Modifying your bike

[the Ferret]

Told ya lol

 

[VLJ_imp]

misterprofessionality, I think that in the case of the CB1100 the lure for most people certainly isn't that it provides the most engine for the dollar, even if you're talking about a heavily discounted 2014 Standard model. Honestly, 550 lbs divided by 85 low-revving ponies is not that difficult to beat, even at the Honda's deeply discounted price. The new Z900 or FZ-09, for example, can be purchased for the same price as a discounted CB1100, and they won't be four model years old, and their engines will annihilate the CB's big mill. Factor in the CB's 25% higher curb weight, and the motor/performance disparity grows that much larger.

Plain and simple, people buy the CB because they think it looks really cool. From there, further justifications such as comfort, Honda build quality, a relaxing ride, etc., are added, but the alpha and omega of any CB1100 purchase is the buyer's fondness for the Honda's timeless, classy style.

not true. cheapest i found a z900 was out the door 11,800. i paid 6400 otd for my '14 cb1100 with 1 mile on it. fz09 was more as well. But i didnt buy the cb1100 to go super fast on, my 19 year old concourse is faster top speed wise, stock to stock, by quite a bit. :beerchug: But i will eventually get my ecu done.

improving otherwise slow bikes is fun, but i usually do that to smaller vintage models.
.02

not true. cheapest i found a z900 was out the door 11,800. i paid 6400 otd for my '14 cb1100 with 1 mile on it. fz09 was more as well.
I don't know where you live, but here in California leftover Z900s and FZ-09s can easily be had for less than $8k out the door, which is fairly similar to the out-the-door total (including dealer set-up, tax, and registration fees) for a 2014 CB1100 Standard.

 

[misterprofessionality]

i think it depends on the year. if you find a 2-3 year holdover in a dealership, just like the '14 CB11's, then you'll encounter steep discounts in the same vein, but comparing a brand new 18 or 19 FZ09 to a '14 CB1100, there's no way you're going to pay the same price.

 

[jitaylor_imp]

misterprofessionality, I think that in the case of the CB1100 the lure for most people certainly isn't that it provides the most engine for the dollar, even if you're talking about a heavily discounted 2014 Standard model. Honestly, 550 lbs divided by 85 low-revving ponies is not that difficult to beat, even at the Honda's deeply discounted price. The new Z900 or FZ-09, for example, can be purchased for the same price as a discounted CB1100, and they won't be four model years old, and their engines will annihilate the CB's big mill. Factor in the CB's 25% higher curb weight, and the motor/performance disparity grows that much larger.

Plain and simple, people buy the CB because they think it looks really cool. From there, further justifications such as comfort, Honda build quality, a relaxing ride, etc., are added, but the alpha and omega of any CB1100 purchase is the buyer's fondness for the Honda's timeless, classy style.

not true. cheapest i found a z900 was out the door 11,800. i paid 6400 otd for my '14 cb1100 with 1 mile on it. fz09 was more as well. But i didnt buy the cb1100 to go super fast on, my 19 year old concourse is faster top speed wise, stock to stock, by quite a bit. :beerchug: But i will eventually get my ecu done.

improving otherwise slow bikes is fun, but i usually do that to smaller vintage models.
.02

not true. cheapest i found a z900 was out the door 11,800. i paid 6400 otd for my '14 cb1100 with 1 mile on it. fz09 was more as well.
I don't know where you live, but here in California leftover Z900s and FZ-09s can easily be had for less than $8k out the door, which is fairly similar to the out-the-door total (including dealer set-up, tax, and registration fees) for a 2014 CB1100 Standard.

not true. cheapest i found a z900 was out the door 11,800. i paid 6400 otd for my '14 cb1100 with 1 mile on it. fz09 was more as well.
I don't know where you live, but here in California leftover Z900s and FZ-09s can easily be had for less than $8k out the door, which is fairly similar to the out-the-door total (including dealer set-up, tax, and registration fees) for a 2014 CB1100 Standard.
not now. Mine was 5980 list price, so it was a tad over 7 OTD. There are bunches of 2014's between 5800 and 5999. Where I got mine, Cycles of Jacksonville, they had 12, and they sold them all.

 

[PowerDubs_imp]

You paid for the bike, you get to do whatever you want with it. No judgment here.

As for me, I modified the first two bikes I owned and learned how quickly doing so can turn into a money pit situation. Lots of cash spent trying to ‘re-engineer’ perfectly sound machines with less than stellar results.

From that point on I have spent $0.00 on bike mods.

IMO, a modern bike is a very well tuned and integrated system. If I could wave a magic wand and get 25% more power out of the motor (but still had to pay to bring the suspension, brakes and frame up to snuff), I wouldn’t do it. This is only partially due to the cost. I’d be more concerned as to how many further mods, tweaks and trials it would take to get the bike, overall, to feel,ride and handle as brilliantly as the stock machine. All the while obsessing over some minor (but expensive) detail that’ll just make it great!

