There is only one metric that matters when you test a motorcycle: how quickly you want to jump back on it. The Honda CMX1100 Rebel takes this one step further. It has the curious ability to make you want to ride it again before you’ve even parked it up. You could say it’s a bike that comes with a side order of yearning. If you’re anywhere but in the seat, you’ll find a small part of your brain constantly running through the start sequence: the moment when you turn the key, hear the parallel-twin thrum to life, and with a deft twist of the wrist launch yourself down the road. This is a curiously coherent motorcycle for a Japanese take on an American cruiser by way of the Dakar rally. If you were being cruel, you’d say it shouldn’t really work. But this is Honda. They do clever things there. And the Rebel is a very clever motorcycle indeed.
The first thing I noticed about this bike was how much better it looks in real life than in photos. Honda’s press shots are full of downtown hipsters looking cooler than me on a very shiny-looking motorcycle. I was therefore expecting a slightly flashy, somewhat performative exterior. Instead, choking on my avocado latte, I was rather taken by a brooding, masculine machine tempered with a deft engineer’s touch. There is a real substance to this thing, especially in the shade of Iridium Grey metallic of our test bike. It’s a raw simplicity very different to a textbook Harley or Indian but no less compelling. This isn’t a bike trying to make cruisers great again or impress you with acres of chrome. It simply tells you what it is, without pretence: 220-odd kilos of minimalist, high-grade Japanese engineering packaged by Honda’s talented US design team.
But hold on – it looks like a cruiser. Isn’t it simply Honda’s take on one? Well, yes and no. It has the low-slung silhouette of the classic American motorcycle. Yet the closer you look, the more you see it deviating from well-worn tradition, pushing firmly into the contemporary. The tubular steel frame is gracefully designed, pinching inward around the scalloped fuel tank and echoing the form of the rider. Up front you have unfussy cartridge-style front forks and a plain, modern LED headlight. Where you expect a blunt edge, the CMX1100 has modern curves. They lend an interesting softness to how this bike moulds itself around the engine, as if a land-train cruiser is evolving in the direction of a street naked motorcycle.
Let’s talk about that engine. At the heart of the Rebel is a piece of Honda’s continent-crossing heritage, almost identical to the bulletproof Africa Twin DOHC unit. There’s 64kW / 86 BHP of peak power and 98Nm of peak torque on offer, although Honda have played a few tricks to bring the engine into line with the cruiser ethos.
A heavier flywheel and modified valve lift and timings give the bike a robust response at low rpms with a very pleasant, almost addictive pulse as you open the throttle. Keep adding gas and you get a throaty roar echoing your very brisk progress. Even with the stock exhaust, the sound is brilliant. On the bike, you feel the deep bassy engine tones through your body, but the noise doesn’t carry far beyond you. You get to enjoy the presence of the engine without being offensively and performatively loud. The impression given is that the rider of the CMX1100 really doesn’t have to compensate for anything…
On the road, from slower traffic to fast A-roads and motorways, the Rebel benefits from a deceptively sporty chassis and a light, precise gearbox. There’s far more power available than you would ever need for 90% of riding situations, enough braking to keep you out of danger, and heaps of potential for the sort of trouble we like around here. If you’re feeling naughty, the Rebel will catapult you forward with shocking ease. If you’re feeling very naughty, it will throw your licence on the ground and set fire to it in moments. There are very few vehicles this will not outpace – it can do 0-60 in under 4 seconds for God’s sake – and there was no point during testing where I felt it needed more oomph. To speak the language of our two-wheeled peoples: bro, this thing rips.
It’s not a one trick pony, however. The CMX1100 can also change character on demand. You can gurgle around at 20-30 mph, enjoying the excellent weight distribution and easy steering, and it feels every part the cruiser. Turn up the wick out of town, and you’ll find yourself giggling as you chop through twisty turns like a naked bike, with impressive lean angle to boot. It’s a pleasant surprise. You’re just not supposed to have that sort of fun on a bike that looks like this, and it doesn’t take long to feel that almost nothing else can touch you for the brilliant combination of high speed business and slow speed pleasure.
The thought behind this motorbike is also clear in the details. Switchgear and instruments are typical Honda – simple, easy to use, robust. Cycling through the four drive modes (Rain, Standard, Sport and User) – a pleasant addition on this style of bike – is straightforward. You get traction control and ABS as well. Under the easily-removed seat is storage space with a protected USB-C socket and elastic straps holding the manual and a small toolkit. It’s a great addition, endlessly useful on longer journeys. Not only can you use the cubby to charge your phone (and ensure navigation systems like the Beeline Moto 2 are well Bluetooth’d), it also gives you somewhere to store a small disc lock. Because, as we all agree, there is nothing less cool than having your bike security visible whilst on the move…
So, how do I sum up the secret to the Rebel’s charm? The best analogy I can draw, oddly, is with the Mazda MX-5. Japanese companies have a long tradition of taking inspiration from abroad and perfecting it in a uniquely Japanese way. The MX-5 is a masterful Japanese rendition of the traditional British two-seater sports car, and is now the standard against which cars of that kind are measured across the world. Mazda took the essence of an idea, a sketch of the form, but filled it out with their own unique engineering, taking the final product far beyond the original inspiration. The CMX1100 is a similar exercise. You have the recognisable cruiser format, but realised with a significant degree of elegance, modernity, and technical prowess. This bike is less a homage to a classic shape than an impressive demonstration of how function need not always follow form.
Yes, I’m talking fancy again. To be blunt: if you’re into cool, low-slung motorbikes, the CMX1100 could well be your “do-everything” machine. You’ve got the throaty, burbling parallel twin which makes the commute effortless. If you buy the touring version, the distinctive front fairing and hard panniers give you a very capable country-crosser. On faster roads, it feels stable and predictable, even in fast carving turns. At all times, it has a keen, responsive energy about it, whether you are filtering through traffic or blasting down an open road. The height of the bars, the footpeg placement, the seating position – all of the important details suggest that this is a bike designed to make riding it as pleasant and desirable as possible.
When I gave this motorcycle back, I was genuinely sad to see it go. There is a quiet confidence about it which I really like. It is more than the sum of its parts, a very clever piece of engineering by a company which has clearly thought about what the modern rider needs, especially in an economy where most people can really only afford one main machine. It gives you exactly what you need from a cruiser-style motorcycle without the usual compromises, and comes with a welcome heap of modern features.
And if that’s not convincing enough – did I mention that on the road, the base version is about £3000 cheaper than the equivalents from Harley-Davidson, Triumph or Indian?
What are you waiting for?
Photography by Luke Koch de Gooreynd at Collective Lines (also on Instagram at @collective_lines_)