HONDA X-11
1999-2002
Coming Classic?
I’m ready to be shot down in flames for this one, but I’m putting the Honda X-11 up for coming classic-dom down to one reason only. They’re pretty rare. There, I’ve said it. So, let’s look at the beast. Firstly, it’s big. It’s basically a Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird with an updated ‘centre pivot’ frame, minus the fairing and a few horses. It’s still got the linked brakes but a lot less practicality. It’s also bloody ugly. In a time of the Bandit 1200, ZRX1100 and Yamaha XJR the X-11 simply looked naff: a single headlight, red-backed clocks (with only one trip meter: that was it) a bulging midriff where the frame cradled that 1137cc motor and with a strange vented fairing over the radiator, it just looked bulky when the others looked purposeful. Now, I’ve got some history with the X-11 having road tested one a few times at the end of the 1990s and having used one for about six months as my sole method of transport in 2001. Looking over those original road tests I can see I enjoyed riding the bike, but always placed it last or next to last in its peer group. Not that it really had one: it wasn’t a retro or even really a Bandit-beater. It was just a big, naked bike with a hefty 120bhp rear-wheel, real-world stomp that you couldn’t use as you were swinging in the breeze. You may be thinking ‘modern CBX1000’, but it isn’t. When I had to use it for my-then long trek to work, the lack of a screen annoyed, motorways were ‘a blast’ for all the wrong reasons and there wasn’t really a place to strap a bag down properly. It was 222 kilos of big bruiser that handled well enough, did some things well enough except look right. After just a few years it was out of Honda’s range as they instead went with a Blade-powered Hornet 900. This means it’s often hard to track one down, so if you find a good one and it’s the right price. Keep it. Hide it. You never know… We’ve seen X-11s with many miles on for around £1500, some with big screens and luggage on (why didn’t the owner just buy a Blackbird?) We’ve seen standard bikes with 16k on the clocks for £2750 and a daft special for £5000! Most bikes seem to have low mileages: in the main most aren’t used for anything other than quick blasts and reliability is good: brakes can be de-linked too. Try one if you can: quirky, if not quite there.