The Honda Rebel 1100. Proof Common Sense Doesn’t Have to Be Boring
But this is a superbly efficient effective mode of transport Hello and welcome back to the channel honda rebel 1100 came out one year ago in 2021 as a result of the success of the 500 cc version of this bike so what we're dealing with 1100 cc 81 horsepower 223 kilos kerb weight and get ready for this just 9099 pounds for this bike the problem is in this sector the cruisers the barber sector good isn't good enough people who buy these bikes are looking for something intangible they're looking for something cool they're looking for looks and character probably in reality above actually the quality of the motorbike itself so in a sector so focused on the looks and the cool factor and with honda maybe not having the the might of the cool factor with the likes of harley-davidson and indian and triumph it has to bring something else to the table and that is what i'm looking to find out in today's episode the triumph have had great success in bringing their own flavor to this boba market we know that indian are back on the scene now so harley-davidson definitely do not have this sector to themselves but i cannot wait to find out what a japanese twist on obama has to offer walk around okay where should we start let's go from the front so you've got these big chunky front tires that really is quite a wide tyre there with metal front mud guide and i can tell beautiful really that is a very very high quality finish on the paint but would you expect anything else from honda led front light as standard led led led very nicely designed indicators there and look at the forks a great i don't know if you call that almost an anodized fork but beautiful black forks big radiator at the front engine you may recognize the engine this is the engine the 1100 cc engine from the honda africa twin now i'll be completely honest this engine is not going to win any beauty awards if you look at especially the triumphs and the harleys much much better looking engine so immediately with this bike when engines are important the way they look it's not the best looking engine in the world i'll be completely honest fuel tank in fact i haven't seen it yet i'll show you that in a second fuel tank very unique with the way that the frame is at this angle and the fuel tank just cut away like that it's a good looking thing it's it's very unique completely unlike the triumph and the indian now if triumph harley-davidson or indian put a digital display on one of their bobbers i'd be saying that that does not fit at all but it's japanese and this is i like to think of it as a modern take on the barber so it's a very well laid out instrument binnacle you've got the fuel gauge the range in miles the rev counter even the temperature you've got a few different riding modes in fact i think you've got four riding modes if i go from there you've got rain standard and sport and you've also actually got wheelie mode as well this bobber has wheelie mode i'm never going to be the type of person to talk about suspension because i don't know i'm just not a good enough rider to make the most out of it but i've just seen these are showa so they will be i'm sure extremely good they look very nice as well in black they look brilliant big exhaust but now regulations yada yada you're going to have to have it comes with a rear seat easy to take off and it comes with or you can spec it with a really really good looking touring pack actually so it's got a front fender it's got a back where you can get a backrest for it as well pennies this can be a touring bike from what i've seen online right monica if you come around here and i'll show the size of the bike i'm six foot one 80 kilos just to give you an idea of my my overall size this is how i am now i know with these bikes there's so often people saying it goes with the triumph bobber the indian scout bobber and this people always say yeah but it's not good for tall riders this is the style of the bike i'm six foot one and it's absolutely fine i've been riding around all over the place that's the bend in my leg this is the style of bike it's exactly the same in reality comfort wise angle of my leg wise as the indian as the triumph it's perfect it's all all day comfort i've ridden for a few hours on it and it's really nice the the comfort the size of the bike it's my kind of bike 100 rear seat it's a decent angle on your legs it's not the most comfortable but put a backrest on and that'll be fine again metal rear mudguard with that really nice honda actually engraved in the rear mudguard this is a brand new bike i think it's only done about 50 miles or so and after one day of having it that's happened welcome back to the uk i think someone just clipped the number plate in a car park so i've had to put some tape on that i will apologize profusely to honda and beg them to lend me a bike in the future hopefully they won't get too angry at that and monica just if you come on to the side i just want to show you the overall look on this and one other thing i did forget single disc on the front wheel which which is it's quite interesting actually on a relatively powerful bike at the s80 horsepower single disc and the overall look of the bike it's actually you know it's japanese but it's not a tech fest this it's a very nice simple stripped-back bike you don't get an overall kind of sense that there's tech going on everywhere it's very nice very stripped back it's it's a nice place to be so first impressions very good as always when i get a new bike to test out first thing quad lock onto the handlebar and quadlock have a brand new premium version of their handlebar mounts this is in essence exactly the same as the old one except this is aluminium so this will fit i think extremely well with the bobber so oh it's nice this may not be able to pick it up on camera that is heavy oh it's windy that is heavy duty aluminium so i'll put this on the bike now on goes this and it's got a great hinge as well really beautiful quality these done and that's on and you can see vibration dampener working there jump on the bike boom my foreign why do i love england so much it's cold and gray but we're in the suffolk countryside here i'm in feels there's no smell-o-vision but oh manure i've missed that smell yeah horse poo oh okay lovely farmhouse over there it's cold it's gray it's wet but look look behind me monica just you know i've missed this a church just in the distance a rugby pitch there beautiful house there good old england i love it first things first this is an incredibly incredibly fun bike to ride it instills confidence because it's so easy to ride and that translates into just encouraging a little aggression in the most gloriously feel good way it's a bit like a lamb experiencing a nice warm day for the first time you just can't believe how easy going it is it can be aggressive if you want it to and with that 81 horsepower it can keep up with anything it's