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Original Article:
2013 Honda CB1100 Review

Please discuss the Motorcycle.com article 2013 Honda CB1100 Review in our Motorcycle Forums below. Use the reply button to let others know your comments or feedback on the article. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, along with your thoughts and personal opinions on the bikes and products we have tested.

 

[The Spaceman]

It's good to hear my CB isn't the only one with a goofy gas gauge. It goes to flashing "reserve" mode at just over 100 miles. I'm averaging 40 mpg, so obviously there's still at least 60 miles range. Aside from that and the headers getting crapped up on wet roads, its been a real pleasure to own.

So far four people have asked me what year it is, thinking its a restoration. It's fun to see the look on their face when I say "2013."

 

[jmdonald]

Still on the list.

This is exactly what the doctor ordered for a modern standard bike. I love it.

 

[sarnali2]

This is exactly what the doctor ordered for a modern standard bike. I love it.

Ditto, it's nice to see Honda plumb their own history instead of spinning off another pseudo 50's burger joint wet dream machine. I personally love bike with the 70's styling, that's what I grew up with and this one hits the bulls-eye as far as I'm concerned, Good Job Honda and congrat's Ken on your fine taste in motorsikkles....

 

[Buzglyd]

Nice bike.

HP and TQ are similar to my old Ducati GT1000 but the Duc had the advantage of being 100 lbs lighter.

100 lbs! What's this thing made out of? Lead?

 

[The_AirHawk]

This here:

THAT is a power-slope (can't really call it a "curve" now, can we?) which would have been the Envy of every moto-manufacturer throughout the '70s, '80s, AND '90s. Linear, nice gradient, no dips or plateaus - the ONLY thing(s) that would make it "perfect" would be if it were a bit steeper, and with a higher peak.

True, we don't ride dyno-plots. But if we DID, this would be one I'd straddle.

Ken, you made an excellent choice, based on what you've told about your CB, and this article.

I have Moto Envy.

 

[Kevin_Duke]

HP and TQ are similar to my old Ducati GT1000 but the Duc had the advantage of being 100 lbs lighter.

100 lbs! What's this thing made out of? Lead?

The Sport 1000 I once tested put out 75.4 RWHP and 58.5 ft-lb of torque at 5900 rpm, so not quite up to the 148cc bigger Honda. It weighed 454 lbs full of fuel. As for what it's made out of, it's lead, but it's robustly engineered lead.

 

[seruzawa]

Nice bike.

HP and TQ are similar to my old Ducati GT1000 but the Duc had the advantage of being 100 lbs lighter.

100 lbs! What's this thing made out of? Lead?

It's made out of pure honda.

Don't complain. It's light by its retro standards. I've seen one at SLC Honda and it's a nice small package. About the size of a 78 KZ1000.

Too bad they didn't match the 90hp/75ftlb of the old air/oil GSX1100. But it's numbers are plenty for most any application it's likely to be tasked for.

It's high on the list of bikes I'll never own. Though I'd be tempted by a used one in a few years. How well it sells remains to be seen.

 

[Buzglyd]

The Sport 1000 I once tested put out 75.4 RWHP and 58.5 ft-lb of torque at 5900 rpm, so not quite up to the 148cc bigger Honda. It weighed 454 lbs full of fuel. As for what it's made out of, it's lead, but it's robustly engineered lead.

Admittedly my Duc had the Termi pipes and chip which added about 10hp and dropped another 10 lbs or so. One tooth smaller on the countershaft and I'm afraid the Honda would be sucking wind.

The GT was $9500 brand spankin' new. Sold her for $7500. Still miss it.

 

[bechtoea]

Here's the problem with this bike. See, the "retro" thing with the Harleys and Triumphs is successful because of what they are emulating. See, they are emulating machines that in their day were not reliable enough to exist in large numbers now. But this machine? It emulates the Honda's of their own heyday.

But the reason that the older Honda's were so popular is evident in Craigslist. You can pick up a very good running example of an air cooled Honda 650 all the way up to a 900 for a fraction of the cost of this machine. Recently, I sold my 599 because of the lack of comfort and picked up a 91 Nighthawk 750 for under $2000. The only thing this CB1100 that my Nighthawk doesn't is a tick more power and fuel injection. Outside of that, I simply dont' see the extra $8000 here. Oh, and in the early 80's all the way up to 2003, the air cooled inline fours of Honda had hydraulic valves so in that way they are even better than this example, which even with a redline lower than my 750 still requires valve attention. Bonus 2 is that a CB900 would eat this thing for lunch, having both more torque and HP, and it has shaft drive. CB900's can be had for pennies and they are still running stout.

So yeah, I picture my old NH750 with the top box full of $8000 and yeah, I'll keep mine.

 

[Buzglyd]

Here's the problem with this bike. See, the "retro" thing with the Harleys and Triumphs is successful because of what they are emulating. See, they are emulating machines that in their day were not reliable enough to exist in large numbers now. But this machine? It emulates the Honda's of their own heyday.

But the reason that the older Honda's were so popular is evident in Craigslist. You can pick up a very good running example of an air cooled Honda 650 all the way up to a 900 for a fraction of the cost of this machine. Recently, I sold my 599 because of the lack of comfort and picked up a 91 Nighthawk 750 for under $2000. The only thing this CB1100 that my Nighthawk doesn't is a tick more power and fuel injection. Outside of that, I simply dont' see the extra $8000 here. Oh, and in the early 80's all the way up to 2003, the air cooled inline fours of Honda had hydraulic valves so in that way they are even better than this example, which even with a redline lower than my 750 still requires valve attention. Bonus 2 is that a CB900 would eat this thing for lunch, having both more torque and HP, and it has shaft drive. CB900's can be had for pennies and they are still running stout.

