Honda CB1100 Review

Having now rolled about 1,000 miles on my new CB1100, it's time for a review. The short version is that I'm delighted with my purchase.

The original Honda CB series motorcycles from the 1970s were billed as "commuter bikes." They were inexpensive, easy to ride, quick (for the time) and low-maintenance. Unlike American motorcycles of the period, they were built for people who just wanted a motorcycle, rather than so-called enthusiasts who enjoyed tinkering in the garage as much as riding. In a real sense, the CBs started the "motorcycle revolution" that led to the proliferation of motorcycle types and brands which we enjoy today.

Honda has a well-earned reputation for reliability, fit-and-finish, and quality engineering. The CB1100 does not disappoint that legacy. Everything about the bike is tight, well thought-out, and precisely designed. For example, the riding position is a perfect compromise between a cruiser and a sportbike. The pegs are high enough that you can lean far over into a corner, long past the point that a typical cruiser is digging them into the pavement. But they're not "torture rack" high like the typical sportbike. The tank is prominent and comfortable, just right for laying over under hard acceleration, but lacking the "camel's hump" on sportbikes, which tends to limit those motorcycles to young flat-bellies. My days of being a flat-belly are long behind me.

Likewise, the center of gravity is high enough to create a feeling of agility that cruisers lack, while still maintaining a seat position that allows you to get heels-down at a stop light. The handlebars are high enough to keep your weight off your hands, but low enough to push the bike down into a fast corner smoothly and confidently. While sportbikes sacrifice comfort for performance, and cruisers sacrifice performance for comfort, the CB1100 finds the exact middle ground between those two design principles. The engine is an 1100 inline four, but it is not tuned purely for acceleration. It's got a wide torque range that creates plenty of power across the entire tach. You can roll it from a dead stop in fourth gear with a little judicious clutch feathering, but get it in the power band (about 4,000 to 7,000 rpm) and a quick twist of the throttle will get the front wheel twitching for some air at 60 mph. A little tug, and you're doing something no middle-aged married man has any business doing... Not that it will stop you from doing so, or lessen the huge grin it puts on your face when the ensuing endorphin/adrenalin cocktail temporarily lifts a few decades of age from your shoulders.

That's not to say you're going to stomp a sportbike off the line. While it will still grab a three-and-half second zero-to-sixty, a modern liter bike will shave nearly a second off that time. And you're not going to be taking any long touring excursions on it, either; an hour in the rather firm saddle is about the limit, especially for the 40-something target market, (of which I am precisely in the middle).

It's not perfect, of course. A couple of little niggles that stand out are the single trumpet exhaust and the chain drive. The old CBs had four-deuce and four-into-four exhausts. I do understand why they went with a four-into-one on this bike: it's mainly for maintenance, since the trumpet is off-side from the chain. Which brings me to the other point: chain drive. Chains have some real advantages: they produce instant power response from engine to the rear wheel, they can't slip like belts, and they don't cause torque-induced jumps during power-on shifting as shaft drives are prone to do. But there's a downside, and it's not minor: chain drives are finicky creatures. You have to keep the proper amount of lube on them at all times and they tend to stretch over time, requiring periodic adjustment.

Those minor quibbles aside, the CB1100 is a fun motorcycle. It just begs you to ride it when you see it sitting in the garage: "Psst! Over here! Just a short hop, man. Come on... fifteen minutes. We need some speed!" I suspect that Honda was aiming for an ideal blend of rideability and performance, and I think they hit that goal precisely. It's comfortable, but not too comfortable. It's fast, but not too fast. It's attractive, but not gaudy.

That last, in fact, is where the designers have really hit a home run. I have had several occasions for people to question me about the bike: taking a break at a gas station on a popular riding route, at business meetings, even in traffic at stop lights. The one comment that keeps coming up over and over is "that's a great-looking old Honda!" That's a compliment, of course, because nearly everyone who says it is a middle-aged male. After I explain that it's actually a 2013 model, a brief conversation usually ensues: they rode their CB750 from Newark to Houston in 1979 to start a new career, or their dad hounded them for buying a Jap bike, but then bought one himself after surreptitiously taking it for a spin one night. The stories are as varied as the admirers. But they all admire it, because more than anything else, the CB1100 is about nostalgia and style. Its design hearkens back to a time when superbikes had yet to be invented and Harley-Davidson was owned by AMF, who were busily churning out crap on wheels.

I can sense a central undercurrent in all of those stories, though. You can see it in the eyes of a fifty-something man when he looks at the bike. In their mind's eye, they are seeing the world when they were young and the Honda CB was an obtainable dream, one which represented freedom and individuality. Honda has succeeded in recapturing at least a little of that feeling with the CB1100.



Pros:


+ Perfect balance between performance and comfort
+ Style, baby
+ Honda reliability


Cons:


- Single trumpet exhaust eats into the styling a little
- Seat could use a bit more padding
- Chain drive