Hello PaulBWatertownCT. When a member's first post is to summarize the CB1100 as "terrible to live with", it's not surprising that others will disagree with you.
So if I may...
PaulBWatertownCT_imp said:
I’m posting this to share my experience with my 2013 CB1100 which I purchased in excellent condition with only 8k miles. I installed new Dunlop tires after the purchase, that’s all it needed. For some background I’m 52 years old, ride both street and dirt, and have been riding motorcycles since I was in middle school. I have owned many bikes of all styles including American, Italian, European, and Japanese.
Overall opinion: the CB looks beautiful but is a terrible bike to live with.
Riding experience: very top heavy, the bike seems to weigh a ton, inadequate mushy suspension, especially with a passenger, excessive fork dive when braking, and is unbearably uncomfortable after 40 minutes of riding. Everything about the seat is wrong for the driver, and the passenger seat is not stepped and too narrow, so the passenger view and experience are terrible as well. Yes, I tried another seat, Corbin, it helped a bit but not enough.
Fit and finish: The wheels are beautiful, as is the bike in general, but the odd 18” rear tire size really limits your tire choices, not to mention tire cost. The wheels started to loose their finish in multiple spots, which I have not seen on other Hondas. The exhaust is beautiful looking when new, however my header pipe completely discolored and looked terrible as it is unfinished stainless steel of some unknown quality. In contrast my 1994 CB1000 header still looks brand new and shiny at almost 30 years old.
Now the worst part, the engine. The driveline lash is sloppy and annoying. The valve clearance adjustment intervals are at 8k miles. This is completely unacceptable. Even worse, this is a shim under bucket design require pulling the cams to adjust, which is a huge job and completely unnecessary. 1984 Honda Nighthawks had a similar motor with similar redline, but had hydraulic valve adjusters meaning they never needed adjustment. Why Honda? You couldn’t open your 30 year old Nighthawk engine manual to see how this is done? Maybe it would have added a half inch to the engine height? Even if you insisted on manual adjustment, give us home mechanics some screw type adjusters. This is not a race motor and doesn’t demand expensive shim adjusters. A minor complaint was the five speed transmission, which in top gear was still running more RPMs than necessary for the torque of this engine. I understand the ‘14 got a six speed, but it also got crappy hand controls in the process.
Ok, the engine starts and runs just fine and has decent power for what it is. No complaints in the engine performance department.
I am a Honda fan to say the least, my current Honda bikes include an 89 CB400F, 89 Hawk GT 650, 1990 NSR250SP, 1991 CBR600F2, 1994 CB1000, and a 2006 ST1300. That might sound excessive but they are mostly low dollar investments, I enjoy tinkering, and I enjoy different riding experiences. I was excited to buy the 2013 CB, even tried a Corbin seat, but after trying to live with the CB, it had to go. My 94 CB1000 remains and is better in every way than the 13 CB1100 which I thought would replace it.
This can’t be just my opinion. Almost every CB1100 I see for sale has less than 10k miles on it. This is not a coincidence. The uncomfortable nature of these bikes will ensure low miles.
I usually don’t post in forums after I no longer own the bike, but I wish someone would have let me in on this secret when I was looking to buy a CB.
It weighs 560lbs give or take a few. Many here have noted the weight is felt when having to move the bike around in the garage and at low speeds. But the same people observe that at normal riding speeds, the weight disappears. I like its weight. I've had a few lighter bikes at 450-475lb range, and found that when I'm on the open roads with cross winds, I get blown about, but the CB1100 provides a quite solid feel.
PaulBWatertownCT_imp said:
I’m posting this to share my experience with my 2013 CB1100 which I purchased in excellent condition with only 8k miles. I installed new Dunlop tires after the purchase, that’s all it needed. For some background I’m 52 years old, ride both street and dirt, and have been riding motorcycles since I was in middle school. I have owned many bikes of all styles including American, Italian, European, and Japanese.
Overall opinion: the CB looks beautiful but is a terrible bike to live with.
Riding experience: very top heavy, the bike seems to weigh a ton, inadequate mushy suspension, especially with a passenger, excessive fork dive when braking, and is unbearably uncomfortable after 40 minutes of riding. Everything about the seat is wrong for the driver, and the passenger seat is not stepped and too narrow, so the passenger view and experience are terrible as well. Yes, I tried another seat, Corbin, it helped a bit but not enough.