I’m not an engineer, I don’t think I’m an engineer and I don’t want to be one. I just want to ride.

I’ve owned some of the top sport bikes ever offered. I knew what the CB was before I bought it and right out of the box it performed as expected. Five seasons in, un-modded. I’m happy with it.

Glad you are happy with your bike, but not going to lie- every time I read a post like this, I wish I could put that person on my bike and let them ride it for a full tank of gas.

I promise you- if you just rode down the street and back, OK- you would say yea your stocker is good enough. But put put 100+ miles on mine and I'd bet a paycheck you would admit it was better in almost every measurable tangible metric.

Sure you may not want to pay for those improvements- but I promise you a long ride would make you it admit they are there- if you were an honest man.

 

[Bheezy27403_imp]

Get on that thing and ride Dubs

 

[Roper_imp]

At least two ways to look at this:

I play the piano. I've had an upright for years. I've never done any modifications to it. Just a yearly tuning. There's no way I can ever make my old upright sound like a Steinway grand. The best I can do is to invest in my own skills to become a better pianist. Maybe when I can play all of Rachmaninoff's preludes, then I can justify a Steinway.

I build my own computers. I bought a decent tower several years ago. Since then, I have upgraded the power supply, the case fans, the motherboard, the CPU, the RAM, the graphics card, the sound card, the drives, the monitor, the keyboard, and the mouse. Probably the only things left original are the case and some of the cables. I now have the exact PC I want, and there's probably not another one like it anywhere. I've spent way more money on it than it would cost just to buy a new system. But, I've learned an awful lot along the way.

So, when it comes to motorcycles, are you a musician? Or are you a computer geek? Whichever it is, it makes zero sense to expect someone else to see things your way.

 

[MM300_imp]

PD, I’m sure your CB is awesome. I putt around with mine on the country roads surrounding my town. 45 - 50mph tops. I don’t ride it anywhere. I don’t push it to it’s limits. It really is perfect for the way I use it. No improvement needed.

Me 19 years ago is another story: Hayabusa, 175 mph on local roads. Riding like an idiot on a bike that was made for it.

Before that, Ninja 900 and prior to that GSXR 750 SRAD. I was that knucklehead busting in and out of traffic at a buck forty, every day.

I can neither be trusted with, nor do I need, super HP and razor edge handling.

I’m sure your bike is awesome and Kudos to you for that. I’ve yet to bump into a deficiency in the CB but if tomorrow comes and I want to start lane splitting and further po'ing my fellow Pennsylvania drivers I’ll get a real sport bike. ‘Cause I’m way too lazy to try to build one.

 

[the Ferret]

Been pondering this and with regards to modifying the CB 1100

some people are interested in the CB for it's heritage, and history, it's link to the past and to the bike that changed the world. How important it's development was to Honda, how hard the engineers worked and the problems they overcame to bring a modern air cooled 4 cylinder that passed all the stringent environmental tests, how they sweated the details over design, wheel sizes, paint, engine charachter, overall imagery and sound...

.... and some people are only interested in it, because it was a large displacement motorcycle they could buy rather cheaply.

I think serious modification of the CB 1100 is something less appealing to the first group, but maybe not to the second group.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

Roper, great analogy!

Signed, a pianist.

 

[SportsterDoc]

I have modified many vehicles, some extensively and respect any who want to modify their vehicles.

https://www.tw200forum.com/forum/at...tmosphere-1973-datsun-pl620-v8-under-hood.jpg

Hope the link works, if not, some details:
1973 Datsun PL620 pickup
1982 (new) 350 Chevrolet V8
Carter 500 CFM AFB on Edelbrook SP2P aluminum high rise manifold
Hooker engine mounts and fiberglass firewall kit
Hooker headers
Dual exhausts with early T Bird mufflers
Shortened and resplined Ford van rear end, 2.92 ratio to reduce tire smoke
Custom drive shaft
Turbo 350 auto trans with cable shifter
Extra (in addition to the stock 11.8) 20 gallon tank at the rear, where the spare used to be
Dead heat with new Corvette in 1982.

However, at this point in my life, a stock CB was almost perfect for me.

The almost part could be debated, I suppose.

As for more HP, that likely costs fuel economy and rear tire wear. There is a price to pay for most everything.

Even a bicycle, under controlled conditions could be faster, so why should I care of some other motorcycles are faster?

 

[Randy B]

I think a bike is like anything...people want to make it their own. It's the same for cars, and homes. Even when someone rents an apartment, they make changes to suit their tastes and make it theirs.
I have seen all sorts of mods done to these bikes over the past number of years, but I can't say that any one of them has been done the same way. Even mine, I'd bet there isn't another one in the world that is just like mine in every respect. Sure there probably is one rolling around Japan somewhere with the top box that I have in my colors, but I doubt you would fins one that also have the RC1 with the touring windscreen, black peg plates, engine guards and a Corbin seat on it.
Everything I did is subtle, and unless you know the bikes probably wouldn't notice, but I know what's done to it, and that's just fine by me. I'm not looking to stand out like a guy on a Green 1000 Ninja doing a wheelie between cars on 101 (don't get me started...), I just wanted my bike to be "mine". Part of what drove me to do what I did was the fact that all of the 2013's were red. Don't get me wrong, it's a good looking color, but I needed to make a change, and I'm glad I did.

