YEAR / MODEL: 2002 Honda ST1100
OWNER: Clement Salvadori
HOME: Atascadero, California
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Back in the late 1980s, the European market played an important role for Honda’s motobike like Americans. And motorbikes have become popular, as cars and car insurance are more expensive than they are here. Demands are quite different, with Yanks favoring large cruisers and narrowly focused sports machines, while those in the east Atlantic take a more down-to-earth approach, favoring motorcycles with can be used for commuting to work during the workday and then taking two trips during a vacation. .
Each motorcycle company is constantly looking around to see what the competition is doing. Without a doubt, the Japanese Big Four have their own domestic spy network, trying to track each other’s activities, but also local producers. In the US, the only local competition is from Harley-Davidson, but in Europe many homegrown brands are taking their share.
In the late 1980s, BMW, with its new four-cylinder K-bike, was doing quite well in the touring market. The head of Honda Germany decided he wanted a part of that action and was given permission by Japan to design his own bike, a sporty motorcycle with a focus on power but still agility.
Therefore ST1100, introduced in Europe in 1990 as the Pan-European, with a windscreen, removable saddlebag and bearing. Get to work in the rain, pack a bag for a trip, and never have to worry about cleaning and adjusting the chain. It was a completely new machine, with a horizontally mounted V-4 engine (meaning the crankshaft was at right angles to the shaft), capable of producing almost 100 rear-wheel horses.
This isn’t light at all, as the ST weighs in at about 700 pounds with a giant 7.4-gallon gas tank filled. But luckily the tank sits underneath the saddle, keeping the weight low, which is where many sensible touring riders want it. That requires a fuel pump that pushes the gas up four 34.5mm Keihin – the carburetor during the upcoming fuel injection period. No problem, as the carbs did a great job and had no trouble keeping the engine spinning. A lever on the steering wheel is a reminder of the carburetor.
The liquid-cooled V-4 engine, with a diameter of 73mm and a stroke of 64.8mm, has a total capacity of 1,084cc. It uses twin overhead camshafts, with a single timing belt running all four camshafts and four valves per cylinder. Valve adjustment is done with shims, which isn’t always appreciated by in-house mechanics, but service intervals are set at a pretty long 16,000 miles. Ignition has been transistorized, with electronic applications. And the overpowered engine pulled hard all the way from 2,000 to 8,000 rpm.
Under the guts of a wet sump engine, everything is built to last, with an oil capacity of nearly 4 liters and a front intercooler. It’s housed in a fully-supported steel frame (which contributes to the bike’s massive weight), giving riders confidence when leaning heavily into bends at considerable speeds. Up front is a 41mm Showa telescopic fork, with Honda’s TRAC anti-diving mechanism and allowing a journey of nearly 6 inches. There are no adjustments here. At the rear, a single Showa shock absorber, adjustable for regenerative damping and spring preload, provides nearly 5 inches of travel.
Longitudinal power runs back through a wet clutch and a five-speed cassette-type transmission to the drive shaft. The aluminum three-spoke wheels use 18-inch 110/80 tires at the front, 17-inch 160/70 at the rear, with over 61 inches of shade between the axle centres.
Europeans love it – perhaps for no better reason than it’s a good alternative to the BMW, along with a bit more power. The US market started seeing this bike a year or so after it was released in the east Atlantic. Several improvements were made after that first version, including raising the generator output from 28 to 40 amps and offering a combined ABS and traction control system. The original ABS, which ran from 1992 to 95, had separate systems on the front and rear wheels, but was an upgrade to the used ’96 link brake. A slight upgrade of the windshield was offered for the 1995 model year.
The most important thing for a motorcycle of this design is comfort. On this model ’02, which really belongs to you, Lipstick was added to the top of the windshield for smooth airflow around my helmet, since I’m taller than average. An interesting addition lies to the left of the devices, where a manual knob can change the angle of the dual halogen lamps; very simple, very useful. A company called Simplify fits a bag on the plastic cap onto the engine. Bagster that makes Naugahyde cover for over 200 motorcycle models, for which a bag can be neatly cut. That bag has covered a lot of miles, as I had on my ’92 model, which went on sale after 93,000 miles, and then my new ’02 ST1100, which has 103,000 miles and continues to grow.
The flat saddle is comfortable for two long or even longer days alone, allowing the rider to move back and forth. Saddle bags are locked to the bike, but they can be removed with little fuss. However, it is much more useful to have a lining in the bag; Just open the bag, take out the lining and you’re on your way.
A nifty frill on the ST is the bottom left handle of the saddle, which folds into the bike until it pulls out 90 degrees, which is useful when lifting the bike onto a platform. Another much appreciated addition are the anti-collision bars that are concealed on the fairing, allowing for a slow fall without causing any damage.
Big smiles can be seen in Honda Germany after the arrival of the ST1100. They gave their opponents a good kick in the old wazoo, with ST soon winning all sorts of awards. And it didn’t change much for the next ten years until the ST1300 came out in 2003.
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Throw a foot in that saddle, turn the key, push the button, the clutch, the front click, and the sheer, silent power is on fire. And 500 miles with a fuel stop in between is always a temptation.
