Honda ST1100 thread

[shafty]

Prices start @ $500+ GST. Hmmmm. Rather expensive but if they are of a high quality..... Guess anything custom & 1 off is gonna require some shelling out!

Quality is enjoyed long after price is forgotten

Mac personalises the seat o your weight and riding position

Enjoyed the one on my 1150 Roadster so much that when I upgraded to a Honda, I got another one...

[CRM]

Quality is enjoyed long after price is forgotten

Mac personalises the seat o your weight and riding position

Enjoyed the one on my 1150 Roadster so much that when I upgraded to a Honda, I got another one...

I had an 1100 Roadster - also feel that the Honda was definite upgrade although the Beemer was pretty sweet in many ways. Just didn't have the "three R's" of touring - Range, Room and Reliability. The Honda does all three with style

My "R" only got about 40mpg - what was yours like?

[shafty]

I cant recall the economy actually - it was a Twin Spark model but I think quite frugal.

After a freezing ride one sunny day I decided the time had come for a fully faired bike. Would've had a BM, but at that time the price difference was $10,000 more than an ST. I believe that gap has widened since.

I rode a 190,000k ST1100 for few days and it ran REAL sweet, Congrats on your purchase, awesome value.

Found www.st-owners.com yet?

Shafty

[CRM]

I cant recall the economy actually - it was a Twin Spark model but I think quite frugal.

After a freezing ride one sunny day I decided the time had come for a fully faired bike. Would've had a BM, but at that time the price difference was $10,000 more than an ST. I believe that gap has widened since.

I rode a 190,000k ST1100 for few days and it ran REAL sweet, Congrats on your purchase, awesome value.

Found www.st-owners.com yet?

Shafty

Yeah I think the value of the Honda is more apparent as the age and mileage increases too. I've had a bit of a look around the www.st-owners.com site. Another good one for technical help in a very readable way is Mike Martin's ST Page: http://home.insightbb.com/~mmartin36/ST_Maint.htm - aimed at 1100's though.

Went for a ride to Paihia yesterday evening with a mate and it reminded me of what a good all-rounder the ST's are. I find that when I want to go somewhere - even out to the market yesterday morning - I just naturally jump on the ST. I haven't had a bike like that before that is just a natural at almost everything .

[CRM]

Another great ride yesterday up to Kaitaia over the Mangamuka's then back through Doubtless Bay and Kerikeri . The road was (mostly) in great condition apart from a few major roadworks on the East Coast section.

Got to try out my radar detector on its new mount. I made the mount from a piece of aluminium about 40mm wide and 3mm thick. Bent it and drilled a hole so that it fits between the screen and bracket at the centre screw. Covered in black tape all over and put velcro on the top where the radar detector sits. Velcro on radar bottom of detector also... I also put a stick-on rubber furniture slider on the bottom and another on the dash to stop it bouncing and eliminate rubbing. Works a treat . I've put a power outlet in the left pocket so easy to plug and unplug. Also have a velcro strap for extra security but not really needed as it sits there really happily.

And yes there were with their radars on up norf - not that I was speeding of course .

[CRM]

Just got back from a week-long trip from Whangarei to Wellington and back - about 2000km. I went via Tauranga, Rotorua, Whakatane, Opotiki, Gisborne, Napier then across via Taihape to Wanganui before going down to Wellington (over 4 days). Return trip was straight up via Turangi, across to Te Awamutu then up via Ngaruawahia and back on SH1 at Glen Murray to avoid Hamilton - 10 hours yesterday. I thought I was getting used to the seat but after 8 or so hours I was thinking about getting something done to it .

My absolute favourite road was Napier-Taihape road (Gentle Annie). I've done this once before the other direction on my Transalp, but it was even better on the Pan . I'm really impressed with how much "Sport" you can wring out of the ST on that kind of road - very little traffic, amazing scenery and amazing twisties . The Pan really responds to being ridden hard though bends when riding with focus and aggression . I'm sure a sport bike could go faster as with less weight braking would be quicker and it would be faster out of the corner, but the Pan is pretty good when you get it working in the sweet spot and use the gears and clutch to keep it there. So the Gentle Annie for me is my favorite North Island road - as good if not better than the South Island passes .

Fuel economy was about 5.5l/100km over the whole trip or about 51mpg. It dropped to about 6.0 for the trip across through the Gentle Annie which was understandable. Still way better economy that I used to get on my R1100 or Trophy 1200. The ST continues to surprise me as to how great it is for the kind of riding I do. I only had to fill up half way yesterday in Whakamaru! 476km on the first tank - Still had 2 litres left .

Pic below is the RAM mount and Aquabox I use for my iPhone. I run my TomTom app and use Rdio app for music - plus I can see/hear if I get calls or texts so I can pull over if necessary to reply. Works pretty good - sometimes a little hard to see depending on the sun angle - especially when wearing shades. Only sight downside with the bike so far is the seat - will get that sorted when I get some spare funds.

[BadSarah]

Sooo pretty- no I'm not biased in the least

here's my pride and joy

[KoroJ]

Love my RIDER seat from Mac at www.trimit.co.nz

Heeeyy!! How come you get a Pan European Rider seat when I only get a Rider seat?......that sucks!!

[shafty]

Heeeyy!! How come you get a Pan European Rider seat when I only get a Rider seat?......that sucks!!

You can get it retro done if you you like.......

[KoroJ]

You can get it retro done if you you like.......

