Ride opinion for potential CB1100 owners

[PaulBWatertownCT_imp]

I’m posting this to share my experience with my 2013 CB1100 which I purchased in excellent condition with only 8k miles. I installed new Dunlop tires after the purchase, that’s all it needed. For some background I’m 52 years old, ride both street and dirt, and have been riding motorcycles since I was in middle school. I have owned many bikes of all styles including American, Italian, European, and Japanese.

Overall opinion: the CB looks beautiful but is a terrible bike to live with.

Riding experience: very top heavy, the bike seems to weigh a ton, inadequate mushy suspension, especially with a passenger, excessive fork dive when braking, and is unbearably uncomfortable after 40 minutes of riding. Everything about the seat is wrong for the driver, and the passenger seat is not stepped and too narrow, so the passenger view and experience are terrible as well. Yes, I tried another seat, Corbin, it helped a bit but not enough.

Fit and finish: The wheels are beautiful, as is the bike in general, but the odd 18” rear tire size really limits your tire choices, not to mention tire cost. The wheels started to loose their finish in multiple spots, which I have not seen on other Hondas. The exhaust is beautiful looking when new, however my header pipe completely discolored and looked terrible as it is unfinished stainless steel of some unknown quality. In contrast my 1994 CB1000 header still looks brand new and shiny at almost 30 years old.

Now the worst part, the engine. The driveline lash is sloppy and annoying. The valve clearance adjustment intervals are at 8k miles. This is completely unacceptable. Even worse, this is a shim under bucket design require pulling the cams to adjust, which is a huge job and completely unnecessary. 1984 Honda Nighthawks had a similar motor with similar redline, but had hydraulic valve adjusters meaning they never needed adjustment. Why Honda? You couldn’t open your 30 year old Nighthawk engine manual to see how this is done? Maybe it would have added a half inch to the engine height? Even if you insisted on manual adjustment, give us home mechanics some screw type adjusters. This is not a race motor and doesn’t demand expensive shim adjusters. A minor complaint was the five speed transmission, which in top gear was still running more RPMs than necessary for the torque of this engine. I understand the ‘14 got a six speed, but it also got crappy hand controls in the process.

Ok, the engine starts and runs just fine and has decent power for what it is. No complaints in the engine performance department.

I am a Honda fan to say the least, my current Honda bikes include an 89 CB400F, 89 Hawk GT 650, 1990 NSR250SP, 1991 CBR600F2, 1994 CB1000, and a 2006 ST1300. That might sound excessive but they are mostly low dollar investments, I enjoy tinkering, and I enjoy different riding experiences. I was excited to buy the 2013 CB, even tried a Corbin seat, but after trying to live with the CB, it had to go. My 94 CB1000 remains and is better in every way than the 13 CB1100 which I thought would replace it.

This can’t be just my opinion. Almost every CB1100 I see for sale has less than 10k miles on it. This is not a coincidence. The uncomfortable nature of these bikes will ensure low miles.

I usually don’t post in forums after I no longer own the bike, but I wish someone would have let me in on this secret when I was looking to buy a CB.

[Cormanus]

Welcome to the forum PaulBWatertownCT.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Hey Paul, thanks for the perspective and welcome to the Forum - and I reckon bye?

Crafted in the spirit of '70s CBs, so might the general ergonomics, or more to your opinion - the seat comfort. This is a highly variable assessment by CB1100 owners, including myself. I found consistently after 60 to 75 minutes I would suffer. Is this the bike's fault or my physique make-up? I tend to lean towards the latter since many owners don't seem to have the same issue.

As for the sloppy lump, well, I believe that was maybe a design specification. Nevertheless, many do enjoy it. I thought it was a "pretty happy" air-cooled mill.

The valve maintenance: Yeah, Honda could have done something different - not sure why they didn't. Maybe their current implementation is much better than most realize?

Fork dive: I hear ya.

Fit 'n' finish: Yeah, above average.

[Sparky80_imp]

First post about a bike you no longer own and generally trash the bike?

Parting shots on the way out it would appear.

When I first bought my CB, I called it a second bike/B bike to my 2016 FJR. Many folks on here laughed at that, but that's their opinion, and I'm fine with that. It's a great bike for what it is... seems you were hoping it would be something else, didn't live up to those expectations, and got rid of it. If I was trying to replace my FJR with the CB as a touring bike (or an ST1300 for that matter), that would be a terrible mistake as they are completely different bikes and I'd be very disappointed. BUT... for what it is, a "put around town" kind of bike for me.... it's not bad.

