Cycle News

Water-cooling system on the 1100 Shadow is well-disguised ; narrow radiator is on frame downtubes, and plumbing hugs the cylinders ' base. But the news is th at the Shadow's new clutch uses engine oi l pressure to hydraulically-assist with clamping pressure. The clutch 's diaphragm spr ing is light. and accounts for only one-third of th eclamping pressure - which means th at th e clutch lever is light and eas y 10 operate. For the remainder of the clutch pressure, engine oil is routed through a bleeder orifice and fed into the cen- ter of th e clutch hub, where it's blocked pendi ng clutch engagement. As th e cl utch is engaged, a valve ope ns and oi l floods a cav ity within the clutch basket, This. in turn. drives a hydraul ic piston which clamps th e clutch stack together. T he pressu re from this hydraulic piston accounts for another one-third of th e engage- ment pressu re. As th e engine is revved. centri fugal force on the oil with in thi s cavitv inc reases th e clutch 's oi l pressure; and in turn in creases the clamping pressure on th e clutch stack. When th e cl utch is di sen gaged. th e cl utch stac k pulls apart. and exposes three oi l bleeder ports on th e perime- ter of th e clu tch basket . Centrifugal fo rce then evacua tes th e oil in th e clutch ca vity through these ports. This new clutch assem b ly i s mounted on th e transmission main- sh aft , with f ir st gea r actua lly machined as part of the rnainshafr. The transmission has five speeds. with fourth and fifth gea rs techni- ca lly ta ll enough to be "overdrive" gears. Bevel gears a re linked to a uni- versal joint near the swinga rm pivot . and a driveshaft powers the rear wheel. Thanks 10 th e smooth ness from th e offse t-pin cra nkshaft. th e l lOOcc Shadow's engine is ri gidly mounted in a double-cradle tubular framemade of high-tensile steel. Sheet met al gussets are welded 10 rein force stress points, and a removable frame mern - ber on the right side allows for engine removal. T he from suspens io n is telescop ic 14 fork ; fork tubes measure a ro bu st 40mm diameter. and for k springing is air-assisted. Curio usly. the new Shadow uses ball bearings a t th e steering head. Honda 's exp lanation is that ball bearings. once properly adj usted. require less adjustrn ent and maintenance than do stronger tapered rolle r bearings. A fork bra ce is stand- a rd equipment. though no form of a nti-dive is included.The fro nt brakes a re dual discs, wi th floating single- action dual pi ston calipers. At th e rear, th e new Shadow fea- tures a conventional swingarrn, with th e dri ve shaft running within the left side. The rear shocks are adj us ta- ble for spring preload only, with five positions available. Rea r ax le travel is 4.3 inches. The rea r brak e is a seven-inch. single-leading-shoe drum. A skin ny. teardrop-styl e gas tank cro uches over the top of the engine. and holds 1.8 gallons (7.0 liters) of the total fuel supply. A seco nd fuel tank, holding an addi tional 2.1 ga l- lons (8.0 lit ers). is mounted under the sea t 10 lower the Shadow's center of gravity .The two tan ks are linked by a ru bbe r hos e, and both a re filled th rough a lockin g door in the upper tank. Unfort u na tely, th e sensor for th e gas ga uge is rnounu-d in the lower tank - and stays pegged on full until the upper tank (or about half th e fuel supp ly) is exhaus ted . T hankfully. th e blinding red " Low Fuel" light of the origi nal 750cc Shadow has been el iminated. Since the fu el feed from the lower gas tank is below the carburetor float bowls. th e ca rburetors are fed by an electric fuel p ump. No reserve tap is p ro vided ; when you're out of gas. you're really OUt of gas. The new 1100 Shadow has bee n targeted to suit th e American cus tom market. In fact . th e machi ne will on ly be so ld in th e Uni ted Sta tes and Ca nada; no Euro pean models have been pl anned . In a few weeks, th e new big Shadow wi ll be in full pro- d uc tion on Honda 's assembly lines in Marysville. Ohio, makin g this bike - literally - an American cus- 10m motorcycl e.T he message is clear, and is delivered with every pulse of th e Sha do w's V-twin engine : Honda is deadly serious abo ut th e big- bore profiler -custom ma rket. • Next uieek: -/.000 miLes on Honda's l lOOcc Shadow. Oi l routing (red ) for the hydraulic clutch system. Oil.fills the clutch cavity to aid clamping pressure; when clutch is released, oil exits through vent holes in the clutch's perimeter. . Specifications Honda VT11OOCShadow Engi ne type Water-cooled, SOHC four-stroke V-twin Bore x stroke . . . . 87.5x91 .4mm Displacement . . .. ... .• • 1099cc Compression ratio 9 :1 Carburetion . . .. ...•.. (2) 36mm downdraft Keihin CV Horsepower .. 80hp@ 6500 rpm Torque . . 72Ibs.-ft,@5000 rpm Valves per cylinder . •. .... . •. . 3 Intake valve size Exhaust valve size Intake lift Exhaust li ft • • . . . •. . . .• • • 9.3mm Incl uded valve angle Intake valve timing Lubrication Electronic Wet sump (2) 32mm (1) 40mm 9.3mm 37° 5°_45 0 Exhaust valve timing •.. . 450-50 (measuring pt).. • .. .. .. ... 1mm Igni tion Redline . •.. ..... ... .. 6500 rpm rpm @60mph . ..• • ... 3420 rpm Gear ratios Primary Fina l 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st 4th 3rd . .•. .. . . .... . ..... 76 mph 2nd 1st 98.8 mph 56.7 mph 35.3 mph Frame .. . . . . . .•. Double-cradle. tubular steel Rake ... •. .. •.•..... . •. ..... 32° Trail . . . . . • . . . • ....•. •• • 6.04 in. Front suspension .• . . Telescopic fork Fork tube diameter Front wheel travel 40mm 5.9 in. Rear suspension . . .• .Dual-shock swingarm Rear wheel travel ..•.. • •. 4 .3 in. Front brakes . . (2) 10 .9 -in. discs Rear brakes 7-in. drum Frontwheel .. 2.50x18 castalloy Rear wheel .. 3.00x15 cast alloy Fronttire • Rear tire 1.692:1 (66/39) 3 .091:1 806:1 (25/31) 929:1 (26/28) 1,208:1 (29/24 ) 1.619:1 (34/21) 2.600:1 (39/15) Calculated speed in gears at red line 5th . . . .. . . . . .. . •• . 113.9 mph Dry weight Wheelbase 110.90-18 Dunlop F11 140/90-15 Dunlop K627 528 Ibs. 63.4 in .. Fuel capacity .. . . .•. . ... 4.0 gal. Ground clearance Seat height GVWR N/ A 5.3 in. 29.5 in. 975 Ibs. Colors .. Black/silver, b'lack/red Retail price

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