Review of the Honda CBR 1100 XX motorcycle (CBR1100XX Blackbird)

RU-MOTO rating

• Reliability
• Chassis
• Appearance
• Comfort

4.5

Verdict

The blackbird can easily be called a high-class vehicle. It is ideal for summer travel on good roads. It is comfortable both for moderate driving in the city and at high speeds on the freeway. Blackbird also provides for a second passenger. At the same time, the trip will be comfortable for both the biker and his companion.

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The creation of a new motorcycle is dictated by the desire to get ahead and overtake its competitors in business. Honda released its new product in 1996, which was nicknamed the “thrush”, which was a reference to the American aircraft capable of exceeding the speed of sound. Drozd was released with the claim of being the fastest motorcycle. At that time, the title was given to the Kawasaki ZX-11 motorcycle. Honda managed to win the title for two years, and then Suzuki with its GSX1300R Hayabusa pushed Honda aside. This will later become an interesting fact in motorcycle history.

Specifications

Blackbird is a powerful and beautiful motorcycle that accelerates to 287 km/h per hour and weighs 259 kg. Fuel consumption is 7.3 liters per 100 km. The technical features of the motorcycle are described in detail on the thematic forum - https://cbr1100xx.ru/.

For whom is it intended?

Thoughtful ergonomics and a powerful engine make the motorcycle perfectly suited for long trips.

The model was not intended for Japanese markets, but was sold in Europe.

Based on this, we can assume that an average and tall biker will be comfortable on a motorcycle. Low-slung mirrors can be ideal even for a tall person.

Tuning

Drozd, like many iconic motorcycles, has seen different tuning options over the years of its existence. There are many personalized accessories available for the motorcycle, such as:

• personalized handles;
• leather tank trim;
• various shapes and seat options;
• high windshield;
• brake fluid reservoir caps.

And these are just the factory tuning options. As for garage craftsmen and custom workshops, they have seen quite a few blackbirds. There are also turbocharged versions with an extended pendulum made for drag competitions. They also made street versions for aggressive driving around the city.

Appearance tuning

Dimensions and weight

Motorcycle weight:

• dry weight was 223 kg ;
• equipped - 250 kg .

Since all the updates concerned the “filling”, the external dimensions remained unchanged and were:

• length - 2161 mm ;
• width - 721 mm ;
• in height - 1201 mm ;

Seat height - 811 mm .

Wheelbase - 1432 mm .

Comparison with analogues

The main competitors of the blackbird in the class are: Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa and Kawasaki ZZR 1100. The criterion of all disputes among these motorcycles is the maximum speed, and here the blackbird has a middle position.

In terms of reliability, Kawasaki was not very reliable and had problems with the gearbox; Suzuki had his problems, but not so significant; Drozd has proven itself to be surprisingly resourceful and reliable.

Subsequently, the blackbird earned strong “popular” authority, and became a much more popular and used motorcycle, unlike its competitors.

Review of the Honda CBR 1100 XX motorcycle (CBR1100XX Blackbird)

In my opinion, this is precisely a sports tourist, from sports he only has a powerful engine, but without malice... the chassis, weight, wind protection are getting closer to the tourist,,, not pan and not gold of course,,,, but that’s why it’s a mixture: sport and tourist…. the very thing that “nina” is a hyperbike (a friend has a bus, so I’ll tell you, it’s all about the layer... when exchanging handlebars, he made me his bus on my bird :) ... well, yes, you can feel a slight advantage after 200 mph) of its time, about which there is a lot of information in the press . Overall, he is gorgeous, reliable and worthy of love, a real compromise spendthrift who deserves a huge army of his admirers. The second number is always very happy  and the bird doesn’t even feel one rider or two. Novosibirsk destinations are easy to swallow. But like most birds from the Japanese domestic market, the front end is rather weak, which only becomes apparent when loading or very hard braking. I sold it only because it was due for complete maintenance: tires, chain/sprockets, timing belt replacement, battery, filters, etc., plus a buyer turned up in the fall.

This rocket was created for good, straight roads. Or, to put it more simply, for autobahns. At speed, I think it has no equal in stability. Neither the wind nor the air currents of the cars remaining behind are capable of leading Drozd astray. In a word - rocket. Moreover, the faster you go, the more stable it becomes. But I also noticed that as the speed increases, it becomes more difficult to maneuver, despite the fact that the motor steers awesome at speeds up to 100 and is controlled by the power of thought. And after 140 - he just rushes in a straight line and that’s it! I think the motorcycle’s dynamics are enough for absolutely everyone, without exception.

