Race to Rebuild: Honda CB1100F, Part 2

By Richard Backus
Published on October 9, 2013
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Race to Rebuild is sponsored by Dairyland Cycle Insurance.
Race to Rebuild is sponsored by Dairyland Cycle Insurance.
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At first blush, it might not look like we’ve gotten very far on our Honda CB1100F build. We’ve stripped the bike and we’ve sussed out the front end, but yeah, it doesn’t look like much yet. But just wait, because a storm of change is right on the horizon.
At first blush, it might not look like we’ve gotten very far on our Honda CB1100F build. We’ve stripped the bike and we’ve sussed out the front end, but yeah, it doesn’t look like much yet. But just wait, because a storm of change is right on the horizon.
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Honda CB1100F stem is longer than donor GSXR’s, easily fixed by swapping the two.
Honda CB1100F stem is longer than donor GSXR’s, easily fixed by swapping the two.
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The GSXR unit bolted right up.
The GSXR unit bolted right up.

Call it the calm before the storm. At first blush, it might not look like we’ve gotten very far on our Honda CB1100F build. We’ve stripped the bike and we’ve sussed out the front end, but yeah, it doesn’t look like much yet. But just wait, because a storm of change is right on the horizon.

We’ll be the first to admit we’re a little frustrated at just how far we haven’t gotten. Yet we know that’s mostly because we want to “see” more change, because experience tells us we’re actually making OK time. We know from previous builds that it’s the little stuff, the planning and the preparing, that really sucks up time. 
That’s not to suggest that getting from what you see now to our finished bike is a simple matter of just bolting on parts. It’s not. There’s still plenty of fabricating and knuckle bashing to come between now and when our CB1100F takes final form, but now that we’ve settled some basic questions, it’s a lot easier to start making time.

For the record, I should be careful saying “we,” because the only people actually getting grease under their fingernails on this build right now are Herm Narciso and Jason Paul Michaels. They’re the two amigos who run Dime City Cycles in Largo, Fla., who we somehow talked into doing our dirty work. And recently, it’s been mostly Herm tackling the hard work, most notably sorting out what to do with the CB’s suspension before stripping it to the frame for media blasting and powder coating.

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