Where are all the CB1100?

[pekingduck]

Not that scarce around here. I've seen plenty or runes, Valkyrie 6's here. They (honda) tried to cash in on nostalgia, all the companies did to soem degree. i'd bet honda is wayyyy better than triumph at manufacturing efficiently... and they STILL WERE (THE TRIUMPHS) AT 7600 msrp for the bonnie in 2010. Everybody i talked to that wanted the CB1100 that bought something else were turned off by 1: cost and 2: meh performance. It just wasn't worth it to a bunch of people. Somebody will always buy something at MSRP regardless of how overpriced it is. A few even bought, for example, the suzuki B-king. 2 years later they could be had for like 5k.


I wanted a CB1100 bad when i saw the press releases, but It wasn't worth it IMHO @ retail, a sentiment i've heard from a bunch of people. There's NO WAY they would have lost money (corp honda) at 8k-8.5 per unit.

Remember that the Bonnevilles are made in Thailand, where the labor and manufacturing costs are very low. The CB1100 and Honda's other "premium" bikes (Gold Wing, CBR600RR and CBR1000RR, and Africa Twin) are made in Japan, where manufacturing costs are about as high as anywhere.

If you look at the retail parts prices for Honda's Thai-built bikes, they are ridiculously cheap. Take the new CB500F - front fender $35 painted or front wheel $175. Compare to the Japan-made NC700X -$95 and $465.

And yeah, they lose money sometimes, if things don't go as planned.

Just to further twist perspective from another field, mainstream high-volume bicycle manufacturers like Trek, Giant, and Specialized sell over-the-counter road and mountain bikes that go for $10-12k. Mind boggling!