ZZR-1100 / VFR-800 / CBR-1100XX

Hi all (again)

The dealership selling the ST1100 I was looking at are stuffing me
around, so I'm looking at other bikes.

Particularly, I'm looking at the ZZR-1100, the VFR-800, and the
CBR1100XX - does anyone have any comments to offer about these three?

Thanks

Dale

 

ZZR1100 - Good bike - Heavy steering, rather dated.

VFR800 - Good bike - (the VTEC and the DCBS are uneeded and add
complexity and expense for no reason).

CBR1100XX - Good bike - DCBS ditto above, buy a fuel injected one.



G-S (bike summaries in 25 words or less).

 

Hi Dale I have a 96 ZZR 1100, I have owned it since early 98 I have done
many GOR trips rides around Victoria from Warrnambool on the coast to Omeo
in the mountains. I also have done two trips to Brisbane along different
roads each time and one trip up the centre to Ayers Rock and Alice Springs.
I also use the bike in and around the city, I believe it is the best bike I
have owned, the thing is bullet proof. I have never had a problem with it in
the 50,000 km I have done. The only down side for some people is theZZR 1100
and the CBR1100XX are heavy bikes but as I am 6'2" and 100 kg + it doesn't
pose much of a problem.

 

Cant go wrong with the CBR. Take one for a ride..you wont be disappointed.

 

http://www.chris-furse.com/
My ST100 is for sale again (took it off the market when I couldn't find
a replacement bike I liked)
Now has 75,000 km just serviced $10,000. Never dropped, Sydney.
Cheers

 

None of the other bikes has ABS, which I wouldn't be without.

 

yet many go to great lengths to disable it happily..
YMMV

 

I think the fact that it can be disabled easily on my bike (R1200C) is a
good thing. There may be times when I wouldn't want it and know that in
advance. Most of the time, it's much safer. You have to be a top class
rider to do better than ABS in an emergency.

 

Mine was disableable but I never disabled it (intentionally).
Once or twice it cut in annoyingly on gravel verges or dirt roads
(including once out front of the PI house when I sailed straight past the
driveway instead of my planned skid-to-a-stop) and once or twice it cut in
on the bitumen when I hit something slippery while braking but I don't
think it ever was more than a curiosity either way (and it wasn't a factor
in the crash which wrote off the bike).
I think it'd be a great tool for learners though.

 

Except when they get used to it, and trade the ABS equipt
CBR250RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR on the R1, and
grab a face full of picks at 280 in the way home from the shop..

 

This would've been my argument a while ago too but the ABS is so annoying
that I don't think anyone would ever come to depend on it.
It'd be handy for people who are still learning braking though.

 

Haven't ridden a bike with ABS (although the Stay Upright dude thought
I must have when I pulled the Blackbird up shorter than any of the
knobends on their 250s and 600s at Symmons) but I still do not
understand why people dis the DCBS system. It is not complex, it is a
physical system that works really well. No electronics required.

I have always installed switches in my cars to disable ABS though, but
generally leave it switched on. I think I would find ABS on a bike a
bit disconcerting, but having not ridden one, will reserve judgment
til I do.

Cheers

 

In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 07 Apr 2006 11:04:11 GMT

I found fast stops dead easy on Mum's V50 with linked brakes.

Stomp hard on the pedal, pull hard on the lever, it squats down and
stops very quickly with never a sign of lockup. Real joy to use.

Zebee

 

Annoying? What's annoying about knowing the front wheel can never lock
up, even on wet roads or gravel?

Got to be the best safety feature ever invented and yet virtually no
bikes have it.

Crazy.

 

Yah, it's good that, innit! That and doing the learner cone-weave
on a 1000cc bike with your left hand on your hip...

I've not ever had cause to so much as want a switch. Never had ABS
cut in on my car where (1) I didn't plan it, or (2) would have been
better off without it.

Still, I haven't taken the current car into the bush much, so I
may well be wrong.

Just the thought of it gives me the heebies...


GB

 

VFR i rode i thought they were a great idea, bike squatted down and stopped
quickly

ABS in my car stopped when the RTA decided to do roadwork
and didnt signpost correctly and hit a big road cuttout and ABS light
started flashing

 

One thing I woudl practice (and get Kerry to practice as well) in the
car was switching off the ABS and doing an emergency stop. I tended to
do this regularly on the bike anyway, but less likely to do it under
normal driving conditions in the car. Doesn't take much. Twice a year
is enough to keep that "feel" as to how to feather the brake pedal
instead of stomping it. Thankfully have yet to need it in real life,
but ya never know.

 

You're obviously deliberately misinterpreting what I said but I agree that
it IS a good safety device. It's more for inexperienced riders though.....

 

Crazy yes!

I can remember being in a stay upright advanced riding course many years
ago and watching someone crazy enough to say those lines to an instructor.

We then all got inflicted with half an hour of:

"Anyone who expects ABS to save them is a <bleep>ing moron."
"There is no substitute for riding skill and practice"
"ABS on a bike stands for Abrasions Both Sides"
"WTF do you think happens when ABS decides to kick in while the front
wheel isn't completely in line with the bike?"

Followed by some demonstrations. It wasn't pretty.

I realise that ABS has advanced some since then and most systems have a
much higher sample rate now but I have about 14 years (yeah I know -
that's nothing compared to half of this list) of commuting in sydney
under my belt with traffic, roadworks, crap roads,
oil/diesel/sand/gravel slicks and lots of country trips and I have never
been in a situation where ABS would have been usefull to me.

So it seems just another component to weigh the bike down, break at some
inconveniant time and cost lots to fix. Not to mention lull idjits into
a false sense of security.

Back on the topic in the subject line.
I dont't like the CBR1100, though I vastly prefer it to the ZZR1100.
I've had both of these in the family for many years.
Long heavy bikes just aren't my thing, they are my partners.
The ZZR kept blowing up gearboxes, the CBR kept blowing up regulators.
Regulators are cheaper to replace.

All the VFR 750/800 I've ridden have been quite nice but rather boring.

 

no


but I agree that

I don't understand how it can be great safety for the inexperienced and
not for experienced.

Okay, if you're a great rider that may well be the case on dirt or
gravel, or even on dry bitumen. You'd have to be pretty good and have
practised it often.

On wet tarmac, forget it.