No to that on two counts:
1. I'm too much of a tight-arse!
2. Technically, my model isn't actually a Pan Euro, it's all labelled up as an ST1300? (...or to keep this on topic...an ST1100 younger but bigger brother)

I must say that even though it wasn't done specifically for me, it's pretty comfy and with all the other farkles ( http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/en...g-Good-Weekend ) I'm pretty pleased with the whole package.

[Old Steve]

Used search and this was the first ST1100 thread I found. So I'll resurrect it.

ST1100s seem to be priced really enticingly. OK they're probably 10 to 20 year old bikes and have all done some mileage, but they seem to be built like brick outhouses. I've also heard that ST1100 owners consider the ST1300 was a retrograde step.

I'm always looking at new bikes, and late Boulevard M50s are much more expensive. A guy I rode with had an ST1 and he swore by it. So an ST1100 might be on my short list when the bank account gets to a suitable level.

One thing, I'm only 5' 7" and a little challenged in the inside leg measurement. What is the seat height like? Is there any adjustment to take the seat height down?

[CRM]

Used search and this was the first ST1100 thread I found. So I'll resurrect it.

ST1100s seem to be priced really enticingly. OK they're probably 10 to 20 year old bikes and have all done some mileage, but they seem to be built like brick outhouses. I've also heard that ST1100 owners consider the ST1300 was a retrograde step.

I'm always looking at new bikes, and late Boulevard M50s are much more expensive. A guy I rode with had an ST1 and he swore by it. So an ST1100 might be on my short list when the bank account gets to a suitable level.

One thing, I'm only 5' 7" and a little challenged in the inside leg measurement. What is the seat height like? Is there any adjustment to take the seat height down?

I'm 5'8" (177cm) with short legs for my height and I find the ST1100 about right. Riders with longer legs find the tank can bang on the front of their knees apparently and prefer the 1300. It depends what you are used to - I think you would find it fine. As discussed earlier in the thread you can get your seat customised.

They're great bikes - definitely best all round tourer for the cost.

[Old Steve]

Thanks CRM. I solved the problem - local Honda shop has an ST1300 on the lot so I went over and sat on that. The ST1300 has a higher seat by about 32 mm, and my feet felt reasonably comfortable while sitting on that so an ST1100 should be even better. Bikes aren't moving over here at the moment because of the GFC and the downturn in the mines, so prices are quite good. The ST1300 has $A9990 on it, but the salesman said I could have it for $A8000. Trouble is, my tax return isn't in that order of magnitude.

I'm driving up to Townsville this Saturday (about 380 km, shit towns are far apart here in Queensland) to look at two ST1100s - a red 1993 with 145,000 on the clock for $A3990 and a white 2002 with 123,00 on it for $A4300. When some money comes in from the tax department and my bonus, I'll get a lift up and ride back home on whichever I like the most.

[CRM]

Thanks CRM. I solved the problem - local Honda shop has an ST1300 on the lot so I went over and sat on that. The ST1300 has a higher seat by about 32 mm, and my feet felt reasonably comfortable while sitting on that so an ST1100 should be even better. Bikes aren't moving over here at the moment because of the GFC and the downturn in the mines, so prices are quite good. The ST1300 has $A9990 on it, but the salesman said I could have it for $A8000. Trouble is, my tax return isn't in that order of magnitude.

I'm driving up to Townsville this Saturday (about 380 km, shit towns are far apart here in Queensland) to look at two ST1100s - a red 1993 with 145,000 on the clock for $A3990 and a white 2002 with 123,00 on it for $A4300. When some money comes in from the tax department and my bonus, I'll get a lift up and ride back home on whichever I like the most.

Sounds promising... no doubt you've read up about things to watch on them - rust on swing arms and pipes apparently are most common problems. And if you take a little screwdriver and remove the plastic "wings" you can look at the metal underneath to see if they've been laid down badly. The older ones had smaller alternators (up to about 93 I think) that could give problems. And of course check service history. Mine had 160km on it but the owner had full records for last 75,000 so I was pretty happy I was getting a well looked after bike and that's proved to be the case. The only problem on mine was the worn steering head bearings which again I discovered is pretty common. You can tell when it's on the centre stand (and when riding it) that it pulls to the centre. Enjoy

[CRM]

Back on the road again on the ST1100. Haven't done any real decent tours for over 12 months until this last few days - Day 1: Whangarei to Te Awamutu, Day 2: TA to Napier, Day 3: Napier to Wellington, Day 4:Ferry then Picton to Nelson, Day 5:Nelson to Methven via Greymouth and Arthurs Pass, then today Methven to Mosgiel via Twizel, Alexandra and Ranfurly. I'm travelling with my daughter who is riding a Hornet 900 that I've recently bought. I'm thinking of selling the ST1100 and just using the Hornet as I'm not doing much distance lately, but the ST is just so sweet for this kind of thing it would be hard to part with her .

Part of the trip is comparing the Hornet to the ST - fuel economy they are virtually identical, but the Hornet is reving quite a bit higher than the ST so a gearing change on the Hornet should mean better fuel economy - the ST is loping along at 3000RPM while the Hornet is probably around 4500RPM at the same speed.

We swapped for an hour or so today - handling is pretty good on both - the Hornet being lighter can be pushed a bit harder into the corners but the ST is a bit more stable with the extra weight I guess. The big difference for touring is weather protection. With the temperature being below 10 degrees a lot of the time it was much more pleasant on the ST. But for warmer weather not an issue I guess - the little screen on the Hornet does a good job of taking pressure off your chest. The engine is a little harsher on the Hornet as you would expect but anything would be compared to the ST. My mechanic rode it after dong some work before the trip and couldn't believe how smooth it was and how well it went for the mileage (just turned 170k).