Honda Blackbird – CBR1100 – 2001 injection model.
There has been a lot written in the motorcycle press about this bike, but I do wonder how “real” some magazine reports really are. It seems many magazines are happy to produce a report on a bike after running it round the block, or doing ... Read review
Advantages: Fast, comfortable super bike Disadvantages: poor screen
Honda Blackbird – CBR1100 – 2001 injection model.
There has been a lot written in the motorcycle press about this bike, but I do wonder how “real” some magazine reports really are. It seems many magazines are happy to produce a report on a bike after running it round the block, or doing a couple of laps of a race track somewhere. It has to be said that I have read more than one article about the Blackbird where it seemed that they ... ...I purchased a brand new Honda Blackbird (red) from an official UK Honda dealer. In the past 12 months I have covered over 11000 miles in all weathers and on all sorts of roads. I have serviced the bike myself and have replaced parts as needed.
The bike has been totally reliable, as you would expect of a bike of this age. I have left the bike pretty much standard, with the exception of a “double bubble” screen. I’m 6’ 1” tall and quite ... more
Honda Blackbird – CBR1100 – 2001 injection model.
There has been a lot written in the motorcycle press about this bike, but I do wonder how “real” some magazine reports really are. It seems many magazines are happy to produce a report on a bike after running it round the block, or doing a couple of laps of a race track somewhere. It has to be said that I have read more than one article about the Blackbird where it seemed that they had not actually ridden it all. When it comes to getting an honest opinion of a bikes capabilities, performance and general reliability, you would be best speaking to someone who owns and rides the model of bike you are considering buying.
Hopefully this is where I come in!
Last year (October 2001) I purchased a brand new Honda Blackbird (red) from an official UK Honda dealer. In the past 12 months I have covered over 11000 miles in all weathers and on all sorts of roads. I have serviced the bike myself and have replaced parts as needed.
The bike has been totally reliable, as you would expect of a bike of this age. I have left the bike pretty much standard, with the exception of a “double bubble” screen. I’m 6’ 1” tall and quite long in the body and I found the standard screen obscured the view of the clocks and directed the wind blast straight at the bottom of my crash helmet. The replacements screen has helped solve both problems.
I am just about to fit my 3rd set of tyres. The original Bridgestone BT57’s lasted 5000 miles and were under the legal limit when taken off. I found the BT57’s to be ok in the dry warm weather and reasonable in the wet. But as they started to wear they really upset the handling of the bike and started to make it very “vague” when the road was wet. I fitted a pair of Bridgestone BT020’s as they were recommended by the supplying dealer (They are now standard OEM fitment by Honda). They improved the general feel of the back considerably, and have lasted 6000 miles and they still have about 2.5mm to go. I’m going to change them soon for another pair of BT020’s. the 020’s are about the same as the BT57’s in the dry, but considerable better in the wet, they warm up quickly and feel as though they can take any weather in their stride. They are only just starting to loose their grip, the rear is now squared off and feel a bit “vague” at speed or when turning into roundabouts.
I have changed the oil and oil filter every 3000 miles even though Honda say every 8000 and my dealer says every 4000. The cost of an oil & filter change, with fully synthetic Castrol oil is less than £40 if you do it yourself. The whole jobs takes less than 1 hour and you do not need to remove any fairing panels to do the work. The oil filter is a bit tricky to remove, but other than that it’s a really easy job. I always change my engine oil on bikes every 3000 miles, my view being oil is cheaper than engines!
The linked brakes take a bit of getting used to, but are plenty powerful enough to stop the bike in a hurry, even with a full 16 stone on board! The rear pads are just about ready to be changed and will probably be done at the same time as the tyres.
Other than routine servicing I have not had to do any other work on the bike other than cleaning. The bike gets cleaned about 4 times a year, which is not really enough. The finish on this bike is holding up well and it still look good even after riding though the winter and not really cleaning it much. Front forks are the only area to start looking tatty, seems to be a common problem judging by other Blackbirds I’ve seen parked.
So what’s it like to ride. Well it goes without saying it is a fast bike, 160bhp getting interesting, especially in the wet! The power is produced cleanly with no real dips, except perhaps around 4000rpm, where there is a little hesitation. It runs smoothly to the redline and produces power all the way, yet still has enough power low down to run along at 40mph in top without any sign of a struggle. The fairing is good, and keeps most of the water off in a shower. The headlight is OK, but the low beam is a bit poor. It’s bright enough, but the focus of the beams seems to spread out, leaving the centre of the road in a sort of shadow. Not the sort of thing you need on a bike this fast.
Over all I would say anyone looking for a touring/sports bike, who is looking to cover great distance in a day, would be more than happy with what this machine has on offer. BUT, and you know there just had to be one! I find it a bit bland, it is so good at what it was built for it gets a bit boring. My previous Kawasaki had less power, but felt faster. It had a real power band that would bring a smile to your face when the revs hit 7000rpm. Don’t get me wrong, the Honda is one powerful bike, but it’s power delivery is so smooth it feels characterless.
Fuel consumption is around 40pmg, it was around 30mpg for the first 4000miles, still running in I guess. (Honda do not recommend using synthetic oil for the first 4000 miles, this may have been why mpg improved around this mileage).
Overall a damn good bike, well built, fast and reasonably economical on tyres and petrol, for such a big bike.
To give you an idea of performance in the real world. Never had any car get close to it’s acceleration 0 – 100. even the big boys toys like Ferrari’s. It will pull in front of an R1 (just) from 30mph out of a round about, up to about 100mph. I’ve upset the same guy about 5 times now!
It will cruise at any speed all day, in comfort.
