I'm Getting Used to Buying Unpopular Bikes
As an owner of 2 of the original Valkyries, I've become used to buying niche motorcycles that Honda builds, then drops. The Valkyrie was reasonably popular when it hit the market in '96 as a '97 model. Then Honda decided to build loads of them, and ended up with a huge surplus. They had to sell those at deep discounts, and ended Valkyrie production in 2003. Sounds familiar!
I don't care anymore because I love the flat six platform. It's hard to beat its durability, ease of maintenance, smoothness, and power characteristics. Luckily, since my old Valks were based on the very popular GL1500 platform, there hasn't been a problem finding the few mechanical parts I've needed. I expect the F6B to be the same.
Other manufacturers sometimes build low volume niche bikes for years. Examples are the Kawasaki Concours (I owned one of the originals) and the Yamaha (Star) Venture Royale. I'm not sure why Honda can't do that.
Uh... yeah, it bothers me...
I've just begun looking at the F6B lately. I currently own a PC800 and an ST1100P, but there is a White/Matte 2016 sitting at my local dealership that has been calling out to me. I haven't discussed any price with them yet... in fact, I just threw my leg over it for the first time this past week. I will say though, it amazes me that there are so many very lightly used F6B's for sale that are $7,000 or $8,000 below the list price of the new one. My problem is that I only want the White/Matte color combo, and if I understand correctly, it just came out in 2016? So it may be a while before I see any used White editions on the market.
I just can't stomach paying anywhere near list for a new one, only to lose several thousand dollars just by putting a plate on it. Ugh. :icon_frown:
In the mean time, I'm going to hang out here on the F6B Riders Forum for a while and gain some insight into the bike.