The Honda CB1100F Story

1969 saw Honda introduce (what many feel to be) the world’s first true super bike, the CB750. Kawasaki fans have long disputed that claim, as the Z1 of 1972 certainly took the whole notion of a “super bike” to a new level. Between 1969-1983 Honda produced an incredibly successful range of air-cooled inline four-cylinder motorcycles, and in many ways the technical culmination of that development process was CB1100R and the CB1100F. The focus of this website is the CB1100F, a one year only model that sold across global markets in 1983.

Two versions of the motorcycle were produced in 1983, the Honda CB1100F, primarily for the USA market, and a “Euro” specification for the rest of the World. The USA specification bike was fitted with 2-jet carburettors and an accelerator pump, but the same USA specification bike was also sold in South Africa with 3-jet carburettors.

The USA specification bike was simply known as the CB1100F and included a small fairing cowl, a passenger strap on the seat and a more upright riding position.​

The Euro specification bike included gold Comstar (boomerang) wheels, a sportier forward riding position and grab handles on the cowl behind the seat. Depending on the market, the bike was known as either the Honda CB1100F or the Honda CB1100F Super Bol d’Or (see Specifications page for more details).

Note: the Euro specification CB1100F was also produced and sold in very low numbers during 1984 and was known by Honda as the CB1100FE.

Engine

One of the standout elements of the CB1100F was the engine. The 1100F’s 1,062cc engine was the culmination of over 10 years of Honda iterative development beginning with the SOHC 750 in 1969, through to the DOHC 750 and 900 engines in the late 1970s. The 1,062cc made its first appearance on the CB1100R which was produced in limited numbers from 1981–1983. The CB1100R was, initially, a naked, single-seat, road-legal sport-bike which was produced in sufficient numbers to meet the homologation requirements for the R to be classed as a production motorcycle in markets into which it was sold. After the initial 100+ bikes were manufactured, a full fairing was added. It was Honda's first homologation special and was raced in the production class racing in most major markets: including Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Note: It was not sold in the US.

Although Honda continued to produce air-cooled DOHC 4-cylinder inline engines beyond 1983 (noticeably with the ‘Nighthawk’ range), the CB1100F of 1983 was the final iteration of this first generation of DOHC engines.

The CB1100F engine was satin black with a matching set of black chrome four-into-two exhaust pipes, and black cast alloy wheels (gold anodised wheels on the Euro spec.) Only two colours were available, either Candy Pearl Maui Red or Candy Pearl Kapiolani Blue. A bank of four 33mm constant velocity Keihin carbs with a crankcase breaker catch tank being used to mitigate the ever-increasing environmental restrictions coming into effect in the 1980s.

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Suspension

The front forks consisted of 39mm tubes with air-assist and three-way damping. Honda’s TRAC anti-dive system was on each fork (as opposed to a single fork setup on the Honda Sabres from 1984). All CB1100 models included an integral fork brace which was an upgrade from that used on the 750/900 models. The brake pads used on the front end had bevelled edges to deliver smoother response to the anti-dive hardware.

Coil-over spring shocks were used on the rear with adjustment for compression, spring preload and rebound damping.

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As previously mentioned, whilst the Euro specification markets received gold coloured anodised Comstar (boomerang) wheels, the USA specification bikes used cast alloy wheels, and in both cases, the front wheel was 18-inches and the rear 17-inches, both shod with Bridgestone Mag Mopus tyres. Both the cast alloy and Comstar wheels used 2.50 x 18” front & 2.75 x 17” rear sized tyres.