2025 Honda Rebel 1100 Review: Price, Specs & Performance

When you hear the Honda Rebel name, it might conjure up images of beginner bikes with small engine sizes and approachable dimensions. Maybe you think of motorcycle safety courses and the manageable Honda Rebels that line parking lots across America, serving as ambassadors to new riders learning the ins and outs of two-wheeled transportation. 

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The Honda Rebel, after all, is one of the best bikes for beginners, especially in its 300cc and 500cc displacement configurations. If I think back long enough, I can even remember the early Rebel 250 that I took my first riding course on nearly 20 years ago. The newest Honda Rebel 1100, however, offers much more than rider approachability and nostalgia.

The 2025 Rebel 1100 is a larger, more-powerful cruiser than its 300 and 500cc siblings, with modern tech, a comfortable ride, and enough power to stretch its legs on the highway. Still approachable, but also a significant upgrade over the small bikes you might associate with novice riders. For 2025, it gets a long list of updates including a new seat cushion, an updated riding position, a new standard USB charging socket, and a new trim level — the SE. It’s sufficient to say that the Rebel has some serious added value for 2025, so I requested a loaner bike from the folks at Honda and once it arrived, I rode it for a few weeks to test it out.

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The engine that powers the 2025 Rebel 1100 is a 1,083cc parallel-twin. It’s the same engine that powers the Africa Twin (with some unique tuning for the Rebel platform) and the same engine as last year’s model. It’s gutsy enough for quick acceleration onto the highway and it’ll have no problem keeping up with fast-moving traffic. It also shines when it comes to passing maneuvers. The mid-range torque lets you twist the throttle on the highway and easily pass slow-moving vehicles, a trick that the smaller Rebels have a hard time performing.

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Riders familiar with powersports equipment like ATVs will likely be familiar with Honda’s dual clutch transmission (DCT). Like a DCT in a car, the one on the Rebel 1100 acts like a standard automatic and it does the shifting for you most of the time. You can also select a manual mode, choosing your gear via handlebar-mounted controls, but if you’re used to shifting via foot controls it’s likely to be a tough transition. 

Even after three weeks riding the Rebel 1100, I found it difficult to shift with the small buttons. It was much easier to just leave it in automatic mode and let it do the shifting for me. Both upshifts and downshifts were smooth, even under hard acceleration or deceleration. If you’re looking for maximum engagement, though, it’s probably best to opt for a Rebel with the six-speed manual. 

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According to Honda, the 2025 Rebel 1100 gets an improved riding position via changes to the handlebars and the footpegs. The handlebar grips are 12mm higher than before, moved 28mm back, and the footpegs have been moved 50mm forward. Despite those changes, though, I still found it a bit too tight for my size. At a modest 5-foot-9, I don’t often feel cramped on motorcycles, especially cruisers with over 1,000cc’s of displacement, but the Rebel scrunched me up a bit.

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After just a few miles of riding the Rebel on the highway, I felt like my knees were way too high. No matter how much I shifted in my seat or adjusted my body position, there was nothing I could do about those high knees. A more dramatic redesign of the Rebel’s ergonomics would be necessary if Honda wants tall riders to be comfortable. 

Moving the foot pegs even further forward and down about an inch would likely solve this high-knee problem, but then they’d be much more prone to mid-corner scraping. What’s more, the foot pegs are placed pretty wide to accommodate the big parallel-twin engine. Foot peg placement aside, the Rebel 1100 is otherwise a well laid-out bike. The handlebars are situated well within reach for most riders, and the controls are simple enough to learn, even if Honda’s interface is new to you.

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If you’re able to settle into the riding position, one of the best parts about riding the Rebel 1100 was the overall comfort. Seat height is a totally-reasonable 27.5 inches, so flat-footing it at a stop light should be no issue for most riders. On long highway trips, over broken surfaces, and even in the California canyons doing my best to avoid debris that lines the road after recent rainfall, it was extremely pleasant to ride. Instead of being bucked upwards when riding over big potholes, the Rebel took it all in stride, keeping me comfortable and secure over several lengthy rides.

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Travis Langness/SlashGear

The Rebel DCT SE’s seat had more than enough cushion to support my weight and the rear suspension soaked up even large road imperfections. Going over potholes and speed bumps that would normally jostle heavy cruiser bikes had little effect on the Honda. The Rebel 1100 DCT SE weighs in at 509 lbs according to Honda’s spec sheet: a manageable weight for its well-appointed suspension (more on that in a bit) while the tall tires soaked up plenty of road impacts as well. 

The fuel tank can hold as much as 3.6 gallons, which is enough for most long-distance journeys and certainly enough for the average daily commute. If you buy this bike because you’re interested in a comfortable daily cruiser, you won’t be disappointed. If you buy it for long, meandering summer rides, you won’t be let down either.

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With 5.5 inches of suspension travel up front and 3.7 inches of suspension travel in the rear, it’s not really shocking that the Rebel 1100 can soak up bumps. What was a bit more surprising to me, however, was just how well it did in the corners. The Rebel was stable in the turns, keeping its composure when I hit mid-corner bumps. I wasn’t exactly blitzing through my local mountain roads in search of chicken-strip removal, but the Rebel’s generous lean angle meant I could cruise through sweepers without worrying about scraping the pegs. The Rebel isn’t a sporty bike, but it can certainly be ridden in a way that feels fun and lively.

