Honda builds a larger and more capable Rebel for beginners and beyond

By Morgan Gales,www.cycleworld.com

The name “Honda Rebel” has always been synonymous with “beginner bike.” Even with the 2017 redesign’s radical improvement on the original 250 platform, Honda claims that 88 percent of Rebel 500 owners purchase a larger-displacement motorcycle within the first 18 months of ownership. Honda’s problem here is that 73 percent of those purchases are outside the Honda brand. Honda’s dilemma here is to figure out how to keep those riders. Provide a larger bike they can graduate to after outgrowing the smaller model? Or provide a motorcycle that’s similar to learn on, but with enough staying power to outlast that 18-month margin?

Honda may have just done both. The Rebel 1100 uses a parallel-twin Unicam engine, proven in the Africa Twin but modified to fit the cruiser vibe. The bike weighs just about 500 pounds, costs less than $10,000, and it can hit 80 mph in third gear. It’s Honda pushing the envelope of what a cruiser is and what it can be, beginner or not, while making a bike that’s still 100 percent Honda Rebel.

As we’d hoped, much of the technology we see in the Africa Twin’s power application has bled down to the Rebel 1100. Power input, torque control (Honda’s traction control), engine-braking, and shift points are all programmable on three levels. These are set to fit Rain, Sport, and Tour modes, but User mode allows you to tune these individually to your preferences. This adjustability vastly expands the customer base of the bike. As an experienced rider, I found myself with TC off, Power to full, with Engine Braking at mid, and the shift point set to high. Hot damn. Suddenly I very much want to go to biker bars and ego-check Dyna bros (come at me, nerds). But a novice rider using less aggressive settings might find the response more to their liking, more forgiving, and not as loud as they wouldn’t be exploring the heights of the rev limiter. It would just be a friendlier motorcycle.

The Unicam engine has been remapped to deliver peak torque earlier in the rev range and equipped with a 20-percent larger flywheel, increasing inertia by 32 percent and giving it more of a cruiser feel. Different cam profiles for each cylinder vary timing to create a “deep pulse sound” below 4,000 rpm and a “powerful pulse sound” above 4,000 rpm. That may be, but the idle sound is deep but heavily muffled, and I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t imagining any differences in the pulse sound. Power application is precise and smooth throughout the range, but again, I didn’t hear or feel a pulse at 6,000 rpm. There was a pleasant roar, but at no point was I able to hear the pulsing effect I was looking for or hear a notable variation other than that typical of any engine as it turns faster.ADVERTISEMENT

I was expecting a larger chassis on the Rebel 1100 in order to house that 1,084cc displacement. I only sort of got what I was looking for. At 59.8 inches, the 1100′s wheelbase is only 1.1 inches longer than the smaller 500 and 300 models, but the rider’s positioning does not reflect this. Sitting on both models back to back, I was surprised to find my knee at least an inch closer to the handlebars on the 1100 than it was on the 500. I attribute this to the 35-degree cornering clearance of the new model. Compare this to 29.5/30.5 degrees left and right, respectively, on the 2020 H-D Low Rider S. The Rebel 300 and 500 models did not put as much of an emphasis on achieving a sporty lean angle, and understandably so, but it’s clear that this spec was one of Honda’s priorities. The skinny footpegs didn’t even stretch the width of my boot; I had to keep my right toe up to avoid pressing on the too-high brake lever, clear shortcuts to a greater lean angle. But while there seem to be some sacrifices to hit the 35-degree mark, the lean angle still feels impressive. I only scraped pegs a few times on our test ride, and most of those were when I was trying to.

Suspension, manufactured by Showa, is rebound adjustable front and rear. Piggyback shocks imply performance, and small-bump compliance is excellent, but anything larger has potential to send a shock through the otherwise comfortable seat and up your spine. This trade-off tends to come with the low seat height and cruiser silhouette. The 43mm fork is on the soft side, but maintain its composure even while being ridden at a faster pace than most potential buyers are likely to see. For this price point, on a cruiser, the suspension is more than adequate.

