Honda Shadow 1100
HONDA SHADOW 1100
Moving in the right direction
CRUISER STYLING LESSON Number One: Do anything, so long as it's not conservative. Honda was guilty of violating that edict with its earlier Shadow 1l00s. Introduced in 1985, the Shadow was a likeable enough motorcycle that failed to excite visually. In a world populated by gold-and-chrome Viragos, sleek-and-smooth Intruders and rough-and-tumble Softails, that's tantamount to a cardinal sin.
Honda has made reparations for 1987, and the new Shadow makes much more of a lasting impression on the eyes. The bike now has a pareddown, more-aggressive silhouette, aided by the classically shaped "pea nut" fuel tank, a kicked-out front end and an oversized rear tire. Even the engine was restyled, sporting rede signed cylinder fins and dual exhaust pipes that slash their way from the engine compartment to the rear axle.
Functionally, the Shadow is the best all-around bike of the six. Its sus pension works smoothly and its en gine throws out just the right amount of vibration. In typical Honda fash ion, all controls work well:Thethrot tie is light, the brakes are predictable and the hydraulically activated clutch pulls like that of a 125. The
bike is agile around town and in the corners; and once the Shadow is out on the highway, its expansive seating position-more so than even the Har ley Softail's-means that leg cramps are never a problem. In fact, most of our test riders thought that the Shad ow's seat-to-handlebar relationship was a bit too stretched out, and would have preferred that the handlebar be set back an inch or two.
Like the Shadow CYCLE WORLD tested in 1985, this new version is a trifle disappointing when it comes to performance figures. The engine, liq uid-cooled and with three-valve, dual-sparkplug heads, was retuned this year for even more torque, so much o that a four-speed transmis sion replaces the previous five-speed unit. Those two changes mean that there is a satisfying, if not wholly spectacular, lunge of power between each upshift. At least the top-speed runs gave the Shadow some measure of revenge for its near-the-bottom showings in the quarter-mile and rollon tests: At 115 miles per hour, the Honda was the second-fastest bike.
As with the other big Twins, though, the Honda's ultimate success will not depend on performance numbers. After all, a good-running 400cc Four will leave all these bikes for dead. Instead, a cruiser's styling and feel are more important, and in those categories the Shadow has taken some giant steps. Some of our riders loved the Honda, some didn't care for it. But no one ignored it.
Honda 1100 Shadow
$4898