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In slow speed scenarios, the Rebel 1100 was just as easy to control. Parking, finding my way through crowded areas, and moving through traffic at slow speeds was simple. With the DCT, there was no need to feather the clutch at slow speeds: the low-rpm power delivery from the 1,083cc engine was excellent. This impressive slow-speed behavior is something that beginners and experts alike will both appreciate.

RoadSync has been available in other countries for a few years, but the 2025 Rebel 1100 is the first Honda bike to get it stateside. Using a Bluetooth connection, RoadSync connects the rider’s phone to the bike via an app the rider downloads to their Android or Apple smartphone. With voice controls or using the handlebar controls, the rider can interact with navigation functions, control music, and make or receive calls. Downloading and connecting to the RoadSync app was easy (it took about five minutes) but unfortunately, I didn’t find much benefit in using the system while on the road.

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Usually, when I’m riding to an unfamiliar location, I plug the address into my phone, turn on audio-guided directions, and let Siri lead the way. RoadSync offers similar functionality, but with its own unique voice for audio directions. Navigation instructions also display in a small corner of the Rebel’s 4.7-inch gauge-cluster screen, but only the next direction displays. There’s no map to be seen. 

Then, when the RoadSync system chimes in to give you audio navigation instructions, it pauses the music playing in your headset, without restarting it. If I were to rely on my phone for the same task, the music would start up again. After trying it out for a few rides, I came to the conclusion that RoadSync felt redundant at best: if I really wanted added navigation functionality I’d buy a proper handlebar mount for my phone and rely on that instead.

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Like the smaller Rebel 300 and 500, the Rebel 1100 has cruiser styling that fits right in among Harley Davidsons and Indians. Sure, anyone who knows bikes well enough could tell the difference in a static lineup, and the Honda lacks the V-Twin soundtrack that is omnipresent amongst most American cruisers, but the Rebel is certainly wearing the right outfit to get into the party. The circular headlight, the exposed engine and frame, and the classic lines all give it plenty of street cred. It’s no Road Glide, but if you put the Rebel 1100 amongst a pack of unassuming Harley Nightsters, it wouldn’t look or feel entirely conspicuous.

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The Rebel 1100’s exhaust does, however, look a bit out of place. Unlike the typical rounded pipes in this class, its rectangular-ish shape when viewed from the side looks pedestrian. It’s also a pretty muted sound coming from the parallel-twin engine: that’s a virtue for riders that want to commute in peace, but it doesn’t give the Rebel 1100 much attitude when you’re pulling up at the local bike night. 

Thankfully, livening up the exhaust note and changing the side profile look of the bike is a relatively easy aftermarket fix – and one I’d certainly make if I owned a Rebel 1100. Since the Rebel 1100 platform has been around a while, several manufacturers already make exhaust options that are readily available and worth a closer look.

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There are several trim levels to sort through if you decide that the Rebel 1100 is right for you: base 1100, 1100 DCT, 1100 DCT SE, 1100T, and 1100T DCT. As you’re probably able to guess, the DCT trims come with the automatic dual-clutch transmission while the others come with a six-speed manual. Every trim comes with LED headlights and taillights, the 1,083cc parallel-twin engine, conventional front forks with adjustable preload, Showa rear shocks with piggyback reservoirs and adjustable preload in the rear, and disc brakes all around: 330mm rotors and four-piston calipers up front, 256mm rotors and single-piston calipers in the back. Cruise control and ABS are also standard on every Rebel 1100.

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Travis Langness/SlashGear

The standard Rebel 1100 has an MSRP of $10,374 (including $775 destination fee), with the DCT-equipped model checking in at $11,074 – a $700 premium for the DCT. The bike I tested, the DCT SE — with extra features like a headlight cowl, bar-end mirrors, a front fender, a custom diamond-stitch seat, bronze wheels, and Flare Orange paint — has an MSRP of $11,874. 

As you’d probably expect, Honda offers a number of accessories like custom seats, saddlebag mounting brackets (and saddlebags), backrests, and heated grips. Some trim levels of the Indian Scout are similarly priced to the DCT SE, as are versions of the Harley Nightster, but the Honda feels a bit more modern and refined for the money.

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If the Rebel 1100’s mission was to step out from the shadow of Honda’s beginner bikes, consider that mission accomplished. It offers robust power, classic cruiser looks, and an approachable set of riding dynamics all for a reasonable price. The riding position isn’t ideal for tall riders, I have some minor quibbles with the styling, and RoadSync is a bit of a let down, but the Rebel is a strong performer by just about every other metric. 

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Beginners looking for something to learn and grow on could potentially skip the smaller Rebels entirely, while seasoned riders could enjoy riding one just as much without ever bemoaning a lack of power. It’s fun to ride in the canyons, easy to ride in crowded spaces, and well-suited for all sorts of long rides. Being an appealing bike for such a wide swath of riders is no easy feat, but Honda has pulled it off well.