also, he writes that some had ridden "last year's model with only five gears." If he was reviewing a 2015 model, then last year's model would have six gears as well. Noticeably absent from the article is any discussion of changes for the new model year or even a statement of absolutely no changes. Finally, I find it unlikely that he did this trip, wrote about it and published it without anyone else realizing that Honda was releasing a 2015 CB1100.

Still, overall, a favorable review of what I believe to be the 2014 DLX.

[mgoodie_imp]

Few things I would like to pick apart from his review:

"It's almost hard to imagine that between your legs breaths a 1142cc air cooled inline 4 cylinder engine. Many will say that this bike is underpowered and too heavy, and it is but that’s not why you’re buying this bike. Even if you wanted more power, there are a number of modifications you could potentially make to give it a bit more zest."

Yet another jab at horsepower. Why is everything about horsepower? Where is the claim this bike had jaw dropping performance? I never saw such claim, but I did read the article written by the designers of this bike before I bought it. They nailed it in my book.

"The power comes on so smooth and even, it almost feels like an electric motorcycle."

An electric motorcycle has more torque vs horsepower. I guess I would like to know what CC electric motorcycle he's ridden, and comparing it to.

"While cruising along the highway, there were a couple of times where I was in 6th gear between 70-80mph and I found myself needing to drop down a gear or two to find the power to overtake another vehicle."

The older CB's did not have any accelerator pumps, or modern carb technology. This dump and thump he's explaining is nothing when you've ridden it's older brothers. You would need to always get the rev's up, dump a gear, then power shift up to get the "thrill". Sounds like he's wanting a sport bike's "twist of the wrist" experience, and didn't get it.

"Due to the displacement and compression of this engine, the CB1100 DLX produces some rather noticeable engine braking when downshifting and closing the throttle."

Again, ride it's older counterpart. This is perfectly normal, and should not be a surprise to him. The older inline fours had a 9.0 x 1 compression ratio, which is not much different than the 9.7 x 1 ratio of the cb1100. This difference should be hardly noticeable if at all. My CB750K is running 10x1, and I can't tell the difference between them. I think this drag or engine braking he's complaining about, is because he is use to a bike like the NC700X with coated pistons. When you try to use engine braking on an NC700X, you will notice there is hardly any

"I would even go so far as to say the Honda CB1100 is the perfect big bike for beginners or larger/taller individuals and for those seeking a beautiful cafe-styled bike with more power and performance than a Triumph Bonneville or Thruxton—all while remaining cheaper than the Moto Guzzi 8V SE and BMW R-Nine T."

My sales rep told me that most salesman will say that about any bike to get a quick sell, offering confidence to the buyer and presenting the bike as less intimidating. When the word "beginners bike" gets thrown around like this, my first thought runs to a greenhorn setting his duff for the first time on a motorcycle. And that, is where I disagree with these types of statements. The fact is, the CB1100 is a 570 lb bike with 87 hp. It is by no mean's, a beginners bike. Any motorcycle safety instructor will tell you, start small.

Other than that, the review was positive


Sorry for the rant!

I believe the reason everyone including myself talks about the power is because in this day and age with technology where it is an 1142cc inline 4 should put out much more horsepower. The engineers even said it themselves that that had to figure out how to make this big of an engine put out less power. Dont get me wrong this bike is still fast off the line enough so to keep up with most supersports up to 60mph but I firmly believe this bike could stand to be at least 100hp or better.

[DGShannon_imp]

The addition of the 4-2 exhaust system on the DLX over the 4-2-1 on the base model—aesthetically—makes the bike very beautiful, but it adds no additional power benefit and adds weight to the bike.

Like he says, useless waste of material and weight!