1997 Honda ST1100 Pan European bike review

The ST11 has proven itself to be a timeless classic. The power delivery is silky smooth and the bumpy roads are soaked up by the plush suspension provided. It feels like you are driving a car, albeit having only two wheels instead of four.

Showing off its torque from the unique longitudinal V4 engine, the bike cruises at 110km/h with the engine doing 3000rpm in 5th gear. In the same gear, 180km/h is easily achieved with just a twist of the wrist.

For such a heavy bike, the stability and handling is good, especially when doing high speed riding. The handlebars on my bike have been raised one inch to get a more comfortable riding posture for my tall build.

The giant fuel tank of 28L will easily do 400km or more in terms of mileage before it hits reserve which means less fuel stops between destinations. The reserve tank is 4L, giving you sufficient distance(60~80km) to reach a petrol kiosk anywhere.

The dashboard array is simple and easy to read, with a design similar to a car. There is also a "turbo adjuster" knob to adjust the headlight throw, for adapting to luggage loads so it will not glare other road users in front of you.

(28/3/09) I have added a digital voltmeter to keep track of the electrical usage and to inform me about charging failure before it happens.

The clock provided proved to be very useful whether you are running late or just keeping track of the day progression on a trip.

The well-placed mirrors provide an unobstructed view of the rear, although having additional blind spot mirrors would be a great help to minimize the blind spot areas.

Sporting a shaft driven rear wheel, the maintenance free factor is a major attraction. You can go on a long trip without worrying about the chain snapping or having to oil the chain every few hundred km.

The real estate on this bike is amazing. There are two glove compartments upfront. A lockable one for quick and easy access to your documents without getting off the bike and a rubber covered one, for your cleaning cloth and other not so important items.

The streamline hard case saddlebags may deceive you at first with their compactness. They have the ability to house a standard full face helmet in each of them. With an additional 52L rear top box, you will never run out of space again.

All this comes with a price though. Weighing in at 297kg in stock trim, this baby is definitely not a pushover. Getting the bike on main stand and pushing it around requires a fare bit of effort. It also requires a fairly large parking space due to the size of the bike (more when sporting a rear top box).

The clutch lever is non-adjustable and its a workout to use it. Working on the bike is also a chore, since it is fully covered in fairings which aid aerodynamics. The heat emitted from the engine is also quite substantial, especially when slow riding in the city or traffic jam. Once it hits the highway, the temperature drops significantly though.

Overall, the bike is well built. The quality of the bike is shown since the ST11 I own now is still in a very good condition despite the fact that it is an 11 year old bike with 197000km on the clock. It has proven itself to be a pioneer in the sport touring history and still a strong contender against the modern sport touring bikes.

New ride

Chronicling my life is fun. I get to relive the moments which were an important part of my life anytime I want.

For starters, I bought my first class 2 motorcycle. It is a Honda 1997 ST1100 Pan European touring bike. I had been looking around for a bike since I got my class 2 and I finally found something that I think is worth to buy. Although I do think I am still young enough to ride sport bikes, this is fun to ride as well. I had missed the first viewing session of this bike when I overslept. I was also skeptic of buying such a big bike, when most of the guys are riding sport bikes. The decision to go view the ST11 was renewed when Bjorn showed me some videos of people riding the ST11 like a madman, not to mention Eugene and Bahar who affirmed that the ST11 is a good bike and worthwhile investment which suits my size too.

The decision to buy the bike was made when I viewed the bike on Wednesday night. The owner was friendly and he was the kind of person I would be in 20 years time. He was well versed and experienced in touring and the ST1100 itself. The bike was well maintained and well used as well. Only the front tire was worn and steering cone bearings needed to be replaced. Another good thing was the bike was stock and I would be the 4^th owner only. This only proves that the bike was a stayer among the owners.

Prior to the purchase, I had to contest another buyer who came to view and in the end, I won. The owner was highly impressed with the way I deal with buying a motorcycle, deeming me suitable to own his machine. I got a discount off the bike price which I was satisfied and we dealt on Saturday. After that, I went to Bikewerkz to get the stuff changed and it was riding beautifully.

I almost couldn’t contain the excitement of getting the bike during the week. I was grinning to myself at work whenever the thought came up. I wanted to give Eugene a surprise, so I didn’t say anything to him yet. I met him for the usual hanging out at the dam after his night shift and I was trying really hard not to let the cat out of the box, especially when he asked me about the ST.

For the record, my mum had borrowed me the cash to pay for the bike. She knows and understands my need for bikes and riding. The goodwill was reciprocated. We all bought 4D on Saturday (day of transfer) and she won some money since she decided to “system” the bike number. The number opened twice in starters with different combinations. My dad and I bought straight numbers only and got nothing. This was a good way to kick off the relationship with the ST.

On Sunday, I went for the annual family tomb sweeping in the morning. The ST was very smooth to ride and had plenty of power. Distances meant nothing to it and I was very pleased with myself for securing a good bike.

