Gone Riding: Honda Rebel 1100

The Rebel lineup has been a stalwart bike for American Honda, primarily in its role to get new riders on two wheels. But, what happens when those newly minted motorcycle enthusiasts want to upgrade to something bigger?

As Honda discovered, they go somewhere else, as the Japanese brand lacked an encore to the Honda Rebel 300 and Honda Rebel 500 motorcycles.

These motorcycle riders that Honda fought so hard to create were jumping ship to another cruiser brand.

But now the Japanese brand has a solution, the Honda Rebel 1100 – a bike that looks like a greatest hits album from the company’s current lineup.

We say this because the Honda Rebel 1100 continues the obvious styling of the Rebel brand, but instead of finding a metric v-twin the company has tapped the 1,084cc parallel-twin motor from the Africa Twin. The result is an anti-cruiser for the cruiser-loving crowd.

“So, how does it ride?” you might be asking. That is what we are here to find out, as we are about to spend a day on the 2021 Honda Rebel 1100.

Our ride test takes us to Murrieta, California where we plan to hit the backroads of the Golden State.

Per our new review format, I will be giving you a live assessment of the Honda Rebel 1100 right here in this article (down in the comments section), and I will try to answer any questions you might have about this exciting motorcycle.

So, here is your chance to learn what it’s like to ride the Honda Rebel 1100, before even our own proper review is posted. As always, if I don’t know an answer, I will try to get a response from the Honda personnel. So, pepper away.

You can follow our thoughts on the bike live via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and you can see what our colleagues are posting on social media by looking for the hashtags #BornRebel #RideRed

Spec-Sheet of the Honda Rebel 1100:

Photo: American Honda