Only thing I would add..... what makes an Italian bike different than a European bike? That was glaring question I had amidst your whine session.

[clearviewx]

Love the ignore list option.

[Obleo]

Different strokes for different folks !

[PaulBWatertownCT_imp]

First post about a bike you no longer own and generally trash the bike?

Parting shots on the way out it would appear.

When I first bought my CB, I called it a second bike/B bike to my 2016 FJR. Many folks on here laughed at that, but that's their opinion, and I'm fine with that. It's a great bike for what it is... seems you were hoping it would be something else, didn't live up to those expectations, and got rid of it. If I was trying to replace my FJR with the CB as a touring bike (or an ST1300 for that matter), that would be a terrible mistake as they are completely different bikes and I'd be very disappointed. BUT... for what it is, a "put around town" kind of bike for me.... it's not bad.

Only thing I would add..... what makes an Italian bike different than a European bike? That was glaring question I had amidst your whine session.

Sparky,
Yes, maybe I was a bit harsh but I expected better from Honda. I have an ST1300 so I’m not confusing the intent of the bike. I was looking to replace by CB1000 which is in the same class. I hoped for a bit lower seat height and loved the classic looks.

European vs Italian, lol. Yes, I understand that Italy is part of Europe, and that England may or may not be these days. I’ve had Italian bikes from Ducati, Aprilia, Cagiva, Husqvarna (Italian) and others. I’ve also had BMWs and KTMs. The Italian ones are a bit different, especially undersized wiring.

It was my first post but I joined two years ago when I was interested in buying a CB1100, so I have spent time on the forum. I do wish that there were a few more folks on the forum with real life reviews rather than just lauding the good points. I believe in posting if there is something worth saying.

Here a a few more good points:
These bikes are beautiful and classic looking, as I mentioned. They start easy and warm up very quickly. They are a good around town bike for one person, if the weight doesn’t bother you in that setting. Headlight is fabulous for a single round light. Optional rack with passenger grab rails is a great addition.

I hope those positive points round out my review.

[the Ferret]

Howdy and welcome to the forum

Interesting first post. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Personally, I've owned 2 CB 1100's. A 13 and my current 14 Deluxe. Both bought new. I put 8,400 miles in 9 months on my 13 before the 14 DLX came out with a host of updates, so I traded my 13 in for the 14. I've put 63,000 miles on my 14 and after 56 years of riding, approx 800,000 miles and 33 motorcycles it is perhaps my favorite bike I've ever owned. I love it and I love riding it. Smooth, just the right amount of horsepower and torque for me, great brakes, great handling, excellent fit and finish. I've ridden it from Ohio to North Carolina a couple of times and to Arkansas, at one time 698 miles in 12 hours. It does everything well. I've replaced one set of chain and sprockets, it has never needed a valve adjustment, nothing has fallen off or broken and it gets ridden year round in all kinds of weather in Ohio. Like I said I love mine, and while other bikes will come and go in my stable the CB 1100 will stay in the rotation as long as I am able to ride. Yes, it's a little heavy compared to say my NC 750X, but it was a feather weight compared to my ST 1300, and FJR. Finding tires is a minor annoyance, but not that big of a deal. I'm running Pirelli Angel GT's currently, excellent tires.

I'm sorry your experience was not all you expected, but my experience has been the polar opposite, and more than I had hoped for. It's a great motorcycle.

Love this bike.

[clearviewx]

Love the ignore list.

[PowerDubs_imp]

I can't say that you are necessarily wrong to want improvements in some of the areas...but I'm also the type to modify and improve any vehicle I have.

I can tell you that my '14 has no problems with the gearing, in fact I even went up 2 teeth on the rear sprocket.

Other than that- these bike are true to the classic UJM - make it what you want it.

I found the bike competent and acceptable for sure- but a bit dull for my tastes.

So I changed for the better- I added a more comfortable & stepped, seat. I changed the entire front forks and rear shocks. I changed the handlebars to more swept back ones and put the '13 controls on. Changed the mirrors. Changed the headers and muffler. Increased the engine wheel hp by 25% and tq by 16% Added factory heated grips. I would have no problem riding across country and back.

If someone just wants to buy a bike- leave it as is and ride it- this may not be the bike for them- but it may be. No different than any other bike, car, house.

Just going on record here for people looking for ride opinion.