12-11-2016, 03:11 AM
I'm quite partial to the '13 from an aesthetic standpoint. The particular red paint, 4 into 1 and wheel/engine finishes. I don't count it as a performance bike vis a vis my other bikes, The CB is almost a pure aesthetic play for me. And anything that adds mass, visual or otherwise, is a negative in my eye.
The 2017 CB EX, as I saw up close at the NY motorcycle show, removes virtually all of the things that I find attractive about the current model. It looks bulbous and cluttered and completely un-sporting. The tank is terribly misshapen, and I really don't get this 'but there are no seams' thing. Big deal. Reintroducing the silver side panels is a miss. It looks less like any previous CB, so even the retro aspect is diminished. The performance upgrades appear to be minimal. And my hunch is that Honda will do little to surround it with any passion or accessories. That would be up to us.
I can't imagine many folks under 60 years of age targeting this bike as a must have. And I'm almost 59. Harsh, but it's how I feel about it after seeing it and straddling it. I do hope it succeeds in the market.
The 2017 CB EX, as I saw up close at the NY motorcycle show, removes virtually all of the things that I find attractive about the current model. It looks bulbous and cluttered and completely un-sporting. The tank is terribly misshapen, and I really don't get this 'but there are no seams' thing. Big deal. Reintroducing the silver side panels is a miss. It looks less like any previous CB, so even the retro aspect is diminished. The performance upgrades appear to be minimal. And my hunch is that Honda will do little to surround it with any passion or accessories. That would be up to us.
I can't imagine many folks under 60 years of age targeting this bike as a must have. And I'm almost 59. Harsh, but it's how I feel about it after seeing it and straddling it. I do hope it succeeds in the market.