Fit and finish: The wheels are beautiful, as is the bike in general, but the odd 18” rear tire size really limits your tire choices, not to mention tire cost. The wheels started to loose their finish in multiple spots, which I have not seen on other Hondas. The exhaust is beautiful looking when new, however my header pipe completely discolored and looked terrible as it is unfinished stainless steel of some unknown quality. In contrast my 1994 CB1000 header still looks brand new and shiny at almost 30 years old.
Now the worst part, the engine. The driveline lash is sloppy and annoying. The valve clearance adjustment intervals are at 8k miles. This is completely unacceptable. Even worse, this is a shim under bucket design require pulling the cams to adjust, which is a huge job and completely unnecessary. 1984 Honda Nighthawks had a similar motor with similar redline, but had hydraulic valve adjusters meaning they never needed adjustment. Why Honda? You couldn’t open your 30 year old Nighthawk engine manual to see how this is done? Maybe it would have added a half inch to the engine height? Even if you insisted on manual adjustment, give us home mechanics some screw type adjusters. This is not a race motor and doesn’t demand expensive shim adjusters. A minor complaint was the five speed transmission, which in top gear was still running more RPMs than necessary for the torque of this engine. I understand the ‘14 got a six speed, but it also got crappy hand controls in the process.
Ok, the engine starts and runs just fine and has decent power for what it is. No complaints in the engine performance department.
I am a Honda fan to say the least, my current Honda bikes include an 89 CB400F, 89 Hawk GT 650, 1990 NSR250SP, 1991 CBR600F2, 1994 CB1000, and a 2006 ST1300. That might sound excessive but they are mostly low dollar investments, I enjoy tinkering, and I enjoy different riding experiences. I was excited to buy the 2013 CB, even tried a Corbin seat, but after trying to live with the CB, it had to go. My 94 CB1000 remains and is better in every way than the 13 CB1100 which I thought would replace it.
This can’t be just my opinion. Almost every CB1100 I see for sale has less than 10k miles on it. This is not a coincidence. The uncomfortable nature of these bikes will ensure low miles.
I usually don’t post in forums after I no longer own the bike, but I wish someone would have let me in on this secret when I was looking to buy a CB.
I found it comfortable, but I did add a bleacher pad mainly to raise the height because I'm tall... and cheap. 40 minutes of riding and unbearable? I used my '14 CB1100 to do a long trip from OR to Illinois and back, about 7000 miles over 3 weeks. I didn't find the stock seat inadequate in any way, excepting height as mentioned. At 75-100 miles I stopped for the obvious: gas, food, bathroom breaks and, sure, to stretch, which is what I would do on my tall bike, my KLR650. Average was around 425 miles per day over 15 some actual riding days. I don't doubt that there are more comfy rides out there, but during the trip I wasn't thinking that the CB1100 was bad for long distance riding; rather, that it was great.
PaulBWatertownCT_imp said:
I’m posting this to share my experience with my 2013 CB1100 which I purchased in excellent condition with only 8k miles. I installed new Dunlop tires after the purchase, that’s all it needed. For some background I’m 52 years old, ride both street and dirt, and have been riding motorcycles since I was in middle school. I have owned many bikes of all styles including American, Italian, European, and Japanese.
Overall opinion: the CB looks beautiful but is a terrible bike to live with.
Riding experience: very top heavy, the bike seems to weigh a ton, inadequate mushy suspension, especially with a passenger, excessive fork dive when braking, and is unbearably uncomfortable after 40 minutes of riding. Everything about the seat is wrong for the driver, and the passenger seat is not stepped and too narrow, so the passenger view and experience are terrible as well. Yes, I tried another seat, Corbin, it helped a bit but not enough.
Fit and finish: The wheels are beautiful, as is the bike in general, but the odd 18” rear tire size really limits your tire choices, not to mention tire cost. The wheels started to loose their finish in multiple spots, which I have not seen on other Hondas. The exhaust is beautiful looking when new, however my header pipe completely discolored and looked terrible as it is unfinished stainless steel of some unknown quality. In contrast my 1994 CB1000 header still looks brand new and shiny at almost 30 years old.
Now the worst part, the engine. The driveline lash is sloppy and annoying. The valve clearance adjustment intervals are at 8k miles. This is completely unacceptable. Even worse, this is a shim under bucket design require pulling the cams to adjust, which is a huge job and completely unnecessary. 1984 Honda Nighthawks had a similar motor with similar redline, but had hydraulic valve adjusters meaning they never needed adjustment. Why Honda? You couldn’t open your 30 year old Nighthawk engine manual to see how this is done? Maybe it would have added a half inch to the engine height? Even if you insisted on manual adjustment, give us home mechanics some screw type adjusters. This is not a race motor and doesn’t demand expensive shim adjusters. A minor complaint was the five speed transmission, which in top gear was still running more RPMs than necessary for the torque of this engine. I understand the ‘14 got a six speed, but it also got crappy hand controls in the process.
