Honda CB1100R

There’s something strangely compelling about 1980s superbikes. The French have a phrase for it: jolie laide, meaning both pretty and ugly at the same time. To my eyes, Honda’s CB1100R is a classic example of this. It’s a ‘homologation special’, produced in small numbers so that the bike qualified for production-class racing in Europe, South Africa and Australia. (As far as I can tell, this model never made it Stateside.) The bike was based on the CB900F Bol d’Or, with a similar but higher-quality steel frame and a solo seat. According to the CB1100R Owners’ Club, the air-cooled motor was...