Ulvetanna_imp
Road warrior
Thread starter
There’s been some debate over whether the CB1100 is truly a sportbike, as Honda’s North American website states. This struggle in identity politics is not just among CB1100 owners; it also exists in the motorcycle press, and apparently Honda have noted this and decided to remedy the confusion.
The newest version of the CB1100, the CB1100RS, is undoubtedly a sportbike, or more accurately, a “sport heritage” motorcycle. It’s another iteration of a great machine, and not unwelcome nor unexpected by anyone who loves motorcycles and does not require a litmus test in order to appreciate a particular machine.
Even so, some of the comments about the CB1100 family found in the motorcycle press immediately following the Intermot revelations of the new RS model are instructive. One reviewer claimed the original 2013 was “boring” and another stated he never really learned to “love” the CB1100. The first of these pundits asked for someone who owned a CB1100 to “chime in”. Well, I’m your huckleberry.
As most members of this forum know, the CB1100 is a bike that satisfies the broadest need for motorcycling; it delivers a very satisfying ride under just about every conceivable set of circumstances. There are guys who do the long days and longer weekends. There are those who commute. Some have customized their bikes with some pretty interesting modifications: paint, intake and exhaust changes, wheels, suspension, handlebars, and so on. It’s a bike that inspires a surprising amount of loyalty and continuing interest in owners who understand motorcycling in its essential form.
The newest version, the RS, takes the CB1100 platform in a new visual direction; the bike is primarily a styling exercise, and should get the results Honda wants, which are sales. Many of the changes to the bike are cosmetic, and even those that appear to be mechanical or technology-driven are going to be either neutral or perhaps even detrimental to the bike’s handling and performance, as compared to the original standard model. They are very, very cool, however.
Some have said Honda lifted the racing stripe theme on the tank from Ducati, but that’s not so. Racing stripes has been around a long time; they were first used by the American Briggs Cunningham on his team cars, and first appeared on a production vehicle in 1965, on Ford’s GT350 Mustang. If the stripes are American, the rest of the bike is pure Honda, and it’s not boring in the least. In fact, the bike suggests the same kind of excitement about the ownership experience as that ‘65 Mustang. That year, Ford and Carroll Shelby reworked the existing Mustang to turn it into a production sports car. It had a small, but potent V-8 engine and much-upgraded suspension and brakes, along with a few other very nice bits to make it a car a driver could really love. While it did not actually handle like a true racing car (as the ads claimed) it was exceptionally fun to drive and made for a great everyday vehicle as well as a heck of a conversation-starter.
I think that description fits the CB1100RS perfectly.
It’s not a Ducati, or a Triumph, and thus avoids the problem of pretense; it’s a reflection of Honda’s original mission in 1969, when the company studied the Ford Mustang and other smaller American sports cars and created the 750 Four, a two-wheeled analog to those much-loved and extremely popular vehicles. Honda has remained true to its roots and its purpose with the RS; they have not adopted a concealed version of liquid-cooling to get more power from the engine, instead retaining a genuine air-cooled inline four-cylinder, which - for a Honda - is the most essential element in the package. Without that central feature the bike might be what some like to call a “poser bike”. No aspect of the RS, like the rest of the CB1100 family, is rendered for cosmetic purposes without the requisite, traditional function.
This strategy is purposeful; there have been several articles in the motorcycle press recently which roundly castigate “fake stuff” on motorcycles: cooling fins, air scoops, phony covers, and the like. The new CB, if anything, is even more authentic than either the Standard or the Deluxe. The new aluminum tank is without pressed seams, a more costly but crafty build. The beefy swingarm, also aluminum, is not cosmetic and reduces unsprung weight. Slender, light twin pipes grace the steel frame nicely, and get the job done while satisfying current noise and emissions standards. Most owners will probably leave them alone.
The rest of the technological changes are purely performance-oriented and in perfect accord with the mission of the 1965 GT350, which is also the mission of the 2017 CB1100RS: to create a highly-stylish (not stylized) road-going vehicle with a lot of magnetic personality, and enough tech bits to allow the owner to comfortably and rightly believe that “it’s in there” even if those bits don’t really change the riding experience much.
Some of them will, though, and perhaps not for the better; the extremely wide wheels and tires are going to dramatically alter the CB1100RS’s handling compared to the standard, narrow 18” components fitted to the current Deluxe and all previous models. One of the things the CB1100 is known for is the very light, nearly effortless handling once the bike starts rolling beyond a walking speed. It’s extremely agile, particularly for its weight, equally capable on the open road at speed as it is in urban traffic.
