Six years after the prototype was first unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Show and a further three since a domestic market version went on sale in Japan in 2010, the Euro-spec version of the CB1100, a bike which attempts to rekindle the classic riding experience of Honda’s historic air-cooled fours from the ‘60s and ‘70s, yet cossett with all the quality, ease of use and peace of mind of a modern machine, is finally arriving in UK dealers at the end of next month.
That’s a lot of years and a whole hatful of influences. But there’s really only one question that needs answering: has it been worth the wait? Or, to put it another way: if you put the corporate puff, rose-tinted nostalgia and long drawn out hype to one side, you’re pretty much left with a bike that, on paper at least, has the performance of Yam 900 Diversion for the price of an FZ1 and are we at all right to get excited about that? Our first ride, through the glamous city streets of Valencia before an afternoon of carvery and cruising along the scenic switchbacks near the Serra d’Espada aimed to find out…
A few seconds with the CB1100 is all it takes to convince you’re in the presence of a gloriously classy, beautifully detailed and designed machine. Forget budget Zephyrs or basic Bonnies, Honda’s homage wants for nothing and is littered with neat touches. On a pragmatic level: it has a mainstand as standard, span adjustable levers on both sides, ABS and quality mirrors, clocks and more. And if you want posh, how about that luxo chrome filler cap, the gloriously recreated ‘crystal’ tailight or chunky yet beautifully crafted cast and machined alloy footrest hangers? And if all that kind of thing takes you spiritually back to the ‘60s or ‘70s or bikes of your youth – and it did me, even though my era is more early ‘80s – then that’s entirely deliberate.
But let’s get one thing straight from the off: The CB1100 is NOT a replica, nor even a reboot, of the now near-mythical 1969 CB750K0 – the bike that turned world motorcycling on its head and propelled Honda to a dominance it still holds today. Instead it’s a machine which draws on the style of a number of classic Honda fours (such as the CB400/4, CB900F and CB550/4, although, admittedly, the original CB750K0 has the strongest influence of all) with the intention being to recreate the overall character of bikes from the era, not one bike in particular.
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