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If only would Honda take the guts of the cb650f, and put together something close to cb1100 style! Somehow, by some magic, hide the ugly radiator of its parent, CBF600N, lower the seat a couple of centimeters, and keep the mass the same as cb650f. Such bike would have about 200 wats/(kg+100) - roughly the same or a bit better than cb1100.
Would it sell? Who knows. I'm still on the fence with cb1100, as I believe in this day and age liquid cooling is a necessary evil. I'm an old man, and 250 kg of mass is a bit more than I'm willing to fight with in lively downtown traffic. On the other hand, I am simply not prepared to accept the contemporary "transformer" hard edge style bikes. And what possible reason could there be for making the headlight something other than round?
Are there more of us? Perhaps Honda can find out...
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I much prefer the looks of my CB1100. Big surprise, I know.
However, if it were not for the appendages on either side of the tank (do they feed air into the intake? are they at all functional?) I'm okay with the styling of the CB650F, especially when compared to the others in this class of bikes. I do love the headers and think that they did a great job with the exhaust overall. Although like others here, I too feel that a round headlight would look far better than the preying mantis configuration.
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I visited my friendly multi-line dealer yesterday (Honda/Suzuki/Kawasaki/Ducati/Triumph/KTM) and he was bemoaning the current state of motorcycle sales. He's been in business since 1948 and has never seen things as bad as they are now. He's having a very tough time selling bikes (no customers) and is offering new 2017 models at below MSRP just to move them, which is stunning considering it's prime riding season right now. And keep in mind this is in Denver, which has the country's lowest unemployment rate (2.3%), interest rates are low, home prices are up 10% year over year and sell as quickly as they're put on the market. In other words, economic conditions aren't the issue. I attribute it to the aesthetics of today's bikes. They've gone too far with the styling and people aren't buying like they once did. Folks dissed the styling of the Suzuki Gladius when it appeared eight years ago -- by today's standards, it's quite benign!
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Motorcycle sales are terrible, new bikes, that is. Our used bike sales are strong. Side by side utility vehicle sales is where it's at...and watercraft this time of year.
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People didn't bust down the doors to buy the CB1100 either so more "standard" bike styling may not be the answer either.
On the other hand, even Jeep realized their error and put round headlights back on the Wrangler.
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i love the 650 but the z900from kawi is 8k and is friggen awsome to ride, like a sportier and faster cb. it just seems to fit me
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I love it. Looks great to me and would feel like a bicycle compared to my current bikes. Handling is reportedly effortless with an easy to use but engaging engine. Another one that interests me is Suzuki's gsxs1000, much more power and really nice adjustable suspension. Now that I'm in my 50's I still feel like looking forward and embracing new technology is the right thing for me, especially when it comes to bikes.
