Honda Shadow Spirit 1100 reviews

Man, I love this bike, so you can guess my review is very positive. The reach to the grips was a little long so I increased the risers an inch (wish I done 2 inches)and after market pipes are on my short list, otherwise....It is me all the way. I dig the look and the feel of this layed back, chopper(ish) cruiser!

Jet it, pipe it, and get over it. Its a great bike that handles well in town and on the highway and gets decent mileage. Its not even a bad bike for someone starting out if they happen to be over 6 ft. and 200 lbs. Ride it and love it!

INEXPENSIVE,GOOD HANDLING, NICE SOUND, PRETTY GOOD ACCELERATION, NICE FEEL.

Bought a 2000 spirit and gave it to the wife and now have a 2002...I did put Cobra slash cuts on it and got more power and acceleration not to mention it now sounds much better....also extremely conformable, I can ride all day and the saddle is great

I have had 10 bikes from 7 different mfgs and have learned whats important for me on what I ride. My 02 VT 1100c has it all. water cooled,wet sump, shaft drive,no valve adjustment,buckhorn bars,runs on 87 octane, good OEM seat, COMFORTABLE, FUN TO RIDE, light weight for a cruser,excellent suspension travel and ground clearence. This bike is a great all arounder that fills every riding need except off road. I hope Honda never stops makeing them!!!!

I have had my Spirit now 18 months and once you fix the lean conditon it runs fine. This 1100 started out with 47hp, today 54hp with meager torque at 65ft lbs. Honda over the years has lengthed cam duration tweaked valve and ignition timing to keep up with higher cc bikes. Unfortunately they did not increase cc's or the low 8:01 compression, making this bike a mid to high rpm power band. Once you learn how to operate this bike at the low end the gears don't seem to be tall. Case and point VTX 1300 which is slightly boared and stroked by 1/2 inch with compresson up to 9:2 over the 1100. Keep in mind the 1100's are dual pin crank with hydraulic valve adjusters, the VTX 1300 is single pin crank with manual valve adjusters. Which do you think would be cheaper to manufacture? Enjoy the Spirit for what it is.

I bought my 2002 Black Shadow Spirit in early April. This bike is easy to start (I've never even had to choke it yet, just give it a little gas while hitting the starter button) runs smooth and has a broad power band. Tall gearing took a little getting used to, but I like it now. I've made a few modifications to it, mostly cosmetic and could not be happier. The bike is comfortable, easy to ride, and looks cool. My only complaint was the backfireing while decelerating but I fixed that by adjusting the fuel/air mixture. I've drilled out my pipes with a 2 1/8" bi-metal hole saw which gives the bike a much better sound. With this mod, no rejetting is required. I've added some miscellaneous accessories to customize it to my taste. If you want to take a look at it, visit http://home.earthlink.net/~venjurak

i agrree with one of the posts here the bike is geared way to tall. mine shudders and will buck some if in high gear at 55 mph and you roll on the throttle. although geared to high the torque of the motor carries me 270pounds and the bikes weight away from a stop with out a lot of clutch slipping. one problem i have that makes me sick. i have had a couple of hondas and rode several more but this 1100 spirit 2002 model if i were allowed to ride the bike before purchasing i would have dropped it like a hot potatoe. the transmission sucks. i have riden older harleys that shift like butter compaired to this thing. 1 to 2nd shift clunks bangs and grinds and generally is very embarrasing to ride through town. i went back to my dealer for the 600 mile check up and he laughed at me and said it was normal. i couldn't believe this. i took my bike to another dealer. service manager there rode it then took another new 1100 spirit off the show room floor and he rode it as well and had me ride it too. now the new one seemed much better but i thought the shift qualities of it were a little abbrasive to me personally as well. seems honda has forgotten how to make a transmission smooth and easy to shift. this service manager aggreed with me there is something wrong with the trans. he said he would call honda and get back to me. honda won't allow dealers to tear down for major disassembly for inspection and pay for it under warranty unless the trans locks up, is missing a gear completly or you have a bearing hanging out the side of it. dealer was great he made his contacts with in honda but they would not authorize an inspection disassembly with out some of the problems listed above and cover it under warranty. now the dealer service guy was very nice he said he would tear it down but didn't want me to fork over $600 for the inspection in case the transmission is truly normal. honda elaborated no more than to say it was normal and the transmission is not broken in yet aprox 1000 miles on it. i tried to find a phone number for honda to try and talk to someone but thats like trying to talk to a ghost. any one ever see a phone number for honda or an email address for them?? i shouldn't put the bike down to hard. motor runs good has anice torque curve looks good and handles very well but i am so grated trying to ride it in town or out on the road trying to keep it from klunking grinding and banging going in to the next gear 1st to 2nd is the pitts. i may be foolish but i am considering trading it for a vtx 1300 honda service manager said the trans in it is much better. and i thought buyer beware was only ment for purchasing something used.

I bought an 01 Spirit 1100 used with about 2500 Mi. on it. The original owner had taken great cosmetic care of the bike and added a MF Windshield, Cobra Drag Pipes and a set of W&Max saddle bags. but it was in sad need of servicing....changed the oil and oil filter, air filter and spark plugs and replaced the cobra baffles with a set of HP Plus baffles. Totally different Ride. No more stalling at low speeds, hesitation on acceleration, and the cooling fan hasn't cut on once since the oil change (I did have it checked to be sure nothing happened while changing the oil). AND, you can actually start it according to the owners manual (start with full choke idle for 30 seconds and then kill the choke) previously took 10-15 minutes to come up to operating temp.... at any rate it is a great ride at a very moderate price.