The all-new 2021 Honda Rebel 1100 joins the Rebel 300 and Rebel 500 in Honda’s cruiser lineup. (Photos by Drew Ruiz)

If you?ve taken an MSF Basic RiderCourse, there?s a good chance you did it on a Honda Rebel 250, a small, approachable cruiser that?s hardly a symbol of rebellion. Honda started making the Rebel in 1985, and it didn?t change much over the years. The Rebel 300 replaced it in 2017, one of the three tiddlers we flogged during our Monkey Butt 500 ride. Honda also added a Rebel 500 to the lineup, nearly identical except for engine size. And this year they?re joined by the all-new 2021 Honda Rebel 1100.

Available with a 6-speed manual transmission ($9,299) or a 6-speed automatic Dual Clutch Transmission ($9,999), the Rebel 1100 comes in either Metallic Black (above) or Bourdeaux Red Metallic (below).
What Honda?s market researchers discovered was, within 18 months of buying a Rebel 300 or 500, owners were stepping up to bigger bikes, and most of them were moving to different brands because there wasn?t a suitable model in Honda?s lineup. The 745cc Shadow Phantom and Aero models aren?t big enough, and the 1,312cc Fury, probably due to its outdated chopper styling, isn?t cool enough.

2021 Honda Rebel 1100 in Bourdeaux Red Metallic

To keep Rebel owners in the family, Honda needed a bigger Rebel. Just as the Rebel 300 and 500 are derived from Honda?s CB300F and CB500F naked bikes, the Rebel 1100 is derived from a performance-oriented model in Honda...