So yeah, I picture my old NH750 with the top box full of $8000 and yeah, I'll keep mine.

Very true.

LOTs of UJMs out there in good shape for pennies.

 

[Duken4evr]

Speaking of used bikes, a friend of mine was interested in this bike, I talked him out of it when I found a pristine 1 owner '03 1st Gen Yamaha FZ1 with 1,800 miles for $3,950. 125 hp at the wheel, 90 pounds lighter, bikini fairing, more modern suspension. He bought the FZ1 and loves it. The way I see it, he owes me 6 grand! I have a Gen 2 FZ1 and love the thing, but honestly, the Gen 1 is a better all around motorcycle. Those 1st Gen FZs are real gems

I love the old Superbikes. Another buddy as a '79 GS1000S with some motor mods that is to die for. The Kawi ZRX is very desirable bike. Would love to see Suzuki deporkify the Bandit and get back to it's GS roots. Would have really been excited about this bike if it was more like these bikes.

This CB needs at least 100 horsepower and 60 pounds less weight to be of interest. Smooth power curves are nice in the low rpm range, but this is a motorcycle, not a Toyota Camry. A smooth curve with a strong kick in the pants on top is good too. The superbikes of old were brutal beasts. A bit of that rawness would go a long way. Would be interesting to modify this bike to see if a lot of ponies are just stuffed in the barn, or if it really is an 85 hp (post mods) wheezer.

As usual, the nice people at Honda sanitized it for our protection. Remove the ass gasket please. This thing is an 1100 for crying out loud. The joy of an open class sportyish motorcycle is the effortless low rpm thrust and easy cruising, with the ability to knock it down a gear or two, spin it up and scare the sh%t out of myself on command with a malevolent and irresponsible top end rush. That is what open class bikes should be about.

 

[sarnali2]

When my kids were babies in the early 90's I rode a $1200 V65 Saber for a year or two, then an absolutely hammered GL1100 Interstate till I finally scored a first year ZX1000R for $1500 and rode that until I could afford a new CBR 900 RR and get back on decent bikes again.

You do what you have to do to keep your knees in the breeze, I'd ride a 250 dirt bike with a flashlight taped to the handlebars if I had to. Given the choice I'd buy new or very lightly used though, I don't want someone else leftovers.

 

[Kevin_Duke]

Bonus 2 is that a CB900 would eat this thing for lunch, having both more torque and HP, and it has shaft drive. CB900's can be had for pennies and they are still running stout.

Are you sure about that? Dyno figures are hard to find, but I just saw numbers for a 1981 CB900F with aftermarket air filters, jetting and exhaust: 85 rwhp.

 

[Kevin_Duke]

Speaking of used bikes, a friend of mine was interested in this bike, I talked him out of it when I found a pristine 1 owner '03 1st Gen Yamaha FZ1 with 1,800 miles for $3,950. 125 hp at the wheel, 90 pounds lighter, bikini fairing, more modern suspension. He bought the FZ1 and loves it. The way I see it, he owes me 6 grand! I have a Gen 2 FZ1 and love the thing, but honestly, the Gen 1 is a better all around motorcycle. Those 1st Gen FZs are real gems

Yep, that first-gen FZ1 is a wonderful all-rounder. But it's only 25 lbs lighter than the CB11.

 

[jonnychampagne]

This here:

THAT is a power-slope (can't really call it a "curve" now, can we?) which would have been the Envy of every moto-manufacturer throughout the '70s, '80s, AND '90s. Linear, nice gradient, no dips or plateaus - the ONLY thing(s) that would make it "perfect" would be if it were a bit steeper, and with a higher peak..

Interesting thing about this chart, which our dyno guy pointed out, is that Red Line on this bike is set at about 8600rpm - but the power fell off -- "dropped like a rock" is more like it -- right at 7K.
Thoughts?

 

[Buzglyd]

Interesting thing about this chart, which our dyno guy pointed out, is that Red Line on this bike is set at about 8600rpm - but the power fell off -- "dropped like a rock" is more like it -- right at 7K.
Thoughts?

That's where Honda's attorneys drew the line?

If there is more to be had, the aftermarket will find it.

Maybe it's like the old Aprilia "clip the wire" trick.

 

[The Spaceman]

The bike is not about high performance. It's about "taking a stroll in the park," and enjoying the esthetics as much as the ride. Those were the design teams goals, as they discussed in the video below:

Honda | ƒoƒCƒN | CB1100 | Development Concept & Riding impression movie

I'm all in favor of sphincter-tightening bikes with a mad rush of power on the top end, but they don't all have to be that way to be fun to ride.

 

[schizuki]

Though I'd be tempted by a used one in a few years. How well it sells remains to be seen.

There will be new '13s on the floor in the spring of 2015 for $8K. If it's really a "stroll in the park" bike, Harley and Triumph make the same bike for less cash.

Darn shame, too. I'm sure it's more powerful than either of those bikes, but if it doesn't feel that much more powerful, then its retro cred won't be enough.

But what do I know? I thought that ugly sooper-croozer Rocket-thingy barge would kill Triumph.

 

[delaplaya]

In line fours

The best handling bike I ever rode was a Norton Interstate. (basically a Commando with a bigger tank) The two cylinder push rod engine had a center of gravity somewhere around my shoe laces. It went around corners like it was on rails.

After that, I had a Honda 750 four. It was so famous by then, I was happy to finally get one. What a disappointment. A solid, very well engineered piece of work, but it was too heavy and because of the engine shape and location, the center of gravity was somewhere around the upper cylinder. Once it fell over and I couldn't lift it alone. The Honda was over 500 lbs, while the Norton was about 412 lbs wet.

So here we're looking at a Honda 1100 cc inline four, or a British twin? And a British twin that starts and runs every day? No contest.