03-23-2018, 05:51 AM
remember.... this bike was not designed for America...or Europe. This bike was designed for the homeland where it must be a rousing success to support the large aftermarket for accessories there. The Japanese were understandably proud of the air cooled inline 4 they made which ruled the world for 2 decades. The original designer said he was 45 and looked around and there were no more bikes that appealed to him (and his generation of Japanese riders) hence the CB1100 project came to fruition. I don't think they really care if a few Euros or Americanos are excited about the bike or not. As long as the homeland riders are happy (and 8 years of production and a strong aftermarket would indicate that they are), that is probably good enough for Honda. I'm actually surprised they are updating it for us as often as they are. Many Honda models go 10-20 years with no changes other than bold new graphics and new paint colors. The original CB 750 from 1968-1978. The ST 1300 from 2004-2012. The Goldwing from 2002-2016? Some models never changed through their entire production runs.