The 17” wheels will change all that. The wide tires place the contact patch at a considerable distance from the centerline of the bike when leaned into a turn, and this requires a change in riding style, with increased effort at the bars and more tendency to stand up while trail-braking into a turn. Honda has shortened the wheelbase and reduced both rake and trail to compensate for this, but these things will reduce stability to some degree, robbing the bike of that nice, planted feeling one gets while zipping along at an indicated 80 mph. Not that it will be unstable, just different, with higher-effort steering under some circumstances. The trade-off in being able to fit a practically unlimited selection of tires -- from touring to outright production racing tires -- may offset this to some extent. But the wheel and tire changes are mainly a cosmetic tactic; not fakery, but a fitment of overkill components to satisfy that need to know “it’s in there” for the kind of buyer who wants it.
Some of the other changes, like the slipper clutch, are warranted with this kind of a “sport heritage” build. A bike with the CB’s heavy flywheel and big powerplant has a lot of engine braking inertia, and the slipper clutch -- although hardly needed with a machine built for broad torque -- imparts another layer of safety for the cadre of newer riders that will undoubtedly be drawn to this bike. Like ABS, it’s just one more thing that could prevent a lockup of the rear tire.
The brakes on the existing CB1100 were, and are, outstanding, but the new fork is surely far better for backroad scratching. Since the fork is new, why not fit radially-mounted calipers into the bargain? They don’t help the performance of the brakes in any meaningful way, but they’re easier to remove and replace and they contribute mightily to the purposeful, performance-driven visual mission of the bike.
The truth here is that Honda have in fact managed to gild the lily. While a well-set-up 2013 CB1100 Standard will likely dispatch backroads as well or better than the new RS version, it does not impress in either the parking lot or the garage like the RS will. The new RS is compact, aggressive, and muscular, and conveys that classic roadster look upon first glance. And the closer one gets, the more purposeful and appealing the bike becomes. None of the dazzle turns to glitz; it’s all there for a reason. Honda contemplated this build carefully from the ground up and it shows. If you own an RS, no old geezers are going to come up to your bike and point out flaws, faults, or foibles. The bike is true to form and function. There is not a hair out of place, nor a fly to be seen in the ointment nor a monkey wrench in the works. This is not a simulation, but the real deal. Visually, it’s bad to the bone, but with the same 89 horsepower on tap and a broader spread of torque, it’ll be even more user-friendly.
This is a bike that Honda just had to build, to remind anyone who's paying attention just where they started and where they are now, and lots of us have been along for the ride. As a companion to the CB1100RS, we also have the new CBR1000RR SP2 with which to bookend Honda’s impressive motorsports history; one of each in the garage might be just about right.
The newest version of the CB1100, the CB1100RS, is undoubtedly a sportbike, or more accurately, a “sport heritage” motorcycle. It’s another iteration of a great machine, and not unwelcome nor unexpected by anyone who loves motorcycles and does not require a litmus test in order to appreciate a particular machine.
Even so, some of the comments about the CB1100 family found in the motorcycle press immediately following the Intermot revelations of the new RS model are instructive. One reviewer claimed the original 2013 was “boring” and another stated he never really learned to “love” the CB1100. The first of these pundits asked for someone who owned a CB1100 to “chime in”. Well, I’m your huckleberry.
As most members of this forum know, the CB1100 is a bike that satisfies the broadest need for motorcycling; it delivers a very satisfying ride under just about every conceivable set of circumstances. There are guys who do the long days and longer weekends. There are those who commute. Some have customized their bikes with some pretty interesting modifications: paint, intake and exhaust changes, wheels, suspension, handlebars, and so on. It’s a bike that inspires a surprising amount of loyalty and continuing interest in owners who understand motorcycling in its essential form.
The newest version, the RS, takes the CB1100 platform in a new visual direction; the bike is primarily a styling exercise, and should get the results Honda wants, which are sales. Many of the changes to the bike are cosmetic, and even those that appear to be mechanical or technology-driven are going to be either neutral or perhaps even detrimental to the bike’s handling and performance, as compared to the original standard model. They are very, very cool, however.
Some have said Honda lifted the racing stripe theme on the tank from Ducati, but that’s not so. Racing stripes has been around a long time; they were first used by the American Briggs Cunningham on his team cars, and first appeared on a production vehicle in 1965, on Ford’s GT350 Mustang. If the stripes are American, the rest of the bike is pure Honda, and it’s not boring in the least. In fact, the bike suggests the same kind of excitement about the ownership experience as that ‘65 Mustang. That year, Ford and Carroll Shelby reworked the existing Mustang to turn it into a production sports car. It had a small, but potent V-8 engine and much-upgraded suspension and brakes, along with a few other very nice bits to make it a car a driver could really love. While it did not actually handle like a true racing car (as the ads claimed) it was exceptionally fun to drive and made for a great everyday vehicle as well as a heck of a conversation-starter.