Insurance is not to bad, well for me anyway. I’m 34, 7 years no claims and live in a reasonable non city postcode area. This years premium, £550.00 including protected no claims bonus. This is fully comp, with £800.00 excess.
Would I buy another one? Well, even though I sometimes find it a bit bland, I think I would buy another one. It does everything I want, is plenty fast enough and is perfect for all year round use.
Advantages: Smooth, comfy Disadvantages: Thirsty, high insurance
I bought the Honda CBR1100xx super Blackbird in 1997 when it was released from the blocks and i have recently traded it in with my brand new suzuki bandit GSF1200s.After testing the ability of my newer bike i have found that when compared to the Blackbird it has its faults.
For instance i quite often give my girlfriend lifts and occasionlly friends, and the bandit lacks the ability to real shrug off any pillions without noticing the extra wind resistance ... ...you can even get side luggage on aswell.
It rides like a dream and if your not careful you will find yourself cruising through bends like if you were at brands hatch.Thankfully i have not been pulled by the police yet but should imagine many peolpe have thanks to the bikes extraordinary smooth pull and drag in and out of corners.
It is 162bhp @ 10000 rpm which is top class for commuters and touring peeps.Unfortunatly the downfall at the moment ...
happytan 06.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Honda CBR1100XX
Advantages: POWER, handling, smoothness, stability Disadvantages: Some may need time to adapt to riding position
...like 65 on my old Honda Magna. And fuel mileage is decent depending on how you ride. Spirited riding will get you usually low 30's for mpg. Tamer riding will yield around 40mpg. A 6.x gallon tank means you can usually get about 200 or so miles before hitting reserve the bike.
Braking is simply excellent. The dual discs up front a marvelous job. I find the linked braking system (LBS) to be just fine and easy to adapt to. In short this bike has great ... ...of speeding tickets if you're not careful (get a radar detector). But if you like speed, smoothness, handling, decent comfort, and Honda reliability....you will have a stupid grin on your face (and probably some drool) after riding a CBR1100xx.
I hope this info helped anyone considering this bike. ...
skater69 28.11.2003 (29.11.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Honda CBR1100XX
Do you know the feeling, when you see you bike being wheeled away by someone who's just bought it, and suddenly you think "I shouldn't have sold that"?
That's what happened to me with the Blackbird.
I had a 1997 one, one with the carbs. In bronze.
I had fitted a Micron full race 4 into 1 sustem and Dynajet conversion with K and N airfilter. It gave out 150bhp at the rear wheel.
It went like the wind.
I saw 200 mph on the clock at the Nurbergring ... ...to work in London on every day and I took it on track days.I did 20,000 miles on it without a single problem. 35 mpg overall.
It wasn't the most comortable of bikes. I raised the bars an inch with Genmar risers and fitted a 1" taller screen, that all helped.
The chains lasted over 12,000 miles with a Scottoiler.
The brakes, although linked, worked just fine for me.
Hey, whilst I'm writing this I've just had a great idea.... I'm going to buy another ...
niglom 22.07.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Honda CBR1100XX
Now on my 3rd Blackbird, P plate non injected was first. awsome bike but a bit rough around the edges it was quick, but most of that was hype. The styling is classy yet sinister all in one go. 51 plate injected model next although no apparent changes in appearance the introduction of fuel injection gives a much smoother ride, faster through the revs and more of power cruise. Now on a 54 Plate even better still the odd little tweeks here and the have ... ...with your R1s and the like on the twisties. For me you can keep the Busa and the 12 - - - - - the Blackbird is a much more refined and user friendly bike. The ride is perfect for me at 6 foot 3 but you vertically challenged riders might find it bit too much of a handful. Especially as it weighs in at 224 kilos but that isnt a problem on the move, grace and power make this an overall top package. With 150 BHP on tap this will propel you into another ...
conceptfloors 29.01.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Honda CBR1100XX
Comfort
Handling
Looks
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I had my bike reprayed in 2003. (Honda Blackbird). I designed what I wanted and Baz turned it into reality. See picture here: http://www.applebys-r-us.co.uk/bb/images/bikes/respray2.jpg
The picture really doesn't do it justice.
It was exactly as I had designed, he is very accurate and very thorough. The actual paint itself is metalic black with blue flakes at the top, fading to metailic blue with black flakes at the bottom. All the logos are silver/black.
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This is an amazing machine. Produced between 1999 and 2002, the Honda CB1100 X-11 comes with an impressive specification. We\'ll start with the engine: 1137 cc gives 134bhp and a top speed of 160 mph. There\'s huge torque, but one thing the guy who sold it to me pointed out was that it doesn\'t have any many balance shafts as the HondaCBR1100XX Super Blackbird. My friend bought one at the same time and found problems as a result with the reverbs but I\'ve never really noticed a problem. In terms of reliability, you can\'t do much better - problems are rare. I\'ve had mine for two years and never had a bad experience.
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Let me qualify this report.
I've had a lot of bikes and have used them for fun, commuting and touring. I've had most makes (Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Ducati, Triumphs and BMW's), and some pretty fast ones too (stage 2 tuned 150 bhp CBR1100XX Blackbird). I have some experience with motorcycles, so what I say next will not sit easily with the magazine roadtesters (who mostly trarvel to work in cars and don't have to spend their own hard earned money on their rides).
The BMW K1200RS and the K1200GT are simply brilliant all round motorcycles.
It's like most things really, it all depends what you want things for. At 52 years old I want some comfort, some speed, the narrowness to filter through the London rush hour and the ability to munch the miles when needed. Have you ever tried to do 60 minutes on a Ducati Superlight? I did and I ...
niglom 22.07.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of BMW K1200RS
