Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Carrabelle, Florida, boasts the "World's Smallest Police Station; booth , The booth is the only police building in town. "aphone A bellhop for the Royal Sonesta Hotel, located along New Orleans' Bourbon Street, appro ved of the Shadow's authentic American styling. "Hey, my man, that's a baad Hahley!" came the shout from a street corner. I didn't feel the need to correct the man-IO explain about V-twins and profile-customs-and instead wai led for the Iight to change, dumping the clutch without comment. Ah yes, the clutch. In theory, the hydraulica lly-assisted clutch shou ld have a lighter clutch-lever pull th a n conventional designs. Fo r th e 1100 Shadow, the feel at the lever is about the same as ot her big-bore motorcycles - which means it migh t ha ve been much grea ter if conventional springs were used. But the problem is that the clutch works with oil volume as well as pressure: the cavity behind the clutch piston must fill with oil and come up to pressure for full clamping strength. This makes for a built-in time delay, and the clutch always slips briefly after shifts. Once up 10 pressure, the clutch always loc ked solid. Even though initia l slip is pan of this clutch design, the Shadow's clutch posed no problem for the dragstrip testing that followed the trip. Because of the slip, we assumed the fastest times would be posted by rolling off the throttle and shifting without the clutch. Surprisingly, the best times were achieved with the throttle wide open while quick ly clutching and shifting. In rea l-wor ld .riding, this clutch seems 10 combine the wors t o f bo th worlds , The initia l diaphragm spring ma kes the clu tch grab by and difficult 10 control a t lo w speeds, yet lacks a firm engagement point when shift ing under power. • • • Rolling west OU I of Houston, Texas. lime and schedule allowed for a slower pace, and a tu rn onto old Highway 90. The Shadow thunders along at a leisurely.3 100t rpm ar 55 ' mph in top gear. What 's impressive about lo w-speed profile cruising on the Shadow is stability: the rake checks at 32°, and trail is a whopping 6.04 inches. Unlike bikes that seem 10 follow eye movement, darting from lane to lane, the Shadow wants to track straight ahead - a decisive mov e at the hand lebars is required 10 make the machine change course. Gas mileage was also impressive wit h these low-speed steady cruising conditions, with th e bes t lan k mcasu ring 57,8 mpg. Wo rsi la nk , recorded when running at a . much h ig her speed into a slight headwind clu-cked at 49.4 mpg - big-inch V twins are Fuel-efficient beasts. Working with the Shadow's reponed four-gallon fuel capacity, the bike should have a cruising range of about 200 miles. The problem is the electric gas gauge, and the Shadow's two-pan gas tank. The electric sender is mounted in the lower gas tank ; therefore. the gauge rema ins pegged on full until the upper tank - about half the fuel supply - is exhausted. The gauge would move off the peg at about 90 miles, read half-scal e at 120 miles, and be pegged on empty at about 150 miles. Since the electric fuel pump has no provision for a reserve lap, riding past the 150 mile point without re-fueling is a mailer of guesswork and luck. Highway 11 8 CUIS north from old 90 a t the town of Alpi ne, Texas, and provided a joyous 75-mile stretch of twis ty mo untain roads - a rari ty in the Lone Star sta le. Whi le cornering clearance is fine for vertical pro file custom cr uising. a brisk ride th ro ugh some t ig ht turns found rhe big Shadow trailing a shower of sparks. Up 10 the point of undercarriage contact, the Shadow remained stab le when cornering, showing no trace of wobble. For a raked-ou t custom bike. the Shadow's handling is excellent. • l Highwuy.118dead-endsat In tersta te , 10; with lWO da ys remaining on th e The 1100 Shadow is hardly designed for quarter-mile work; its ieisurely V -twin engine netted a best pass of 12.91 @ 102.27 mph: on a performance par with bikes half the Shadow's size. schedule and nearly 1000 mi les 10 go, the Interstate was the only viable route home. The big Shadow is longlegged, and in top gear just rumbled along and counted miles on its odometer. The sun set while I was still 150 miles eas t of Yuma, Arizona. a nd the desert was pi tch dark on a moon less night. The Shadow's headlight is a decent 60/55-wall quartz u ni t - bu t the problem with -n igh l riding is th e indica tor ligh ts. The I 100 Shadow in fact all Shadows - uses a brigh t yellow ligh t 10 show when top gear is engaged. A bright blue light indicates high beam, and as a result , you can actually see farther on low beam in founh gear than with the high beam and both indicator lights burning. On the road, a quick slap of d ucr tape over the lights solved the problem. Over 600 miles of Int ersta te 10 had passed under the Shadow's wheels that day, and Yuma served as the day's destination. I found a motel. and walked into the lobby for a room. " Nice Honda:' said the man behind the counter. I must have looked genuinely surprised when he correctly identified the bike. "My brother's got a Shadow, too. They're good bikes. " He was right. After eight states and five da ys in rhe saddle of t he 1100 Shadow, Honda's newest Vvtwin profiler-custom motorcycle had proven itsel f to be a worthy tourer. The 1100 Shadow: 4000 miles later. T he test bike we received was a hand-built pilot production model made in Japan; prod uction versions will ro ll off Honda's assembly lines in Marysville. Ohio. The test bike was also a Canadian mode l - according 10 Honda spokesmen, changes 10 the carburerion will be th e on ly difference ·for American -spec Shadows. California models will have the req - I u isne charcoa l cannister to handle evapora tive emissions from the fuel tank ; the cannister will be mounted Iowan the frame downrubes in front of the engine. Carburerion was smooth and crisp; and thrott le response couldn't be faulted throughout the powerband, Domestic models may not fare as well due 10 lea ner carburetor jelling. The e!1gine always fired righ t up at th e Iirst stab of the starter bu tton , Full choke was required for co ld starts. R id in g across the country. the Shadow look a quart of oi l at about the 2oo0-mile mark - and used vir tually none for the duration of th e test. That was it. The bike received its initia l service with 200 miles on the clock. and never set tire in a service bay again. Shah drive eliminated the hassles of frequent chain adjustment. and neither lea ked or required any allention. The rear tire is less than halfway through its tread. andwill probably go on 10 last 10,000 miles. By the end of the test, the rear shocks have faded noticeably, allowing the Shadow to bounce through severa l cycles after hilling a bump. The airassisted Iroru fork seems fine, a nd remained air-tight throughout the trip. No rain was encountered during the cross-county trip, bu t after returning to Ca lifornia the Shadow was ridden through a genuine cloudburst near Riverside. The Iront disc brakes worked equally well when wet or dry, and the rear drum stayed d ry. The engine ra n fine in the rai n; the bike di dn 't seem to mind the wea ther at all. Other than that, nothing fell off, broke. vibra ted apart or fai led in any way - the 1100 Shadow was troub lefree for the duration of the test . \Vith an oil change and a qu ick check o f rite pressure, OUt test Shadow is ready for another cro ss-cou n try ride. • s

• Cover