It's Episode 2 of our "Staff Rides" feature series, and this edition is all about Ben's beloved CB1100!!

Ben

(Social Media, Marketing & Events/Showroom Eye Candy)

Q: What's ya ride?
A: 2010 Honda CB1100

Q: How long ya had it?
A: About 5 or 6 years now. I bought it in Brisbane, and shipped it over with me here to Perth when we moved over a few years ago.

Q: What've ya done to it?
A: It's still a work in progress, got a few more things to tidy up. But so far I've swapped out the rear shocks with a set of Gazi's (which  lowered it an inch or so), LED lighting, tail tidy, chopped front fender, braided brake & clutch lines, Daytona speedo/tach, Lossa Engineering big mouth pipe with K&N air filter, and a few other bits and pieces.

The aftermarket pipe and air filter were giving me some air/fuelling issues, so we've just had a Power Commander installed and the bike dyno'd up at DynoTime (Wangara), so hopefully that makes a big difference! I'm yet to get out and test ride it since then. Weather's looking good for the weekend!

Q: What makes it special?

A: It's just a beautiful bike to ride. It's pretty big and heavy, but is so well balanced it's very easy to handle. I've always loved Honda CB's, I'd love a 70's era 750 in my shed one day. My previous bike was an '81 CB900 bol d'Or, which was old, clunky, leaked a lot, but had heaps of character. These 1100's aren't too easy to find, so when this one popped up for sale - and in the factory ruby red - I had to snap it up.

Q: What inspired the build?
A: They're a beautiful bike stock as they are, so I didn't want to deviate too far and go too crazy with the mods. I was considering going the cafe racer route, but I hate the riding position, especially for long rides. So I've opted for more of a scrambler style, which'll show through with the other mods I'm planning and a matching dual-purpose tyre on the front.

Q: What else ya got planned for it?
A: Clean up the front end by blacking it all out, paint the wheels gold, retrim the seat and throw on some chunkier handlebars.

Q: Any regrets? Anything you've had troubles with? Anything you'd do differently? 
A: Mmmm not really, now we've got the fuelling issues sorted... I guess I wish I'd done that sooner!

Q: What do ya love most about it?
A: Easy to ride, comfortable long distance, plenty of power to have fun but not so much it's crazy scary... And also the colour.

Q: What's your next project?
A: I've been wanting to do a small-bore chopper build, something cheap and ratty and ugly.

Also I've got 2 young kids at home, so as they get older I'd like to pick up a couple of dirt bikes, one for them one for me, clean them up and trick them out to have some fun on!