Making these bikes fast

Yes I will echo what Flynrider has to say. The CB has good power where you want it. It has 62lbs of torque which I believe is similar to the Ducati 1000 ds engine if I recall correctly.
 
One guy I ride with has a '06 K1200S, wicked fast. Same displacement, same weight as my CB1100 but twice the hp. Speed limit still applies to both bikes. The CB doesn't have any problems keeping up on the freeway.
 
Funny thing about horsepower and speed..to be truthful, some people have it and use it. Some people have it and SHOULDN'T use it, and some people have it and never use it. Speaking personally I have had street bikes from 3 hp up to 125 hp and everything in between over the last 50 years. When I was young, motorcycles were never fast enough. Now that I'm older they are all too fast. I sold my Bonneville because it wasn't fast enough. Lack of horsepower was my complaint and I still say that ( it is after all a matter perspective.) I sold it to my younger brother (also in his 60s). Guess who I ride with most often? My brother. I have more horsepower than he does, but I am not always running away from him, we ride at the exact same speeds.

I've made the comment before when I was 16 riding my Aermacchi 50cc 2 stroke 3 speed around it seemed I was always going 45 mph ( as fast as it would go), and now 50 years later I ride my 88 hp CB or my 125 HP ST and most often when I look down I'm going between 45 and 55 mph.
50 year, 85-122 additional horsepower and I've gained 10 mph. Lol

Of note Rollie Free ran 151 mph on a Vincent which had 65 horsepower.
 
I have three bikes. A '13 Busa that takes care of my looong highway power and travel needs, an '06 GSXR1000 trackbike that has slicks but is street legal and the CB.

The trackbike is the one that I tinker with and the CB is the local lake and Bike night ride.
 
Thread starter
I really need to ride one of these things, I can't get them outa my head. Of course our local Honda shop also is a Toyota dealer, and the motorcycles are obviously not a big priority, so we don't have one, but I do plan on taking my Rocket to Phoenix to get it fixed, and may just have to cross the street to the japanese store and take the darn thing for a ride
 
jeffskar_imp said:
Ok guys, I'm not an owner (yet) because the bikes power ratings seem pretty disappointing for an inline 4 cylinder motorcycle displacing well above the "liter" mark.

I'd really like to know what power modifications are being done to these bikes and what sort of performance gains are being had from them. IMO, Honda should made this thing come off the showroom with at least 120hp, even if they had to charge an extra grand, I'd probably have one in my garage right now.

I've read and watched quite a few reviews on these bikes and people obviously like the heck out of them, so if more power is easily tapped into with one of these, I may have to seriously consider trading in my Triumph Rocket 3 for one. Again guys I'm not trying to put down these bikes at all, I'd love to be persuaded into checking them out a little deeper, but double digit factory hp ratings just won't work for me I'm affraid especially at the flywheel.
Jeff,

Back in the day of two valve air cooled Japanese 4's there wasn't the problem of cooling the narrow area between 2 exhaust valves and emissions back then allowed them to run a lot richer. Honda oil cools that area on the CB11 but that still isn't as effective as water cooling. Relatively low compression and conservative cam timing helps here as well. Trying to get 120+ HP out of this mill would probably be an exercise in frustration and if successful the result might not be that durable. Cheers.

Chip
 
Made My CB goes faster , been on a diet and lost 20 kilos.
think the Staintune helped a bit.
plus its red one ,there always faster lol.
 
Ferret, I like your observations about HP. I never felt my BSA Bantam 125 was a disappointment. However times have changed and, human nature being what it is, I feel that if I owned an H2 I might even be wondering if it was possible to squeeze some more out of it. Before purchase, I might even be wondering if I could order a red one. In fact that might be the tipping point for the sale.

Cheers
 
I believe I've mentioned previously (in other threads) that for me, the CB1100 is a little slow, but you have to realize that it's also horsing around my 220+lbs frame. I rode my CBR1000RR to work the other day just to make sure it still runs, and wow, I realized all the things i love/hate about both bikes:

CBR
---
So fast, you can kill yourself before you realize what's even happening.
Unbelievably uncomfortable for anyone with more than three decades under their belt.
Silky smooth transmission.
Nearly vibration-free engine at all RPM's.

CB
---
A bit slow, it'll still beat just about any car other than sports cars 0-60 though.
_WAY_ more comfortable to ride, not stretched out like you're on the rack.
Transmission is a bit notchy and clutchless upshifts can be unpredictable
Engine vibrates like crazy at anything > 4500rpm, buzzing everything, including the seat and pegs. Fortunately, you're doing 70mph at 4000 rpm in fifth gear, so the buzz is mostly transient.
The sound of the stock exhaust under full throttle is quite nice.

Overall, due to the ergos, I like my CB much better than my CBR. However, the horsepower thing is a problem for me, as well as the lack of wind protection (I do have a Dart screen on mine), so I will be getting something else and trading the CBR since I basically hate riding that thing any more. The CB will be retired/passed on to the wife.
 
If you want a cool retro-looking bike with good power as a good all-rounder, the CB may be for you. If you want a standard or naked bike with hel* on wheels power, something like a KTM 1290 Super Duke R may be more the ticket.

Either way, enjoy!
 
Dude this bike will top out over 150mph if you flash the ecu. Why on earth would you want to go faster than that? If you plan on having a track bike don't bother with the cb. The HP is more than enough.
 
holy666diver_imp said:
Dude this bike will top out over 150mph if you flash the ecu. Why on earth would you want to go faster than that? If you plan on having a track bike don't bother with the cb. The HP is more than enough.

The fastest I have seen reported for a reflashed CB1100 is 134 mph. Not saying one wouldn't go 150 mph, have not heard or read of one going that fast yet.

I think Motogeezer ran his wide open for several miles, and I think it wouldn't pull redline in top gear although he would be the one to give the details.
 
My opinion is, if the bike is to slow right from the beginning, it's not the right bike for you. Better look for another more suitable bike.

Tuning is restricted and leads quickly to much more expenses, than a bigger/better motorcycle.

Concerning horsepower, I would say, 110-120 hp is, what an average rider can handle somehow without being a racer with track experience.

If your bike has more, lets say like the BMW K1300 or S1000RR, you need electronic assistance systems to be able to handle and survive this horsepower greater than 160 hp.

I choosed the CB to decelerate somehow. And I wanted hp, which I can control by my human abilities, without electronic assistance, just on my own, minimizing complexity.
 
holy666diver_imp said:
Doesn't matter the exact speed. Even at 130mph who would want to go that fast on a naked bike????
It's not the top speed, it's how long it takes to get there. On the highway, when I'm on one of my bikes, I want to be able to move around other traffic quite quickly. This bike just doesn't provide that, at-speed. Full-throttle in 3rd gear is a little slow accelerating if you're already doing 50.

I ride the highway about 75% of my commute every day.
 
holy666diver_imp said:
Doesn't matter the exact speed. Even at 130mph who would want to go that fast on a naked bike????

I understand and wasn't trying to be contrary, just wanted reports about this bike on this forum to be factual.


Hey, I am the guy who has owned 2 CB1100s neither which have seen 5000 rpms or 90 mph. I am perfectly happy with the speed this bike is capable of and actually happy with a lot less than it"s capable of.
 
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