reviews home
journal home | bluepoof.com
email me

 

2002 CBR1100XX

The CBR1100XX is pretty sexy. Pointy, yes, but sexy. I'd been curious to see how Peter liked this one, since I'd read in multiple places that it was comfortable for tall folk. Aesthetically, I don't really like the single headlight -- I think a double would look much nicer -- and I can't really get into the Aprilia Futura-esque turn signals on the mirrors. But other than that, the matte silver is gorgeous, and it was actually a fairly comfortable bike, even if it was huge. I think that overall, the CBR1100XX is just plain too big for me -- it looks too big, there's too much power for what I could control at this stage, and it's tall. It didn't really seem unwieldy or uncomfortable, just big. That'd probably be an asset for most people.

My thoughts from the saddle: I was way on my tiptoes with this bike, but it was still comfortable. The stock seat was pretty wide, which makes me think that I could get more of my feet down with an aftermarket saddle. It was lighter than it seemed like it would be. My only real complaint is that the foot pedals were really high on both sides -- I got a foot cramp in my left leg just sitting on the bike for a minute or two. The pedals really couldn't have been more than a half-inch below the footpegs on either side.

Peter's thoughts from the saddle: Ironically, despite its overall size, the CBR1100XX ended up being too short for Peter and his 34" inseam. He felt that the steering was fairly comfortable, and that the reach to the bars was good, but when he tucked up into a riding position, his knees came up over the gas tank molding curves. From the picture, it looks like a decent fit, so it must have just barely been out of spec for him.

Honda's spec sheet