We tested the latest generation CB1100 and its new, improved Showa fork. We came away impressed for a number of reasons, not the least of which was its iconic styling.
Starting with the sportier CB1100 RS, Honda UK is working with a private customizer to manufacturer a limited run of 54 special edition models called the Honda CB1100 RS 5Four. Largely a styling exercise, the bike nevertheless has some interesting features.
Lower Renthal handlebars create a sportier riding position that compliments the aluminum bikini fairing and special aluminum tail piece with solo seat. Special grips, levers and mirrors add to the custom look, as do special titanium Racefit mufflers.
The beautiful paintwork incorporates hand-painted Honda logo and wing and limited edition 54 badge. Priced at £15,554, the bike is unavailable in the United States.
See more of MD’s great photography:
I love it! It would sell in limited numbers in the USA and be sought after once discontinued. I’d be willing to drop $14K USD for it…
Toad and as ugly as one along with over priced!!Ill get a Benelli TNT if I wanted to go slow and save the money!!
That’s a little like what I would do to a CB if I had one in the garage as a project. 17″ wheels, better boingers, short bars, bikini fairing, 4into1, bar end mirrors, That said, I hear my old BS1100E calling me to buy her back!
I guess I’m going to be the guy disagree with the general trend of people comparing this bike to the Monster. To me the Monster is a busy short guy bike. But it has it’s moments.
This thing, to me, looks totally out of proportion. The fairing and tail section look like they were made for something else. The gas tank is horrible. The engine is team obsolete.
The seventies were forty years ago. I was there. It was when cool died. This bike is a rolling monument to the death of cool. Go park it in some dusty garage next to some 1978 car and forget about it.
If they hadn’t come in consecutive MD posts, no-one would dream of comparing this Honda with the Monster. Chalk and cheese IMO.
I was there too in the seventies, and this bike is a very nice example of the contemporary styling. None of your detail criticisms holds any truth for me and since we don’t know what your definition of cool is, no further comment is worthwhile.
As to the age of the motor design, I thought Honda had re-engineered it for the 21st century, with particular emphasis on achieving good cooling for a big air-cooled motor. OK, so it’s an inline four but I doubt it shares any components with the 40-year-old version.
Looks like they swapped out the standard 18″ hoops for 17’s. Looks wonky, like the K900RS.
I guess the objective is to get media coverage, but seems like flogging a dead dingo to me. Wouldn’t they be better served making a cool version of the CB500F? Sure, I love vintage bikes too, but going vintage with an archaic machine is certainly not the way to draw younger folks into dealerships. Royal Enfield’s new 650 has that base covered and does so inexpensively. Triumph makes cool modern vintage-style bikes. This beast is a lovely bullet fired into a vacuum.
The younger folk are the ones buying bikes that look like this.
Please quote your source.
New Gen wont spend that kind of money..Get a Benelli TNT ..
Nice looking bike – although the red color looks a bit bland/faded.
That red is pretty authentic of Honda red from the 70’s.
Honda was not willing to pay the royalty to Italy for the use of a Proper red so they were left with the bland/faded one you see for Lo this many years…
I agree with most of the comments. Much better looking than the industrialized Ducati in the last article. The price is kind of a put-off, but the CB certainly has the look. Who cares about how fast it goes, you’re gonna look and feel great getting there.
For some reason, I think it would be cool for Honda to make a smaller, 400cc version of this thing with those sexy pipes and single exhaust a-la CB400F
I like the color combinations on this bike.
Re. Honda’s current air-oil cooled CB1100 vs. Kawasaki’s current liquid-cooled Z900, both open class 4PVC DOHC inline-4s. The latter is about 90# lighter than the former. I’m thinking the potential weight savings and improved performance would justify Honda having started with a clean sheet rather than re-working their then-35 year old design. I presume an all new air-cooled Honda 1100 could approximate the weight of a Z900.
And certainly Honda could have stopped at 900cc if it outperformed an 1100 overall. The early 80’s CB900F rocked the world pretty hard. The first CB750 was SOHC 2VPC; the current CB1100 is based on 1979’s 2nd-gen motor.
My imaginary never-to-exist Honda would outperform the current bike, and retain its edge in styling and aesthetics, even if straight line still favored the liquid cooled Kawasaki.
I presume the reason the CB1100’s power envelope is so modest (per liter) is because it’s a reworked 40 year old design to meet modern emissions rules.
If that bike had been sitting right beside a red EX on the showroom, I still would have bought the EX. Factor in the extra cost of this one, and it would be a no-brainer.
The EX looks better, and the performance between the two is basically the same. Only significant difference is the size of the wheels. For the upcharge they’re asking for this bike, I’d want a noticeable increase in performance.
Nice looking bike, but a sad excuse to ask a 50% increase in price that does not justify the improvements.
Why can’t any manufacturer build a bike like this at a mundane hard worker’s salary price level?
Such as an Royal Enfield’s 650s…
I would go deeper into debt to buy this thing.
Good looking bike!
I wish we here in Australia had another re offering of the CB1100 esp in RS variant.
When it was released in the last generation, it was too early for this nostalgia era.
We’ve got the Neo Cafe CB1000R now and it is a sales flop from what I hear from the the Trade.
Honda are quick here to give a bike the tick and flick, so the 1000R better get a redesign soon or it will be gone too.
Dealers can’t afford duds sucking up the monthly interest on the floor plans.
They’d probably sell about 54 of them here as well.
I’d take this Honda all day long over the Duc Monster in your previous article. 👍
Here, here.
is that style fairing useful? just wondering. in my 20 years of riding i never rode a scoot equipped with one. on my two cruiser i installed tall windshields and lowers which provided extremely adequate wind protection. my ninja 650’s and suzuki sv650’s stock ws’s were equally protective. this may be a silly question as i know many bikes incorporate a similar design.
A short shield keeps wind pressure off your chest and your head in clean air.
A medium shield put the wind in your face and contributes to turbulence, flag flapping noise and head wobble.
A tall shield puts the wind over your head and puts you in a quiet air pocket at the expense of looks, horsepower and gas mileage.
An even taller shield can put the head and torso in a good place but also make a vacuum that feels like a knee pushed between the shoulder blades. Nothing is perfect with windscreens, that why we have cars too I’d say.
Concur. A short shield has always been my favorite, and this one adds t the beauty of the machine.
For me (6’2″) the FZ6 one is just right. No turbulence, can duck behind it if wind/high speed.
I like short screens too. Tall ones get knarly in cross winds and med ones are noisy and buffeting
Yes, they do a surprisingly good job compared to no shield at all.
Very nice effort and good to see the CB1100 in various forms .. But I still love my 2013 standard CB1100 even more .. I plan to gift it to my son when he turns 18 or so .. Cheers
Now this is what a motorcycle is supposed to look like. Beautiful! And, of course, it’s not available in the US.
That’s bc we don’t buy many of the naked ones. But I like both. I know twin shocks look nice but they don’t work nearly as well. The roads are crap up North.
Sweet MAry, mother of Jesus, this thing doesn’t have tank seams, a cropped tail, a radiator, or a beak. They’re going to sell 54 of these, for sure.
As long as it has less than 100 HP so that those 54 owners can go faster through the canyon than their buddies on superbikes.