Lean and Mean

[The Spaceman_imp]

Within the third thread I read here this morning, two different people referred to the CB's fueling as "lean". And one added "probably due to emissions regs."

Perhaps its a exception, but my CB has never had the slightest issue with fueling with the OEM setup. Its the smoothest running bike I've ever ridden, and I've ridden a LOT of bikes. Honda has published a great amount if detail on the effort they took to produce a linear power delivery for this bike.

Did/does your bike run poorly in the lower RPM range as delivered? Was it bad enough you felt modifying the FI system at your expense was necessary? Did you discuss the issue with your Honda service dept? If so, what did they say about it?

[Rocky_imp]

No problem here.
This is an amazingly smooth engine

[Aussie_imp]

No issues here.

[The Spaceman_imp]

This is the Motorcycle.com dyno chart from their '13 CB1100 review. The editor notes that it "looks like it was drawn by hand to produce the most linear power band we can remember seeing..." That's hard to reconcile with "lean fueling."

Here's the entire review:
http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/h...91637.html

[the Ferret]

I have always felt " something" in the 2800 to 3200 rpm range that felt like something was holding it back (and that is right in the rev range I like to ride). Others have mentioned it too saying it was the lean condition set at the factory. It wasn't until I read the design article that I found out Honda purposefully did something with the fi that made it " growl" in that rpm range. Now it makes perfect sense to me, why myself and others felt something there, but it's not factory lean...its factory mean

Read eveyone involved in a 3000 rpm rhapsody

http://world.honda.com/CB1100/engineer-talk/episode3/

"We maintained, and improved on the best aspect of the previous CB1100, the feel between 2,800 and 3,200 rpm, or between 80 and 100 km/h."

They also adjusted the valve timing

http://world.honda.com/CB1100/engineer-talk/episode1/

"Basically, straight-four engines run smooth as long as all four pistons move the same way. My initial thoughts were, to give the engine a deep rumble, we'd have to change the movement a bit.
We ended up shifting the valve timing of cylinders 1 and 2, compared to cylinders 3 and 4, and by continuing to change the gap, found the right combustion out-of-sync feel."

[CIP57_imp]

Honda set up the CB1100 with a smooth torque curve through out the entire range. Adding more fuel is not noticeable in the 1/4 throttle range and torque will not be increased by much. Horsepower gains of about 10% will be noticed by a richer mixture with the addition of a free flowing exhaust. This is very noticeable from 1/2 to full throttle, the bike pulls much harder.

[Novice_imp]

Never been an issue so I'm hesitant about any modifications. I will have to be convinced that there will be an improvement before I start tinkering around.

[redbirds_imp]

No complaints with my CB. The power band seems very linear and on-off throttle transitions are very good compared to other fuel injected bikes I've ridden.

[ClassicVW_imp]

I have no complaints either. The issue I spoke of a couple of weeks ago where I felt jerkiness when first rolling on the throttle or backing off seems to have lessened quite a bit as I've put more miles on the bike.

My only complaint, even though I don't like very loud pipes, is that the bike is a bit too quiet. I might investigate adding the Two Brothers pipe someday.

[mininsx_imp]

I have to agree with Ferret, mine is not as smooth running as it could be or as smooth as other bikes I've had, and I have no doubt that it's the FI tuning from the factory. However, it's not a deal-breaker and I've learned to live with it. If it was as bad as the '03 Honda RC51 I used to have then it would already have a Power Commander on it. Thankfully it's not that bad.