Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird - thoughts?

Soldato
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31 Oct 2006
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Wiltshire / Winchester
I loved this bike when I was a kid :) (About 10)

I had this poster LOL :D

poster.jpg
 
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Associate
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18 Oct 2002
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Coventry
Great bikes. I never liked the linked brakes though. Always felt weird.

Not really blackbird related but I have ridden two iterations of the linked brake technology, those on a 98 VFR800 which are okay but yes a bit weird and then a setup on a 03 ST1300 and wow they are so much better, better together and with individual brake control.
 
Associate
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19 Jul 2011
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My dad has one of these, loves it to bits but unfortunately it keeps conking out on him whenever he goes away on it. Something to do with the regulator failing? He paid a bit extra for what was supposed to be a slightly better version than other aftermarket parts but it's lasted half the time. He's looking to sell it now, it's served him well for the past 10 or so years, 55K on the clock now :D

Can't speak for Blackbirds (apart from they're decent enough looking for a motorway missile), but regulator trouble can be really annoying when it happens because of several things that happen.

Regulators er.. regulate the voltage coming from the alternator (or generator (or magneto)) to the battery. They are there to keep the battery charged.

The alternator generates a huge range of amps and volts based on engine speed. The regulator is there to supply the battery and rest of the loom with around 11-13volts. The rest is meant to be be cooked off as heat.

When they fail they will cause a number of issues - mostly failure to charge the battery because of insufficient volts, or more annoyingly cooked (and dead) battery due to far too many volts. This also leads to blown fuses and other great symptoms.

The good news is that regulators themselves are fairly inexpensive and you could probably get an OEM one and plug and play the old one out for it.

Disclaimer: I am not a mechanic :)
 
Associate
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8 Oct 2005
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Oxfordshire
I loved this bike when I was a kid :) (About 10)

Ha, same here. I remember rushing to see it and sit on it at the bike show. Back then it was the dogs balls.

My dad had 2 X11's too which was the naked version... very capable bikes.

It has aged very well too I must say. Congrats to him :)
 
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