Ok, the engine starts and runs just fine and has decent power for what it is. No complaints in the engine performance department.
I am a Honda fan to say the least, my current Honda bikes include an 89 CB400F, 89 Hawk GT 650, 1990 NSR250SP, 1991 CBR600F2, 1994 CB1000, and a 2006 ST1300. That might sound excessive but they are mostly low dollar investments, I enjoy tinkering, and I enjoy different riding experiences. I was excited to buy the 2013 CB, even tried a Corbin seat, but after trying to live with the CB, it had to go. My 94 CB1000 remains and is better in every way than the 13 CB1100 which I thought would replace it.
This can’t be just my opinion. Almost every CB1100 I see for sale has less than 10k miles on it. This is not a coincidence. The uncomfortable nature of these bikes will ensure low miles.
I usually don’t post in forums after I no longer own the bike, but I wish someone would have let me in on this secret when I was looking to buy a CB.
Your assumption is that all who sell CB1100s with low mileage do so because they are uncomfortable. Likely true for some; others sell because of financial reasons. Many riders simply don't ride all that much. Other sell because they like a new bike every 2-3 years. But what to say to the members here that have high miles on their bikes? What of those who say "I'll never sell this bike" and "Best (or one of the) bike I've owned"?
The point is simply that several of the negative comments you mention are subjective. Your conclusion is "terrible to own"; others conclude "awesome to own".
PaulBWatertownCT_imp said:
I’m posting this to share my experience with my 2013 CB1100 which I purchased in excellent condition with only 8k miles. I installed new Dunlop tires after the purchase, that’s all it needed. For some background I’m 52 years old, ride both street and dirt, and have been riding motorcycles since I was in middle school. I have owned many bikes of all styles including American, Italian, European, and Japanese.
Overall opinion: the CB looks beautiful but is a terrible bike to live with.
Riding experience: very top heavy, the bike seems to weigh a ton, inadequate mushy suspension, especially with a passenger, excessive fork dive when braking, and is unbearably uncomfortable after 40 minutes of riding. Everything about the seat is wrong for the driver, and the passenger seat is not stepped and too narrow, so the passenger view and experience are terrible as well. Yes, I tried another seat, Corbin, it helped a bit but not enough.
Fit and finish: The wheels are beautiful, as is the bike in general, but the odd 18” rear tire size really limits your tire choices, not to mention tire cost. The wheels started to loose their finish in multiple spots, which I have not seen on other Hondas. The exhaust is beautiful looking when new, however my header pipe completely discolored and looked terrible as it is unfinished stainless steel of some unknown quality. In contrast my 1994 CB1000 header still looks brand new and shiny at almost 30 years old.
Now the worst part, the engine. The driveline lash is sloppy and annoying. The valve clearance adjustment intervals are at 8k miles. This is completely unacceptable. Even worse, this is a shim under bucket design require pulling the cams to adjust, which is a huge job and completely unnecessary. 1984 Honda Nighthawks had a similar motor with similar redline, but had hydraulic valve adjusters meaning they never needed adjustment. Why Honda? You couldn’t open your 30 year old Nighthawk engine manual to see how this is done? Maybe it would have added a half inch to the engine height? Even if you insisted on manual adjustment, give us home mechanics some screw type adjusters. This is not a race motor and doesn’t demand expensive shim adjusters. A minor complaint was the five speed transmission, which in top gear was still running more RPMs than necessary for the torque of this engine. I understand the ‘14 got a six speed, but it also got crappy hand controls in the process.
Ok, the engine starts and runs just fine and has decent power for what it is. No complaints in the engine performance department.
I am a Honda fan to say the least, my current Honda bikes include an 89 CB400F, 89 Hawk GT 650, 1990 NSR250SP, 1991 CBR600F2, 1994 CB1000, and a 2006 ST1300. That might sound excessive but they are mostly low dollar investments, I enjoy tinkering, and I enjoy different riding experiences. I was excited to buy the 2013 CB, even tried a Corbin seat, but after trying to live with the CB, it had to go. My 94 CB1000 remains and is better in every way than the 13 CB1100 which I thought would replace it.
This can’t be just my opinion. Almost every CB1100 I see for sale has less than 10k miles on it. This is not a coincidence. The uncomfortable nature of these bikes will ensure low miles.