After that, I went home and started working on the rear top box, which was quite old and plastered with old stickers. After spending a lot of time on removing the stickers and washing it out, I proceeded to do what I do best, leds.

The MAXIA 52L top box comes with red lens which apparently had light functions before. I took out the old ones and replaced them with the leds I made. For more visibility on the road at night, I had them functioning like the normal rear brake light. They would appear slightly dim when running, and brightens up when the brakes are on rather than the usual brake light on and running off. I also made some chevron reflective stickers with the black reflective stickers I had for the side panniers. The result was great, apart from the fact that a few were misaligned. These will not be visible on the bike in the day, but at night under bright lights, they will reflect a white base and be very visible.

I decided to add the above to make myself more visible at night since I had seen the bike in action when I followed the seller to withdraw money for the deposit. Since the bike is dark in color, the tail light failed to give road users early notice that it is a big bike and requires more clearance when being overtaken. With the rear box lights and the reflective stickers, it will be very visible, although this bike will hardly let anyone tailgate it for more than 2 seconds.

Last night, I met Bjorn for kopi at simpang bedok after his night shift to show off the ST. He was impressed with the condition of the bike and we swapped bikes on the way home. We rode to my place in a maniac fashion, he enjoying the ST and me getting impressed with the new pipe and the new handlebars on the GS. The GS was and is still a very nice bike to ride, not to mention the additional power gain and noise pollution from the newly fitted Leo Vince exhaust. The handlebars were also at the correct height and the bike makes you feel like you want to wheelie it.

Today, Eugene came over after work to get his rear box light repaired. A wire broke when the glue from the wiring melted under the sun and stuck to his helmet. We popped over to the store across my place to get the cloth tape before going back to remove the box from his bike, which was parked a few lots away from the ST. I proceeded to feign interest in looking the ST over and contemplating on whether I should get one too.

Eugene got a little suspicious by this act (my acting was a little bit off) and his suspicion were confirmed when I pulled out the keys to start the bike when I said I wanted to hear how the ST would sound like. He never gave much expression and proceeded to tell me that somehow, he had seen it coming.

He told me my pattern was easy to gauge and he was suspicious when he asked me about the ST the other day. Since I would usually ramble on about the faults found on the bikes I viewed, I simply said it was not too bad for the ST. That sort of gave it away. Also, he had seen pictures of the bike when I showed him, so it looked really familiar when he spotted it at my carpark.

All that said, I realized Eugene and I had grown to be very close friends from the time we met at AJI office as strangers. It has been a long way to reach here, and there is still a long way to go.

its over!!

Finally, all the exams are over and its time to relax. It felt good to be able to walk into the exam hall knowing that you will make it out with ease. So far I think I did pretty well for it. Just have to wait for the results to come in April.

Everything is coming together now. My studies are making good progress since I get to go to school without skipping lessons due to work. I have more confidence at work and I go to work without stress since I am getting proficient in all the products we have. The bikes have not been giving me trouble since I got them. (Except for the cold starting issue on the spark110 which my dad rides) Finances will be better after this coming Friday since bonus will be in. Friends who stick by you when you are in trouble. What more could one ask for?

1 down, 1 more to go

Finally, today is the day I dread when the school semester is ending. I burned the midnight oil last night to cover some important topics and took only 2 hrs of sleep before heading to school for the showdown. Luckily, the Applied Mechanics paper was in my expected range and I went about doing them furiously. Time flew passed really quickly and I managed to finish all the questions by the last 5 mins. I definitely wouldn't fail this subject but getting an A is more of my concern.

Tomorrow's paper will be Materials and Process Technology. I am fairly confident in this topic but I am still gonna mug my books tonight just in case. I am hoping to get As for both papers since my current GPA is 3.45 and I intend to graduate with a certificate of merit, which means getting more than 3.5 for GPA. Let's keep our fingers crossed till the results are announced in April.

Updates

Haven't had time to do some updating recently. (actually, I was lazy) So far, nothing interesting has caught my attention and life is getting really boring. Not to mention tomorrow and the day after will be my exam days for this semester. After this, one more year to completion.

Everything is starting to fall into place. Finances are stable now, which will free up even more when the wave125 is paid up in may. My studies are more than halfway through, which used to be like so far away when I start. My aunt who was staying with us finally moved out to another place. The only thing left is for me to find a really nice girl to fall in love with and get married.

Today, Eugene and I went to view a CBR600F4I in woodlands. Not to my expectation but it was within my financial limits. The only type of bike I have never owned is a sports bike, and a class 2 one at that. Lets see if there are better options out there when the bonus comes in.

At work, workload is low due to the recent recession, so no OT for now. Glad I worked OT during the CNY period, the extra cash helped pay for school and other unforeseen misc stuff along the way. Hopefully things get better soon, then I can buy my first class 2 bike.