got more more than enough power on tap to keep up with absolutely anything in real road conditions there's no way you'd ever need more power and it does encourage you to attack the bends in a way that the indian scout barber and the triumph barber don't do they are more compromised with and i haven't checked this with the lean angle this just feels like a more more compact agile bike it's let's have a look there so that's the foot peg but if you leave the foot peg scraping a bit you can go all the way down there all the way there and it's so easy to lift up and down 223 kilos uh with all the fluids but i could do this all day it is so unintimidating this bike i mean i've never felt anything like it it really is the least intimidating bike but it can be a brute if you want it to be and let's get on to looks i think it looks superb i really do think it looks brilliant it's a japanese take and it looks brilliant okay i wanted to show you two things that i completely forgot in the first bit japanese practicality something you don't get with the indian and the triumph okay you can stay there monica storage how brilliant is that it's even got a little storage thing under the seat practical and genuinely a cool bike i mean what more do you want i've just tried in a huge dog poop know we're out in the countryside now but yesterday and the day before i was out for an hour and a half riding around ipswich and this i promise you this is an urban weapon this spike for for riding around town lane splitting it's it's a really really effective tool this can be a commuter bike and a very very good commuter bike it's got a decent turning circle it's light the weight is situated low down the seat height is slow you can really really cover ground very quickly not only on the motorway where it's also extremely smooth and refined but in a city environment this is an excellent excellent tool for the job i'm starting to think that this this can be your one and only bike it can be a weekend cruiser where you go you know you go out with your friends and you've all got these you know fancy weekend toys or you can use it as a a day-to-day commuter bike in the big cities and the engine 1100 cc engine in this it suits the bike perfectly well it really does it means it's always got power on tap and it's got low down grunt and it does genuinely fit the bike well usually i'm not one to have excessive horsepower but 80 horsepower with an 1100 cc bike feels like the absolute perfect combination for this look a superbly efficient sensible mode of transport is not top of the list when you're looking to buy a bike like this but this is a superbly efficient effective mode of transport should that be a negative summertime summertime everything's just who are you the competition harley-davidson sportster indian scout and triumph bobber now i've never ridden the harley-davidson but that's about 14 and a half thousand pounds with a 1200 cc engine 14 and a half thousand the indian scout is 12 300 pounds 1100 cc 100 horsepower 256 kilos and the triumph bobber 12 100 pounds 77 horsepower and 251 kilos the honda rebel 1100 cc 81 horsepower around if i remember correctly 230 ish kilos and one hundred pounds look in reality anything over eighty horsepower for a cruise or a bobber like this it's just top trump numbers i've ridden the scout bubble with 100 horsepower yeah it's nice it's fine but you don't notice that extra distance that extra power in the bike you're not going to be leaving the honda rebel if you're under scout bobber you're just not going to be so it's nice to have that extra power but it's not remotely needed at all so i don't see that as a huge positive there are a lot of positives though if we're looking at the honda rebel i mean the indian scout it's got messy wiring that the suspension will break your back you get water all like your coat when it's wet because the mud guard is short whereas on the honda you get traction controller standards you get storage under the seat you get a hugely better lean angle than compared to the triumph and the indian so it's more fun at attacking the benz it's more dynamic it feels like a better riders bike the honda if you said to me the honda is 12 000 pounds it's on a level with the triumph and the indian all at around about 12 000 pounds i would say fine that seems reasonable but it's not it's 3 000 pounds plus cheaper than the triumph and the indian and i honestly i i don't i don't differentiate them i see them all on a level i don't see where that extra 3000 pounds is on the indian and the triumph i really really don't this bike is on a level with those three but it is 3 000 pounds cheaper put your sensible hat on there is no real argument that i can see to go out there and buy one of the americans or the british bike on paper that is the only bike to buy and if we look at the intangible stuff character-wise i think there's an argument to say that actually that engine with the exhaust note once you get it up and running it's a glorious thing i think there's an argument to say that's got a bit more character than the scouts because the scout isn't the most characterful and that is actually quite a playful character engine so it's gonna have to be a good argument to argue for anything other than the honda telephone expecting everything to fall that i will all over again you got me oh is come and have a listen to this moniker i completely forgot to do the exhaust sound it's a character full exhaust and you can hear that burble get ready it genuinely has a nice throaty bubble actually even as standard you know i like this because honda haven't tried to emulate a harley davidson or an indian here this feels proudly japanese it genuinely feels like japan's honda's take on how they see a bobber and for that i think it's limitlessly cool because of that because they've gone their own way with this spike it's it feels very japanese but in the coolest possible way it actually feels like the most gloriously perfect marriage of desirability desirability practicality and common sense all wrapped up into a very sensibly sized motorbike that can be used in all environments before you go out and you buy an indian scout or triumph bobber or a harley-davidson sportster i strongly strongly advise you to go to the honda dealership and test out this bike before you make the purchase because you may well be surprised you may even be blown away and there we have it the honda rebel proof that common sense doesn't have to be boring welcome to the party honda and that's it we'll wrap it up there but please do let me know what you think about this bike in the comments i love reading and seeing what your opinions are on all the bikes so i'll await your thoughts on it i've got it for another two weeks so you will definitely be seeing more of this bike but thank you so much for coming along with us today please do give the video a like subscribe to the channel and we'll see you in the next one you
2022-03-04 17:28
