Honda dealership with a seasoned mechanic 1 mile away. BMW 2+ hours away.
Honestly, this BMW bagger still looks like a sport tourer to me. No thanks.
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Yes, my brother's CB750 was the most unbelievable thing I'd ever seen when he bought it (1973 I think). Lately though, they haven't exactly been innovators. Interested on your opinion on what new markets Honda is creating. Seems like they they are at least 5 years late to the ADV market with the Africa Twin and 1200X. The only thing I've thought they were really groundbreaking with, in recent times, was the Grom, and I'm too old and fat for one of those.
For the money I paid for the F6B a little over a year ago was hands down a winner. I was in a different situation, I was coming off riding Harleys for nearly 20 years. I had a double fusion in my lower back 7 years ago and could not ride my Electra Glide for more than 1 hour at a time without it bothering my back. I gave up riding for 4 years and got the itch back. I didn't want to buy a $30,000 Harley and sell it for $25,000 the next year because of my back problems. I bought the F6B, I can ride this bike all day without back pain. The style of the F6B is great but it is lacking several creature comforts I like. 1. Great sounding stereo system.2. cruise control 3. Blue tooth 4. Navigation system. The BMW is a nice looking bike with all the features and safety features a bike should have. Money is not an issue for me, but reliability is. I am pretty confident the BMW will give me the ride I need for my back. I am not in the market for a new bike yet but I will look at the BMW when it comes out in the spring.
I was thinking of Honda's attempts to expand the touring market to younger crowds, with bikes like the CTX1300 and CTX700. Even the F6B and new Valkyrie were aiming at a younger rider than the full sized Wing. From what I've read none of those have been sales successes, but at least Honda recognizes the problem. Most of the riders I see are getting kind of old. I've been to several national Valkyrie rallies and the youngest attendee trophy usually goes to a guy well over 30. The average age has to be near 60, just like at Sturgis.
I remember the CB750, too. I was in High School when it was introduced, and some of us went to the dealer to look at one. As I remember it sold for around $1400, which was a lot for a kid like me driving (and making payments on) a $500 used VW. But what an incredible machine. It was light years ahead of the competition. The entire British motorcycle disappeared within a few years, and that CB750 was a major factor.
But Honda today is a very different company. You could see the vision and innovation begin to fade away after Soichiro Honda's death in 1991. They still make very high quality products, but the showrooms are no longer full of class-leaders. Exciting cars like the S2000 are gone from the lineup. Formula One fans will remember how Honda engines completely dominated the sport in the 1980s and 90s. Today they struggle to make the top 10.
The GL1800 platform was introduced in 2000, and is still a competitive ride today. That shows how good their engineering is. But imagine how good it could be if they still had Mr. Honda's passion!
Looks a lot like the Kawasaki ZZR-1200 I had a few years back, nice bike but killed my knees. Not really a big fan of BMW stuff and fixing them is crazy expensive, wont roost one in my coop.
I think that part of Honda's problem is with their pricing strategy. Everyone knows that a $21k bike today, will be $15-17k next year if it hasn't sold. They need to price the bikes more competitively to begin with.
A prime example is the DN-01. I thought it was actually a cool bike, but the pricing was insane. It too dropped much lower as NOS, but by then the marketing damage was done.
Color choices is another area where Honda has missed the boat. The Forza scooter is actually a very decent bike, but only available in Honda Red in the US. Other color choices might have made it more sellable in the US. Same with some of the other bikes.
The CTX1300 deluxe is also a great bike, but their only really decent color is the slate blue, which is actually really sharp. The stock windshield is lacking.
The platforms themselves are pretty bullet proof, but it's the extra nicieties and price are what contribute to volume sales.