Honda CB1100R 'can't stay a concept'

The man behind the Honda CB1100 road bike has told MCN he’s going to fight to get the gorgeous CB1100R in production.

Chief Engineer Hirofumi Fukanaga was responsible for several recent generations of Honda CBR600RR and Fireblade, but his latest project – the air-cooled CB1100 – was a new project from the ground up. 

When the bike was first shown as a concept in 2006 it was partnered by the more popular CB1100R and both bikes went on extensive tours around world bike shows to gather opinion. Until now Honda bosses have refused to talk about the possibility of the CB1100R becoming a production reality.

But in an exclusive interview with MCN, Fukanaga said: “We can’t say no to this bike. It’s not just a simple concept bike – it can’t be. I can’t say when, but not now but soon – maybe!

“The way the European market is going we may well be seeing naked bikes and retro bikes out-selling sports bikes and the CB1100 has been designed with a long time of development ahead of it.

“I have worked on many sports bikes and working on this one was particularly nice because I can see the engineering and if I owned one I would be happy to be polishing it every day.”

CB1100 to UK?
Honda also revealed it will look again at the decision not to bring in the new CB1100 to Europe. Honda President Takanobu Ito said Honda was open to hearing from local Honda importers to find out which bikes were wanted from around the world. Ito said: “There are always differences in trends and models wanted around the world but we need to adjust what we sell and where. If customers and press let their local Honda agents know then we will always listen.”