CB1100 Scrambler

We’ve had some forum members put knobby‘s on their bikes. Visually, I kind of like them. Performance wise there’s a whole Pandora’s box that’s being opened up with the OEM suspension limitations.

I once took my CB down a back road. Rutted dirt/gravel in Wyoming. Went about a mile with some mud here and there. Had on road tires. Haven’t done it since. Was slow going due to the aforementioned suspension issues.

If I wanted a Scrambler I’d go directly to Triumph and leave my CB1100 alone. It is what it is. To make it something else would be cost prohibitive for the compromised results you’d get for your money.
 
Thread starter
m in sc_imp said:
here's my logic behind my comments: people, in general, have a bad habit of trying to make 'one' thing 'everything'.
throw in current trends and you get ^

People ask me frequently why i have so many bikes. My answer is usually ' each one does something better than another, do you only have 1 screwdriver or 1 wrench in your toolbox?'

Is the overall look appealing in a sort of 'mad-max' way, sure. Is living with it and using it in any capacity really enjoyable? maybe if you want to lean against it at a local bike night and have people ooh and ahh over it because its 'different' maybe, and if impressing a bunch of other middle aged dudes is your thing, so be it.

Form, IMHO, should -always- follow function, and IF you get that balance right, that's where true elegant beauty lies. that looks like a bunch of bolt on online stores supplied a bunch of parts, and it sort of turns it into a 'Mr Potato head' exercise. Or, as i have head them referred to 'A parts-tart bike'.

I do like the rims though.
For the most part I agree with you and in practice I agree as I have 3 bikes and I'm looking for a 4th but... have you heard of the analogy of "Beware of the man with one gun"?

I have a ton of guns, I even have a few duplicates every time I go to the range or hunting it takes me a bit of time to reorient myself to that gun (same with motorcycles) I think I would be better off having half or better yet a quarter of the guns.

Going back to the "scrambler" I live on a dirt road and on a few occasions I've gotten a lot more swirly than I'd like dual sport tires would help a lot. With that said I'll now contradict myself, I have an adventure bike that I put tires on that are slightly more off-road oriented and I don't like the ride as much.
 
I will never understand why anyone would want to ride a 500+ pound motorcycle off road, on purpose.

Thanks for the analogy of owning multiple motorcycles and owning only one wrench or screwdriver. I presently own seven motorcycles, and I have my eye on an eighth, if the owner decides to sell it (an early model Yamaha V-Max), and now I have a good reply for my wife when she asks me why I want to own so many motorcycles.
 
GoldOxide_imp said:
DAC_imp said:
Transalp, anyone?
Like this about-to-be-unpacked unit in Alberta, Canada Sep27/23.
Like this about-to-be-unpacked unit in Alberta, Canada Sep27/23.
Nice. I'm going to have to see one of those in person, methinks.
 
I have a bud whose Dad put knobby tires on a mid-60's Triumph Bonneville and rode it all over Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He also had a Road King for highway use. I bought a Honda CL 450 Scrambler back in the day, but never took it off pavement. It was the bike I could afford at the time. Not so long ago I bought a Suzuki V-Strom 1000 with intentions of accompanying my BIL on semi-off road rides, but for various reasons it didn't happen, but I liked the beast for pavement work. For now, tho, my Honda CB1100 and Yamaha V-Star 1300 keep me grinning.
 
m in sc_imp said:
my 21 CT125 is def more capable off road or (specifically) in gravel than that CB:

48a3d3e56807bc3dcf2d5458f7deba5a.jpg

(and it isnt great off road)

my new xr is actually -quite- good off road, even at a paltry 150cc.

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ive even had this dinosaur off road more than I probably should have...

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and they ALL did better than my CB ever did off road

this was literally 4-5 miles in off the cherohala heading up to a trailhead i didn't intend to go up with angie on the back. It was -terrible- but it made it.

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the 1st half mile was pleasant gravel as was the last 1/4 mile. in between was rutted, trashed, unmaintained basically reduced to one-high-one-low tracking with huge ruts & washouts. I easily have the most patient wife in the world, i literally launched her off the seat at 1 point getting to this point creeping up the hill, it was awful. According to her, was the only time she was ever nervous on a bike with me, and it was easily the slowest ride time we had ever done.

CB1100 = pavement. :biker: CB1100 with knobbies: posing.
Are you still lubbing it m in sc? Man, I really like that little lump.
 
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