The 1100 stops with a Nissin dual-piston caliper on a 256mm disc in the rear and a radially mounted Tokico four-piston caliper on a 330mm rotor in front. Brakes are responsive with good feel through the adjustable lever, allowing for price application to help you explore the limits of the front suspension and Dunlop D428 tire.ADVERTISEMENT

Handling, as we’ve come to expect from Honda, is delightfully neutral and inspires particular confidence at low speeds. Thanks largely to the engine placement’s effect on weight distribution, the already lightweight Rebel feels incredibly well balanced and nimble. Despite using a ride-by-wire throttle and ample computer intervention in the power delivery process, throttle feel is still remarkable, allowing for precise low-speed application.

The dual clutch transmission’s automatic shifting functions very well in this application and doesn’t take away from the connected riding experience as I feared it might, though it does add 22 pounds over the manual clutch model. With a price difference of only $700, I imagine most customers who test ride both models will decide on the DCT.

Even with the bare-bones styling of the Rebel, Honda has managed to sneak in a few creature comforts. Under the seat, riders will find 3 liters of storage and a USB-C charging port.ADVERTISEMENT

Fit and finish are a step up from the base model, but the bar is set very high in the cruiser space. The Rebel has lots of plastic paneling, exposed wiring looms, and miscellaneous plumbing throughout. There is little room for light to come through around the engine, giving the center of the bike a very dense, mechanical appearance. This comes with the territory when using a liquid-cooled engine, and many are happy to take the trade-off.

Customization is as always a key point of cruiser ownership, and Honda has addressed this through its full catalog of accessories ranging from seats and handlebars all the way to a full front fairing. Aftermarket kings Burly Brand and Vance & Hines were on site at the press launch, showing off saddlebags, shocks, and slip-on exhaust sets manufactured just for the 1100 and ready to sell. However, due to the excess of plastic, wiring, and computer systems, the customization potential of this bike does seem somewhat limited to bolt-on products and not as much a platform for home customization.

I’ll admit that at first I thought it was silly to put the Rebel name on this larger, more capable bike. Why not update the Shadow line? This name and the style that comes with it have been long established as a beginner bike. But I came to realize that this change isn’t a bad thing at all. With Sportster 1200s and Indian’s Scout coming in at 1,138cc, it makes a lot of sense to make a bike appealing to riders who want to either start on something larger than a 500 or to start on something smaller and trade up quickly, as we’ve seen. The lightweight, midsize chassis, adjustable power modes, and customizable settings make this bike incredibly versatile and thus more appealing to a wider range of riders. And its $10,000 price tag does the same.ADVERTISEMENT

2021 Honda Rebel Specifications

MSRP:	$9,299/$9,999 (DCT)
Engine:	1,084cc, SOHC, liquid-cooled Unicam parallel twin; 4-valve/cyl.
Bore x Stroke:	92.0mm x 81.5mm
Transmission/Final Drive:	6-speed
Claimed Horsepower:	N/A
Claimed Torque:	N/A
Fuel System:	PGM-FI electronic fuel injection w/ 46mm throttle bodies
Clutch:	Wet multiplate
Engine Management/Ignition:	Full transistorized ignition
Frame:	Steel-tube trellis construction
Front Suspension:	43mm conventional telescopic fork w/ dark titanium oxide coating, spring preload adjustable; 5.5 in. travel
Rear Suspension:	Dual Showa shocks w/ 12.5mm shafts, piggyback pressurized reservoirs, spring preload adjustable; 3.7 in. travel
Front Brake:	4-piston monoblock, radial-mount hydraulic caliper, floating 330mm disc w/ ABS
Rear Brake:	1-piston hydraulic caliper, 256mm disc w/ ABS
Wheels, Front/Rear:	Cast; 18 in. / 16 in.
Tires, Front/Rear:	Dunlop D428; 130/70-18 / 180/65-16
Rake/Trail:	28.0°/4.3 in.
Wheelbase:	59.8 in.
Ground Clearance:	4.7 in.
Seat Height:	27.5 in.
Fuel Capacity:	3.6 gal.
Claimed Wet Weight:	487 lb./ 509 lb. (DCT)
Availability:	Available now
Contact:	powersports.honda.com

Gear Box

• Helmet: Arai Defiant-X
• Jacket: Spidi Metromover
• Pant: Tobacco Selvedge Riding Jeans
• Gloves: Spidi Clubber
• Boots: RSD x White’s Foreman