The motorcycle is called a sports touring motorcycle, but I wouldn’t call it a touring one. The seating position is somewhere between sport and road. If you want to go long distance on such a motorcycle and you are not a Motorcycle maniac, then installing spacers on the handlebars and adjustable footrests will help you find the desired comfort in riding and speed in movement. You can also install higher “tourist” glass. And off we go. . But preferably to Europe - where the roads are good, the driving performance of the motorcycle is excellent, but it does not like bad roads. Under heavy load, it breaks through the “ass” at once. At high speeds with unadjusted amo, the rear can drag on bumps. But it’s who likes what more. I liked to rush around on it at a speed of 220-240. This is just crazy!!!

The first thing that catches your eye is the size of the motorcycle, it is huge, looking at it the first question that arises is how to control it? ) But despite all fears, the motorcycle steers perfectly at any speed. Thanks to the plastic and the muffler spaced 70cm apart, the motorcycle looks very impressive; the heavy engine sounds menacing, resonating from the walls of the garage and chilling to the very core. Surprisingly, the motorcycle can be friendly and the power of 164 horses is easily controlled, with a smooth action on the throttle, if you ride calmly, the motorcycle does not kick or kick, the behavior is predictable. But woe to you, if you want to awaken the devil sleeping in the bowels of a hot engine, the speedometer needle instantly appears at the numbers 180 and 200, in a matter of seconds you are already flying faster than the wind, regardless of the steepness of the climb and its length. The motorcycle holds the road perfectly, the speed of 120 is not felt at all, just looking at the speedometer and seeing the number 160, you begin to think - Oh, where am I going and why am I going so fast? and then you immediately drop to 100-110, this is a very comfortable speed. I accelerated it to a maximum of 250, then it was scary and the straight line was running out, but it feels like the motorcycle still has a sufficient range of handle and gas, I think that despite its age it will squeeze out about 300, however, on our shitty roads such tricks without a steering damper are undesirable. The Drozd takes turns perfectly, falls to one side using counter-steering with a bang. The dynamics are fascinating, the car provokes, it is definitely faster than any car, always pull yourself together. I recommend being very attentive to the road situation, because the perception of speed on this bike is different from reality, it seems you are going normally, but there is already a lot on the speedometer. We must not forget that some citizens in cans are very slow to think, for them your speed of 180 is beyond comprehension, they simply don’t see you, looked in the mirror, clean, started the maneuver, and here you are on your hyper-bike, at best In case of a break in the pattern and refusal to maneuver, besides, these characters are doing extraneous things while driving, reading books, writing SMS and just chatting on the phone, all this must be taken into account when you have a cannonball between your legs with mad thrust and passing cars are rushing past you are a little slower than those oncoming. In the city, I generally try to drive no faster than traffic, precisely because 80% of them are shell-shocked in canned food. I am glad that the thrush, due to its size, is clearly visible on the road to bollards; from time to time, some fall into a stupor and forget that they are driving along the main road, staring at it like a rabbit at a boa constrictor.

The fit gives off a sporty feel; the low clip-ons mean that you need well-developed back and hip muscles, otherwise your shoulders and arms will quickly get tired. By the way, because of this fit, riding in my leather jacket is uncomfortable; it greatly restricts movement. Most people ride sports bikes leaning on their hands, which makes them stiff and all vibrations are transmitted through tense claws to the body and the motorcycle. When riding a blackbird, you should hold your body by hugging the motorcycle with your legs and holding the body weight using your back muscles, imagining that you are holding it in your hands. two pickled tomatoes) I admit that after the first couple of trips I felt like after going to the gym, but now everything is fine. The motorcycle allows you to cover long distances at high speed. There is an idea to install clip-ons from VFR800 to slightly raise the landing position; there should be no problems with cables and hoses, but this is in the future. The combined brake system works well; on hard surfaces the motorcycle effectively slows down, but I still haven’t been able to fully understand this know-how, although I’ve read how it works, I use both brakes out of habit, but there is a feeling of understatement, a misunderstanding of the process so to speak)). I noticed an interesting thing - on a dirt road near garages, I once pressed the rear brake all the way and felt the front wheel lock and skid a few centimeters, I didn’t really like it, I took note that it was not advisable to do this. Still, it’s better when you have separate predictable brakes at hand, without any innovations like ABS and CBS, I feel calmer when it’s clear that you’re braking with the rear, but with the front, there’s some jack-in-the-box sitting right there and whatever comes into his head it’s not clear)) I can’t definitely classify the brakes as either a plus or a minus.

Now a little about the fly in the ointment: The motorcycle is very wide, it’s not very convenient to climb on it in a narrow aisle, but there is a little secret - if the ear mirrors fit through, then everything else will fit in too. I should note that no matter how I turned the mirror ears, I was never able to set up a clear view that would suit me, an unpleasant fact - the mirrors have blind spots, you have to be careful when changing lanes, a car driving in parallel disappears from view. Spherical sticker mirrors can solve the problem.

