2017 CB1100

[pdedse]

Guth, judging by their low resale value, as well as their discounted selling prices, I'd say a lower initial msrp would not only have not been a disservice to the model, it would have been a more accurate reflection of reality.

Also, judging a bike's popularity by the glowing comments from its owners here on this forum is indicative of nothing. Of course the few, the proud, are going to stand up for the bike they purchased. The proof, however, is in the pudding. The black units didn't sell, on a monumental scale. When they did sell, it was usually many years later, at wildly discounted prices. If someone tries to sell one now, or trade one in, they're going to recoup next to nothing for it.

The stripped-down, murdered-out look clearly hurt the '14 Standard. Also hurting its cause was the existence of the far more desirable, same-year Deluxe. For not much more money a buyer could get ABS, much greater fuel capacity, period-correct dual pipes/stitched seat/green dials, more chrome and overall bling, an all-silver motor, and that gorgeous red paint with matching red side covers.

For most people, the choice was clear.

VLJ...with all due respect, do you have access to import numbers or general import practices? These are not meant to be facetious questions. My understanding is that Honda does not release this info.

Without concrete numbers, I don't think one can objectively say either of your lines I've quoted is true, unless Honda has released total U.S. import numbers of each '14 model, and the total number of the '14 Standard sold.

For example, suppose 1000 DLXs were imported--we know they all sold. Suppose 2000 '14 standards were imported, and let's suppose 1000 were sold. Obvisouly, that would mean they are equally popular.

The only thing we really know for sure is that there are (lots of?) '14 Standards available, and they are rightly not close to selling at MSRP, nor should they--they are 4 year old bikes.

The only thing we can conclude with left-over '14 models still available, is that Honda over-estimated the popularity it would have in the U.S. market.

Now, if there were a poll here that asked "which '14 model did you buy: the DLX or the Standard?" and it were limited to those bought during the first year after both were first made available, that would give us a better look at which was more popular. (the first year limitation would have made the comparison fair, before prices on the Standard began to fall). But such a poll still would not be precise because it would reflect only those on this site and only those who chose to report--but it would be a hard number.

Without such numbers, I don't believe it's accurate to say one '14 model was more popular than the other...nor is it accurate to conclude that the blacked-out look hurt the Standard's sales.

Bottom line: Honda introduced too many '14 Standards.