CB1100 vs. CBX

[LongRanger_imp]

Ferret, you've ridden both. 30 years of advancements separate these bikes. Setting aside the spec sheet, which is the more satisfying bike to ride, and why?

[Desert viper_imp]

I had a Silver 79 with the sports kit! Wish I’d never sold it .....huge regret...but my deluxe is much more fun to ride, especially aggressively. I would never throw it into a turn the way I do the CB1100. But I love the way the CBX looks and sounds.

[peterbaron]

I would be very interested to hear experienced rider's opinion, as to CBX was my dream bike, I've never rode/owned, and sat on it only 2 times.

[SportsterDoc]

DV, that is/was a beautiful machine.

When I lived in Flagstaff, mid-nineties, a friend in Lake Havasu would invite me to ride his newest acquisitions.
One was a CBX. It was smooth, but not the acceleration that I anticipated...or maybe it was so smooth it accelerated better than I thought!

[Desert viper_imp]

In 1980 I was 28, just divorced with very little extra cash. I walked into Long Beach Honda and they had leftover 1979 CBXes still in the crate, red or silver, for $3600 plus tax.......I wanted a new red one so bad! Years later I found a silver one with a sports kit in Cycle Trader for $5500. I drove from San Pedro to Sacramento in my van, bought it, loaded it in the van, and drove back home. After owning it awhile I realized (or discovered) that the entire braking system needed to be overhauled and the engine leaked oil. With 9 other bike to maintain I sadly decided to just sell it. It sold in one week for my asking price of $7500, to a young Japanese man who shipped them back to Japan! Even with the stock 6 into 2 exhaust the sound was incredible on its way to redline! Aww hindsight.....
Thanks SportsterDoc, it was great looking from about 10 feet away!

[Houtman_imp]

I had 5 CBX's at one time from 1987 till 2013 , great bikes .
Road holding was not that bad ( had Ohlins piggy backs on them ) , brakes not great for the weight of the bike , 79 front forks were too small. A great bike with a beautiful sound and perfect roll on power.
However our CB 1100's are much easier to ride and live with and perfect brakes , fuel injection and very little maintenance.
Ride the CBX as a bike from the seventies/early eighties and you will love them.
NEVER lost money selling the 5 CBX's .
One of my red 79 had a Pipe Master six in to six : beautiful sound !!!

[the Ferret]

I think everyone has described it perfectly. In 1979 it was an earth shattering motorcycle. 6 head pipes in a row, count em 6! The sound was amazing. It was amazingly smooth. I nearly got into big trouble on an 81 or 82 "Claybrook" edition when I came up to a 90 degree turn, downshifted 3 times and the speedo still read 85 mph as it had when I started braking/downshifting. The folly of an 85 mph speedo. It was by the almighty's hand that I made that curve.

The engines were seemingly incredibly wide although the motor as a whole wasn't much wider than a 4 cyl motor. I don't remember the brakes being mediocre, and I remember the handling being pretty good considering.

I would still love to have one in the garage. Either red or black.

I love my 1100 and it's a great "rider's" bike imo. I rode it today in the worst imaginable conditions (27 degrees,slushy and snowing) and it just purred along, never missed a beat, handled great, braked great.

[SportsterDoc]

I think everyone has described it perfectly. In 1979 it was an earth shattering motorcycle. 6 head pipes in a row, count em 6! The sound was amazing. It was amazingly smooth. I nearly got into big trouble on an 81 or 82 "Claybrook" edition when I came up to a 90 degree turn, downshifted 3 times and the speedo still read 85 mph as it had when I started braking/downshifting. The folly of an 85 mph speedo. It was by the almighty's hand that I made that curve.

The engines were seemingly incredibly wide although the motor as a whole wasn't much wider than a 4 cyl motor. I don't remember the brakes being mediocre, and I remember the handling being pretty good considering.

I would still love to have one in the garage. Either red or black.

I love my 1100 and it's a great "rider's" bike imo. I rode it today in the worst imaginable conditions (27 degrees,slushy and snowing) and it just purred along, never missed a beat, handled great, braked great.

You're making me nostalgic, ferret.
My Lake Havasu friend lived on Vista Drive, in the Desert Hills section, above Lake Havasu. When I got on his CBX, I headed west on Vista Drive.
If you look at the Satellite view of this map
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lake+H...14.3224548
..there is a hill about 4 lots from the end of Vista Drive.
Fortunately big lots (horse property)
I do not know how fast I was going when I crested the hill, but I forgot that (a) it turned into dirt, (b) I was close to a 90 degree turn and © a barbed wire fence was along the left side of both west travel and north travel. I down-shifted a couple gears and I thought the brakes did quite well as I lost all the speed I could before that sharp right turn.

I sure did not want to walk back and tell my friend that I slid his bike into a barbed wire fence.

I was lidless and probably only a short sleeve shirt, no gloves, etc.

[Cormanus]

Crikey! That's harsh-looking country.

[SportsterDoc]

Crikey! That's harsh-looking country.

Typical SW USA desert.
Without the barb wire fence, I could have gone air-born into the Colorado River.