 

[FLYTYM_imp]

Not sure why anybody would bring up the subject of why people would modify anything. Individual tastes,I can only imagine the mindset of somebody asking the question,must not have an imagination. I remember ready the original thread and thinking why would anybody ask such a question. I don’t want to own something that looks like somebody else’s something,it’s got to be mine.

 

[VLJ_imp]

I've seen the actual invoices on a leftover z900, its over 9k for sure 100% what the dealer pays. oh, they will -say- its that much until they work up the buyers order. did this at 3 dealers, but i know a few people in the business and know what the dealers will pay. Unless they were trying to get out from floorplanning it. Thats a different game and NOT the norm.

regardless, i live in South Carolina, about 15 mile south of Charlotte, NC, so its not a low income area. (not California but scale of economics and all). .02

I'm talking about the Z900, not the Z900RS. The msrp for a Z900 is only $8,799, or $8,399 for the non-ABS version, so you can imagine what the invoice cost is on these bikes. There are leftover 2017 models of both the Z900 and FZ-09 that be purchased for under $8K OTD. In fact, there are still plenty of 2018 Z900s that can be purchased for that price.

 

[SportsterDoc]

Cormanus' post focused on evolution of the 4 cylinder UJM and asked this question:

"More generally, why shouldn't people modify their bikes in any way they want?"

Few would question individualizing a motorcycle, which I am very prone to do. Less on the CB than other bikes: Factory engine guards, LED tail/stop bulb, custom license plate mount, snorkel mod (sound benefit, but not recommended in heavy rain), drilled the exhaust, then put back to stock and finally scrambler tires after 10,000 miles.

My comments have been intended to express the opinion that it is a great motorcycle stock and that mods may be enjoyable and have some benefits, but are not essential for most riders to enjoy a CB1100.

0-90 6.8 seconds
0-100 8.6 seconds
0-110 12 point something seconds

...and the power band is ALL usable...a great bike out of the crate, after run-in.

The liveliness of a forum requires conversations regarding opinions...hopefully gentlemanly discussion, not arguments. My main interest is in problem solving, but there are so few problems to solve with the CB1100, that I really have had little of value to post since Dave replaced his IACV and solved his idle issues.

Good time to "retire"

 

[jitaylor_imp]

PD, I’m sure your CB is awesome. I putt around with mine on the country roads surrounding my town. 45 - 50mph tops. I don’t ride it anywhere. I don’t push it to it’s limits. It really is perfect for the way I use it. No improvement needed.

Me 19 years ago is another story: Hayabusa, 175 mph on local roads. Riding like an idiot on a bike that was made for it.

Before that, Ninja 900 and prior to that GSXR 750 SRAD. I was that knucklehead busting in and out of traffic at a buck forty, every day.

I can neither be trusted with, nor do I need, super HP and razor edge handling.

I’m sure your bike is awesome and Kudos to you for that. I’ve yet to bump into a deficiency in the CB but if tomorrow comes and I want to start lane splitting and further po'ing my fellow Pennsylvania drivers I’ll get a real sport bike. ‘Cause I’m way too lazy to try to build one.

I agree in as much as it is not possible to make a GSXR into a CB1100 any more than the converse is. Neither will ever be a dirt bike. I mean, if I buy a Harley with the Milwaukee 8 gigantic engine, that puts out 98 horsepower, I cannot then be dissatisfied. I have to know all that first. Power is not what that bike is about.

Thing is, it is cool, that someone has the skill to make mods, and then can go out riding and appreciate them. So, why not ? God knows what I would do to my bikes with time and skill. I strained my milk just putting on the rear rack and saddlebags with supports.

 

[DBM_imp]

".and the power band is ALL usable...a great bike out of the crate, after run-in."

I just turned 2k miles and the engine is feeling smoother and more relaxed. I am very happy with my stock bike. It handles like a dream and draws a crowd everywhere l stop for a break.

 

[Randy B]

From this:

To this:

 

[DBM_imp]

Nice. Please list the changes you made.

 

[jitaylor_imp]

Ferret and VLJ, all good points. I agree.

I think it'd be interesting if the CB was available in an Interstate version, similar to the early Gold Wings, complete with frame-mounted fairing and bags. A retro-tourer for those who yearn for the open road. Is Craig Vetter still around?

I've been reading some interesting comments regarding the marketing of the Monkey. Many are suggesting Honda ought to reach beyond the established motorcycle community and instead advertise in Home & Garden, Popular Mechanics, etc., to reach the non-motorcycling public. I think they make a good point. Existing motorcyclists probably aren't the target market for this bike.

Only those of us who like to practice wheelies.