2WF.com - Online and on the Gas - 2000 Honda Blackbird 1100XX

2000 Honda Blackbird 1100XX

Thursday, 24 August 2000

Page 2 of 3

Riding Big Bird

The CBRXX now also has air injection to reduce emissions. Who cares? Well, we do actually. It's nice to be nice to the environment while traveling through it at 180 mph. It's a great conversation item that every traffic cop will enjoy.

To reduce that unpopular first gear clunk that seems to be ever more prevalent on new bikes, the XX has a rubber friction damper on its transmission main shaft. The damper slows the shaft when the clutch is disengaged, reducing the difference in speed between it and the motionless counter shaft when shifting at a stop from neutral into first gear. The clutch pull has also been softened even though we can't remember a single human ever complaining about the pull of a Honda clutch. We do hope that someone at one of the southern European motorcycle manufacturers is reading this. Someone at one of the companies who have super-stiff clutch levers on their bikes but act dumb whenever we mention that fact. Hello?

Although the CBRXX's frame looks the same, it ain't the same. And it wasn't changed to make it stronger because it was plenty strong. Nope. It was changed to remove the old frame's tendency to "resonate and amplify certain engine sounds such as gear shift noise," according to Honda. As I said, I never rode the previous version of the XX so I don't know about any such noises but I also don't remember anyone ever complaining about the XX having any annoying noises. This is part of the charm of Honda. It's never good enough for even them.

The suspension of the XX did receive complaints about its harshness on expressways so, to soften it up yet maintain stiffness for spirited riding on tight roads, the damping settings were altered at both ends of the bike. The bike still has linked braking but it has been altered to be much more like that of the latest Interceptor, which I have ridden and which has a linked braking system that works very well. The past XX had too much rear braking when the front lever was applied. And there is a delay valve to minimize frontend dive when the rider is using the rear brake foot lever to give the rider more control of the bike on slippery surfaces.

And the XX has a new taillight. From the outside, the only way to tell a '99 XX from the earlier version is the taillight, the grates on the ram air intakes, and the colored engine side covers. If that's important to you.

But the coolest of all the changes to the bike is the conturing of the front brake lever to make it more aerodynamic. Honda realized that, at maximum speeds, the wind was pushing the lever back far enough to engage the brake light so they reduced its frontal area.

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