I usually don’t post in forums after I no longer own the bike, but I wish someone would have let me in on this secret when I was looking to buy a CB.
What secret? The implication of this statement is that there exists a high number of unsatisfied (ex) CB1100 owners. As with any bike there are some. But what is your motiviation for stating this on a forum where owners generally really like the bike? To warn others considering buying one? To warn of some secret...which is that you find the bike terrible?
Ok...if you're reading this and considering buying the CB1100, please don't!!! It's terrible!
Facetiousness aside: I think I have a legit reason for disliking the bike because I was one of the unfortunate to experience the high/low idle difficulty on my '14. But after trading-in that bike, I missed the CB1100 and purchased another, the CB1100EX. I think you would find that it deals better with the suspension issues that you brought up. Honestly, between the '14 and '17, I can't tell a great deal of difference with the suspension, but others speak of a noticeably improved difference.
From your post no. 2: ...
PaulBWatertownCT_imp said:
I’m posting this to share my experience with my 2013 CB1100 which I purchased in excellent condition with only 8k miles. I installed new Dunlop tires after the purchase, that’s all it needed. For some background I’m 52 years old, ride both street and dirt, and have been riding motorcycles since I was in middle school. I have owned many bikes of all styles including American, Italian, European, and Japanese.
Overall opinion: the CB looks beautiful but is a terrible bike to live with.
Riding experience: very top heavy, the bike seems to weigh a ton, inadequate mushy suspension, especially with a passenger, excessive fork dive when braking, and is unbearably uncomfortable after 40 minutes of riding. Everything about the seat is wrong for the driver, and the passenger seat is not stepped and too narrow, so the passenger view and experience are terrible as well. Yes, I tried another seat, Corbin, it helped a bit but not enough.
Fit and finish: The wheels are beautiful, as is the bike in general, but the odd 18” rear tire size really limits your tire choices, not to mention tire cost. The wheels started to loose their finish in multiple spots, which I have not seen on other Hondas. The exhaust is beautiful looking when new, however my header pipe completely discolored and looked terrible as it is unfinished stainless steel of some unknown quality. In contrast my 1994 CB1000 header still looks brand new and shiny at almost 30 years old.
Now the worst part, the engine. The driveline lash is sloppy and annoying. The valve clearance adjustment intervals are at 8k miles. This is completely unacceptable. Even worse, this is a shim under bucket design require pulling the cams to adjust, which is a huge job and completely unnecessary. 1984 Honda Nighthawks had a similar motor with similar redline, but had hydraulic valve adjusters meaning they never needed adjustment. Why Honda? You couldn’t open your 30 year old Nighthawk engine manual to see how this is done? Maybe it would have added a half inch to the engine height? Even if you insisted on manual adjustment, give us home mechanics some screw type adjusters. This is not a race motor and doesn’t demand expensive shim adjusters. A minor complaint was the five speed transmission, which in top gear was still running more RPMs than necessary for the torque of this engine. I understand the ‘14 got a six speed, but it also got crappy hand controls in the process.
Ok, the engine starts and runs just fine and has decent power for what it is. No complaints in the engine performance department.
I am a Honda fan to say the least, my current Honda bikes include an 89 CB400F, 89 Hawk GT 650, 1990 NSR250SP, 1991 CBR600F2, 1994 CB1000, and a 2006 ST1300. That might sound excessive but they are mostly low dollar investments, I enjoy tinkering, and I enjoy different riding experiences. I was excited to buy the 2013 CB, even tried a Corbin seat, but after trying to live with the CB, it had to go. My 94 CB1000 remains and is better in every way than the 13 CB1100 which I thought would replace it.
This can’t be just my opinion. Almost every CB1100 I see for sale has less than 10k miles on it. This is not a coincidence. The uncomfortable nature of these bikes will ensure low miles.
I usually don’t post in forums after I no longer own the bike, but I wish someone would have let me in on this secret when I was looking to buy a CB.
Now I do take exception to the line... "I do wish that there were a few more folks on the forum with real life reviews rather than just lauding the good points." This makes me think 1) you didn't read many of the reviews here (member VLJ comes to mind--excellent and thourough reviews with pos/neg critique) where owners do bring up the weight, tire size, valve adjustment period and access, and suspension. I really think it was all there for those willing to read.
And 2) you're not considering the likelihood that others, with considerble "real life" time on the bike would come to a different conclusion than yours. That reads as if you think most who ride the CB1100 must come to the same opinions that you do.
I think this is what rubs people (me, at least) the wrong way.
), but the more seat time I put on the CB, the more i enjoy it.
