I have always been in love with the superbikes of the early 80's as they were the motorcycles that created the passion for riding that I have. I spent many years staring at magazines dreaming of the day I would be able to own one. Fast forward thirty years: I have owned an sv1000s for years and just sold it to pay off some debt and because I just had to reduce some risk in my life after a huge bicycle crash that required reconstructive surgery and pushed my narcotic dependency, which was a total bitch to kick. So my dad is 76 years old and his health has been on a slow decline for a while now and every time I see him he talks about dying. I just hate it. Then last week we were talking about the cars we built in the 80's together (my first car), and he mentioned how much he would love to build a mopar car but that it was just too expensive. I can't believe I have never thought of this before but the light turned on and I threw out the idea of restoring an old classic like a kz1000r or cb1100f or whatever he wanted. He has been a motorcycle guy all his life and has had to downsize his bike because he dropped his road king and it just about killed him to get it up out of the road. So my mom jumps on it with a passion knowing what it will mean to him and my wife jumped on it as well, which totally surprised me as she was relieved when I sold the sv. My wife is my dream woman: hot, smart, good, good mom and she actually still loves me, a total asshole. I don't get it but I am thankful. So on a whim yesterday, I actually found this and we are going to pic it up tonight and start spending some good time together bringing it back to what it should be. It's running and has only 28k miles on it. It's rough now, but to me it's she's as hot as.... well she's not as hot as my wife but she does stir my soul and bring me back to my early teens I will be updating from time to time. ganze
Always loved these bikes (and the Bol D'or model too)...I even have a set of gold boomerang wheels which I was supposed to install on a CBX...never did it! http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t122/prmurat/IMG_0015.jpg http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t122/prmurat/IMG_0014.jpg For this result: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&...ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:22,s:0,i:230&tx=72&ty=63
Totally worth the time, effort and money. A wonderful bike to ride too. They're not scarce, but they're not common either. The fact that Honda have brought back a new version, should indicate how beloved these bikes are. I have a 900F carcass in my garage awaiting the same treatment. Canadian models had the gold rims, the American ones got the wheels that were on the Sabre.
I had one back in the day. A great allrounder that was fun to ride and easy to live with. Being the end of the line for the Honda F-bikes it was well sorted, looked great and got tons of positive comments. A couple years back I was lucky enough to bump into the guy I sold it to, still riding it and still looking great with 80,000+ km on it. Enjoy the project.
A very noteworthy bike for Honda, as it was their last kick at the can for an air cooled superbike. And it was a wide margin better than the 900F. This bike is worthy the bucketload of money you might have to put into it to make it right.
That bike has some tasty bits on it, looks like it's running a little rich... Sounds like a very cool thing to do with your dad. There's a or at least a few years back it was active forum called something like CB1100f.net.
Love the Canadian model with the round headlight (or was that a mod?). cb1100f.net is still active .... I lurk there sometimes when I get nostalgic for my 1981 CB900F: My first new bike after a couple of smaller Honda 4's. I rode it almost 50K miles in 4 years. This pic was taken in 1983 after I added a Honda "Sport Control Kit"(Euro-market rear sets and lower bars). Enjoy your project, ganze and dad ... I'll follow it! -dman
These are cool bikes, were old tech already back in -83 and very retro today. I've taken mine even more towards the old school "roadster" look. CB1100F with... - Euro rearsets and gold "boomerang" Comstar wheels - GSXR 750 Slingshot carbs - Rebuilt cylinder head from a CB1000C (better shaped combustion chamber & higher CR) - New OEM starter clutch - Modern switch gear and throttle grip (better throttle cable routing) - Unknown brand 4-1 exhaust that routes VERY tight to bike, I've never seen another similar one Oh, and a set of WTF?! KTM mirrors!
+1,I have a CB900F and love it for commuting and just riding around town. I think the 1100 is a better bike also as they supposedly fixed the shifting glitches that result in so many false neutrals.Best of luck,parts are starting to get a little pricey though.
I always did love the look of these bikes, good on you for taking the time to bring one back. I will be watching the build also. Mike
got the official service manual and a clymer's the day before christmas and will get started this week. The more I look, the more I think I like the retro-rebuild as opposed to putting modern wheels and rubber on it. The retro rebuild is more labor and less parts intensive as I think it's basically ok. I'll check compression real soon to see if it needs new pistons and rings. It's a dog right now. Badly cupped tires, tired leaking forks, dodgy cables bad air/fuel mix make it only mildly fun to ride, and afterward I reek like hydrocarbons. I won't mind putting up on the stand and tearing it apart.
Yes, round 900F-type headlight and instrument cluster was stock. CBX type cast clip-on bars instead of tubular bar, gold comstar wheels, different pegs and about 5 more hp. I used to ride a friends machine occasionally and it really turned heads. Good luck with the project bike!
I worked at a dealership in the early to mid 80s and had my eye on a red one until the 1100 Katanas rolled in. Still have the Kat but its starting to feel neglected.
Had a blue one for a couple years that I restored. I miss that bike... I wish I hadn't sold it. These are great bikes with tons of resourses and possibilities out there. Let me know if you have questions... I'm not sure if I wil have an answer but I kept mine rolling and performing over a 48000 mile stay with me without any real problems at all.. I think I still have some parts... and I have all my notes from setting up the carbs... tuning... valve adjusting.. etc. Looking forward to watching your journey.
