Do you think this is for real?

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Ulvetanna, while you're right that there's no requirement for VINs to be issued sequentially, it is hard to believe they aren't. I suspect that, as bikes destined for a particular country roll off the production line, the compliance plate is attached and they have a pile starting with 0001 and going up to wherever. I'd be very surprised if the VINs don't give some indication of the number imported.

As for your VIN being reissued when you got a new frame, that's not surprising either. There is a mandatory link between the VIN and the engine number of motor vehicles and I'd assume that maintaining that when the bike got a new frame was sensible.

We probably have the tendency to sometimes lose track of the bigger picture when looking at the world of motorcycling through the window of this forum. The number of CB1100s that Honda decided to bring in always seem so low to those of us who enjoy our CBs. But in retrospect it would seem that maybe Honda knew what they were doing. Sometimes we feel it a shame that the bike wasn't better marketed, but as I've come to view things lately I don't think Honda ever felt the need to push this particular motorcycle. I just don't think that there are all that many of use who can really appreciate this machine for what it was intended to be (or rather what it is). Nor do I think that most people can really appreciate the effort that Honda went to produce such a motorcycle (along with the resulting prices). This is why I've stated a few times that I feel like Honda primarily built this motorcycle for Honda, lol. They're Honda after all, and they have plenty of great heritage to celebrate so why not?

Honda still have some leftover inventory from years past and when all is said and done it would appear that most people who really wanted one of these bikes has ended up with one. Even the bikes that were distributed in lower numbers like the DLX models were probably about right for the number of folks that were drawn to them. Those examples that are changing hands these days are taking a lot longer to do so than in the past.

I often find it hard to believe that more guys my age and beyond didn't fall hard for the CB1100 like I did. But when I stop to ponder it longer I guess that I'm not quite so surprised. I'm just glad that Honda made it possible for me to buy the one I wanted along with so many of you other guys that are here on the forum.

I'd feel happier if you left 'can' out of both sentences I've quoted. I'm sure lots of people could appreciate the bike and its heritage, but they simply don't care. That seems to me a bit different. Even if they took the trouble and understood those things, it wouldn't change their decision about which motorcycle to own. In the end their decision about what bike to purchase will come down to 'I like THAT one'! How like is calculated is very complicated and individual. Just review VLJ's and Ulvetanna's commentary for a start!

I'd feel happier if you left 'can' out of both sentences I've quoted. I'm sure lots of people could appreciate the bike and its heritage, but they simply don't care. That seems to me a bit different. Even if they took the trouble and understood those things, it wouldn't change their decision about which motorcycle to own. In the end their decision about what bike to purchase will come down to 'I like THAT one'! How like is calculated is very complicated and individual. Just review VLJ's and Ulvetanna's commentary for a start! You're onto something there. And as far as the same VIN reissued, that was exactly why the officer did so...the engine and the rest of the parts were unchanged, so we avoided having to do a complete re-registration of the bike.

I am looking up some of the VIN info right now. While the VIN issued may be sequential at the plant where the vehicles is made, that may not be reflected in the actual number of vehicles in any given market. They don't really have a separate assembly line for American vehicles, European, Asian, etcetera. The sub-assemblies are different but the basic machine is identical. It's mostly emissions, lighting equipment, and ECU tune that differentiates the vehicles. That happens much further down the line.

The frames are stamped with a serial number. Those numbers are not stamped after the tank/bodywork/equipment are installed. Since the frames are identical for all markets, I could envisage a setup where they'd make and stamp 100 frames for the US market, and the next 100 would be stamped for some other, the next 75 for another, and so on. Do Honda keep track of the frames by absolute sequence, meaning that, say, frames with VIN ending in 0001-0100 would be for the USA, but the next frames, ending in 0101-0200 would go to, say Canada? That would be the "absolute value" so to speak.

Or they could use a relative sequence, where every frame destined for a certain country would be stamped picking up a the last frame made for that country. That, I don't know.