I think that description fits the CB1100RS perfectly.
It’s not a Ducati, or a Triumph, and thus avoids the problem of pretense; it’s a reflection of Honda’s original mission in 1969, when the company studied the Ford Mustang and other smaller American sports cars and created the 750 Four, a two-wheeled analog to those much-loved and extremely popular vehicles. Honda has remained true to its roots and its purpose with the RS; they have not adopted a concealed version of liquid-cooling to get more power from the engine, instead retaining a genuine air-cooled inline four-cylinder, which - for a Honda - is the most essential element in the package. Without that central feature the bike might be what some like to call a “poser bike”. No aspect of the RS, like the rest of the CB1100 family, is rendered for cosmetic purposes without the requisite, traditional function.
This strategy is purposeful; there have been several articles in the motorcycle press recently which roundly castigate “fake stuff” on motorcycles: cooling fins, air scoops, phony covers, and the like. The new CB, if anything, is even more authentic than either the Standard or the Deluxe. The new aluminum tank is without pressed seams, a more costly but crafty build. The beefy swingarm, also aluminum, is not cosmetic and reduces unsprung weight. Slender, light twin pipes grace the steel frame nicely, and get the job done while satisfying current noise and emissions standards. Most owners will probably leave them alone.
The rest of the technological changes are purely performance-oriented and in perfect accord with the mission of the 1965 GT350, which is also the mission of the 2017 CB1100RS: to create a highly-stylish (not stylized) road-going vehicle with a lot of magnetic personality, and enough tech bits to allow the owner to comfortably and rightly believe that “it’s in there” even if those bits don’t really change the riding experience much.
Some of them will, though, and perhaps not for the better; the extremely wide wheels and tires are going to dramatically alter the CB1100RS’s handling compared to the standard, narrow 18” components fitted to the current Deluxe and all previous models. One of the things the CB1100 is known for is the very light, nearly effortless handling once the bike starts rolling beyond a walking speed. It’s extremely agile, particularly for its weight, equally capable on the open road at speed as it is in urban traffic.
The 17” wheels will change all that. The wide tires place the contact patch at a considerable distance from the centerline of the bike when leaned into a turn, and this requires a change in riding style, with increased effort at the bars and more tendency to stand up while trail-braking into a turn. Honda has shortened the wheelbase and reduced both rake and trail to compensate for this, but these things will reduce stability to some degree, robbing the bike of that nice, planted feeling one gets while zipping along at an indicated 80 mph. Not that it will be unstable, just different, with higher-effort steering under some circumstances. The trade-off in being able to fit a practically unlimited selection of tires -- from touring to outright production racing tires -- may offset this to some extent. But the wheel and tire changes are mainly a cosmetic tactic; not fakery, but a fitment of overkill components to satisfy that need to know “it’s in there” for the kind of buyer who wants it.
Some of the other changes, like the slipper clutch, are warranted with this kind of a “sport heritage” build. A bike with the CB’s heavy flywheel and big powerplant has a lot of engine braking inertia, and the slipper clutch -- although hardly needed with a machine built for broad torque -- imparts another layer of safety for the cadre of newer riders that will undoubtedly be drawn to this bike. Like ABS, it’s just one more thing that could prevent a lockup of the rear tire.
The brakes on the existing CB1100 were, and are, outstanding, but the new fork is surely far better for backroad scratching. Since the fork is new, why not fit radially-mounted calipers into the bargain? They don’t help the performance of the brakes in any meaningful way, but they’re easier to remove and replace and they contribute mightily to the purposeful, performance-driven visual mission of the bike.
The truth here is that Honda have in fact managed to gild the lily. While a well-set-up 2013 CB1100 Standard will likely dispatch backroads as well or better than the new RS version, it does not impress in either the parking lot or the garage like the RS will. The new RS is compact, aggressive, and muscular, and conveys that classic roadster look upon first glance. And the closer one gets, the more purposeful and appealing the bike becomes. None of the dazzle turns to glitz; it’s all there for a reason. Honda contemplated this build carefully from the ground up and it shows. If you own an RS, no old geezers are going to come up to your bike and point out flaws, faults, or foibles. The bike is true to form and function. There is not a hair out of place, nor a fly to be seen in the ointment nor a monkey wrench in the works. This is not a simulation, but the real deal. Visually, it’s bad to the bone, but with the same 89 horsepower on tap and a broader spread of torque, it’ll be even more user-friendly.
This is a bike that Honda just had to build, to remind anyone who's paying attention just where they started and where they are now, and lots of us have been along for the ride. As a companion to the CB1100RS, we also have the new CBR1000RR SP2 with which to bookend Honda’s impressive motorsports history; one of each in the garage might be just about right.
Great post and thoughtfully worded. 