Before parking the motorcycle, you need to think about the exit route, for example, if you park the motorcycle poorly, say, on a good slope, then it will be difficult for you to back away, the motorcycle is designed for tall people, with a height of 182 cm, it’s hard for me to squirm backwards with it and in uncomfortable places, my legs reach They reach the ground, but pushing the carcass back is already difficult, especially in motorcycle boots that limit the mobility of the foot. The weight of the motorcycle is large, and I have concerns that the way the motorcycle is turned on the side stand may damage it.

Turning in a limited space and at near-zero speeds is not his strong point, you have to practice reverse hanging in order to turn around along the shortest possible trajectory, after all, it’s a sportbike layout, although of course everything comes with experience, it’s worth looking at how the Japanese control a blackbird in a gymkhana, there’s room for improvement... O_o! Z.y. By the way, our pits would ruin their entire gymkhana)))

Storing it in the garage along the wall is not very convenient, the car no longer fits next to it, the muffler cans get in the way again, you have to constantly move the heavy motorcycle, positioning it diagonally, and this tetris with the car is a little annoying... As for the driving characteristics - I noticed a not very pleasant feature - If at speed the front end bounces on bumps, then the vibration is transmitted to the steering wheel and you get a kind of wobbling that goes away in a split second, but leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. Most likely, installing a steering damper will help solve the problem. Maintenance of the motorcycle is not to say that it is inconvenient, but it takes longer than on road workers, almost any operation entails the removal of plastic, however, access to the same spark plugs seemed easier to me than on the Sibikh, of course, for this you will have to remove the airbox, but this is done quite easily , the most difficult thing is removing the muzzle, there is a risk of breaking the fasteners that are authentic and it is not so easy to find a replacement. Carburetors are easier to dismantle than anywhere else; again, issues related to motor maintenance are a matter of experience and getting better at it.

And here is the biggest disadvantage for me - As I already said, a motorcycle allows you to get from point A to point B in a matter of minutes, but it really depends on the quality of the roads. By and large, I can’t unlock the potential of this wonderful motorcycle, because it suddenly turned out that I simply have nowhere to go... 15 minutes and I’m already somewhere near Nadezhdinsk from Vladivostok, and what next? there is a track in front, a track behind, on the sides of the railing, where to go next and why? I can’t leave the highway to explore the surrounding area and sights because... beyond its borders there are ugly shitty roads everywhere, so for now I have to use the bird as some kind of attraction for teleportation in space, but this is not quite what I wanted... Thoughts about selling the bird began to appear, but as soon as you sit on it, these thoughts disappear under the influence of euphoria. ))

Recently, I had a trip to Ussuriysk, where we have about 10 km of long-term construction - a very bad section where there is no asphalt surface at all, I thought that my thrush would fall apart from these potholes, everything rattled and bounced so terribly, my ass instantly went numb and yearned for Viragovsky sofa, I tried to ride standing for some time, it probably looked funny from the side and especially from the back, the cancer position does not bring balance and stability in off-road conditions. I concluded that this motorcycle does not tolerate such abuse, I just feel sorry for killing the car on such roads, its element is autobahns and wide highways, and once in Russia it is probably in slight bewilderment...))

Modifications

The Honda X11 model was produced on the Drozd platform, which became the first bike to combine sports and touring characteristics.

For a couple of years, the concern's dealers offered the Honda X11 . Appearing in 1999 , it was produced for two years. In fact, under this name a lightweight version of the CBR 1100 XX was offered, promoted in Japan and Europe (under the name Honda CB1100SF X11 ). The developers explained its release as an attempt to combine a tourist with an ordinary city bike.

The model had injection injection, a complete absence of body kit and a round headlight, analog instruments and 5 (instead of 6) speeds. At the same time, the European version could accelerate to 250 km.

2001 was the last year of the model's appearance. According to the developers, it did not fall into the circle for which it was intended; in addition, it was the tourist who attracted buyers, and not the city motorcycle.

Flaws

In urban conditions, the wide and heavy Drozd has a hard time.

Since the “drozda” was originally designed for long-distance commuters, all urban problems became its disadvantages:

• heavy weight;
• huge steering wheel and turning angle;
• a tightly closed case does not provide normal cooling and, as a result, the fan constantly operates, driving the air flow directly to the pilot’s feet.

Some users noted problems with the generator .

and dignity

The only thing that can mar a ride on this motorcycle are potholes in the broken asphalt, which the bike’s suspension is not designed to handle.

The bike also has many advantages:

• absence of vibrations at any speed;
• perfectly calculated brakes;
• motor with real diesel traction at any speed;
• a large selection of components for both tuning and repair;
• comfortable fit.

Reliable, dynamic, easy to drive—these are the epithets the owners give to this version.