1998 Honda Cbr1100xx Blackbird

Prologue

Due to the demise of my VTR 1000 Firestorm that suffered a horrendous highside in the hands of a friend of mine, I was without a bike for the first time in a good while and had to look for a replacement. During the later months of VTR ownership, my Son Stuart had taken a real liking to coming out on the back of the bike for touring, trips away etc. So I had to look for something more suitable for two up riding and touring.

Now a Firestorm is actually not too bad for touring on, better than I expected to be honest, but it isn't ideal as it’s more suited to shorter journeys due to the very small tank range of around 80 miles, so I decided to look for something that was fast but physically larger than a sports bike as most of my riding was now two up.

The major issue was cost, as at the time I was a bit strapped for cash you might say .
Having ridden one or two bikes like a VFR, I was pretty keen on looking for one. The biggest problem was actually getting my hands on a good one as most of the bikes advertised seemed to get snapped up straight away. To be honest I was beginning to get a bit annoyed with the whole search for a new bike and was ready to give up when a friend mentioned trying a Blackbird out for size. So I did and what an eye opener it was! I just had to have one.

The hunt begins

I started searching in earnest for a non-fuel injected version and the thing that surprised me most was that all the ones I looked at were in pretty good condition, regardless of the mileage and how they had been treated or ridden previously.
I had one particular bike in mind that a friend told me about, it was a 97 model in gunmetal grey that had been owned by the same guy from new. It had less than a thousand miles on the clock and had been stored in a workshop for years. The owner had had an accident in 97 and had been unable to ride since, but couldn’t bear to part with it until now.

When I went to look at it, it was in good condition as you would expect but the problem was that most of the rubber hoses etc had begun to perish and there seemed to be water in the oil, maybe from condensation in the crankcase I’m not sure. I decided that I didn’t want to spend that much time and money making it roadworthy, so I gave it a miss.

I decided to look on autotrader again and there wasn’t much to look at really, so I started looking on ebay – nothing much there either!

For some reason I decided to refresh the page and this one suddenly appeared. It was a 98 model, one owner from new, full service history with 11000 miles on the clock. It was located not too far from me so I gave the guy a call and went to see it that afternoon. When I turned up at his house, he explained that he was selling all his bikes to buy a GS 1200 which he had on order. He opened the garage and the place was kitted out with better carpet than my own living room! The bike was on pit stands, covered up and sat between two portable radiators. I thought to myself, yup. This is the one!

He uncovered it and it was totally as new, with no wear or tear whatsoever. Needless to say – I bought it .

First impressions

The Blackbird is a big heavy bike, make no mistake. It can take quite a bit of effort to move it about manually but it’s pretty easy to get it on and off the centre stand. The build quality is typical Honda, everything falls to hand, the paintwork and general fit and finish is generally very good compared to some other rivals. Size wise, I am around 5’11” and weigh about 14 stone and the bike fits me perfectly. This doesn’t seem to be a bike for flyweights or anyone of a small stature.

On the road

The main thing I noticed with the blackbird after previously owning a big V twin was the almost complete lack of mechanical noise – especially when wearing earplugs. Its almost like riding on an electric powered bike! Once on the move, the problem with its weight disappears totally and it feels so well balanced that its easy to tootle around in traffic without keep having to put your feet down.

The handling, while not up to pure sports bike standard is much better than you would expect and would raise a few eyebrows in the sports bike camp. Pretty stable and neutral really, it turns into the corners easily and holds its line without any twitchiness whatsoever. It is also very forgiving should you get it wrong and we all do that from time to time!

As you probably know, all Blackbirds are fitted with linked brakes and this is probably the most debated issue with the model. I haven’t had any issues with them, they are smooth and powerful and pull up the weight of the bike no matter whether you are riding solo or carrying a pillion and a week’s luggage. One of the issues about the brakes that I read constantly is that they tend to make the bike sit up, mid corner. Why anyone would even consider braking while the bike is leaning over in a bend is beyond my comprehension, I don’t, so I don’t have this problem.

The riding position isn’t as touring friendly as you would expect, in fact for me, I would say that it leans more to the sporting side of the bikes character. It’s quite a stretch to the bars and the pegs are probably a little higher than they should be for a bike of this class. That said, the seat is very comfortable, both for rider and pillion and it takes a couple of hundred miles before you start to shift your backside about.

The engine is probably the strongest aspect of the Blackbird, it’s a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde character as it is very, very smooth in most aspects. It will pull from 30 mph in top gear without a hiccup and race up to an indicated 180 mph (on European motorways of course). But get it up to around 7000 rpm and it goes berserk, trying to rip you off the seat. It really is a case of point in the right direction and hang on for dear life, with the speedo moving at the same rate as the tacho! What a rush and this is where it shocks sport bike riders trying frantically to keep up. I believe that it is quicker in a straight line than most sports bikes, mainly because of its weight; it transfers its power to the back wheel without too much wheelspin. No doubt some would argue that point, but in my experience this is usually the case.

Since owning the bike I have fitted a few extras that I will review whan I get some more spare time. It actually came with the Ventura luggage system. I have since added a Givi luggage system, complete with top box and panniers. A Powerbronze double bubble screen. A baglux tank cover complete with clip on tankbag and more recently I purchased a Garmin Zumo GPS unit which I have yet to fit to the bike but have used it extensively in the car. I will produce an article on that as soon as I fit it too the bike.

Summary

Good points

• Legendary Honda build quality.
• Capable of carrying rider, pillion and almost as much kit as you want for long distances - effortlessly.
• Reasonably comfortable over distance.
• Handles much better than it should.
• Super quick acceleration.

Bad points

• Very heavy when not riding and trying to manouver it around the garage.
• Poor range of suspension adjustment.
• You need to keep your eye on the speedo to make sure you licence stays intact!

Thats about it really, I will upload the pictures as soon as I get chance, but feel free to comment or post any questions