Honda's habit of making too many bikes

[misterprofessionality]

We all know about the flow of 2014 bikes still coming from Honda and still leftover in dealerships at jaw-dropping prices, and we just had a new member find and purchase a new-in-crate 2013. The anecdote I was told when I bought my '14 in 2017, was that Honda has a habit of doing this kind of thing with their motorcycles, basically because they make too many. What other bikes are currently on the market suffering from the same circumstances as our CB? are there any other manufacturers still distributing 2014 models of a bike at bottom basement prices right now? I don't even know where to look to find this out.

 

[use2b_imp]

I know I was upset buying my VTX 1800S for near full price and the next month they were selling for $5,000 less all over the country.
left a bad taste in my mouth about Honda back then which reflected heavily on buying my used CB1100 .
I still feel i got the bike for free by buying the upgrades at a discount and with all the labor , headaches and shipping free.

 

[misterprofessionality]

it certainly taught me a lesson about shopping for the "latest and greatest" thing. I think from now on i'll always be looking for last semesters texbooks, you know? before buying my CB i had no concept of a phenomenon like that even being possible. it seems silly to me now to buy any current model year new bike. even if you're specifically dead set on that particular one and you've gotta have it...wait a while. just wait a while to see if you end up with any leftovers.

 

[cooldrum_imp]

Honda has always offered a broad variety of bikes. Some models are great sellers and some wait for buyers. In the case of the CB1100, they could have promoted it more.
I was anxious to purchase new in 2013, but I knew if I was patient, nice pre-owned ones would show up on the market. In 2016 I found a low mileage one for almost half the price of a new one.
I guess when buying new and your emotions take over, you just "go for it." If you can wait, you can save a few dollars.

 

[the Ferret]

the opposite side of that cooldrum is although we might have paid more we got to ride them in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 while you were waiting for a cheap one to show up. Of course with the 14 DLX there were no left overs and used ones are rare as hens teeth and tend to bring big money comparatively speaking.

Buying a discounted left over is a great deal, (I bought my ST 1300 as a left over for $6000 off) and buying used is often a great deal, letting someone else take the depreciation hit as well.

 

[baxtercat_imp]

I'm with Ferret on this one. Only in retrospect is it easy to see the cost advantages of waiting. But in real time, we never know for sure how many bikes are imported and when Honda will turn off the tap. The GB500 was only brought here two years, didn't sell well, was discontinued and then soon became a collectible bike, with prices well above MSRP. In that case, anyone wanting one today will be saying "I should have snapped that up when it first came on the market." The premise is that $$ is the main criterion, but for many of us, we balance several--how much we have available to spend, the cost of not buying and thus not riding the bike during that period--and as a corollary to that, our age and the shrinking number of riding seasons we will have available. No one wants to spend more than necessary, but sometimes having the bike you desire will be worth more to a certain individual than the cash saved.

 

[pdedse]

I try to buy models of cars and motorcycles that are "left-over" to get as good a price as possible. Sometimes that means I end up buying a color that was not my first choice, but I can live with that mostly. The '14 standard was perfect for me because black was my color of choice and the 10k msrp had fallen to 7900 when I purchased mine Jan of '16. It was a good price at the time. Hindsight says I could have saved another 2k and purchased now.

However... I wouldn't have had the bike for the two years that I did, I wanted it then and enjoyed it immensely for the time I had it.

I purchased a '17 ex in Februrary of this year for 10k, two grand less than msrp. I have no doubts that some of these will be left over come Jan/Feb of '19 and maybe the price drops to 9k or even less...but I'm geting older. 10k is a decent price now and it I want to ride it this year, not next.

Plus, we have no sales tax in Oregon, so we don't take a hit on that.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

I can think of a few other models: '14 Interceptor, which dealers here are blowing out for $6995, and the short-lived W650, which was only available for two years and languished... Now, they're nearly as desirable as the GB500. And, if you're interested in a new BMW, each December the factory provides huge financial incentives to dealers to clear the remaining stock -- like $2000-$3000 off. It sometimes pays to be patient.

 

[misterprofessionality]

I can think of a few other models: '14 Interceptor, which dealers here are blowing out for $6995, and the short-lived W650, which was only available for two years and languished... Now, they're nearly as desirable as the GB500. And, if you're interested in a new BMW, each December the factory provides huge financial incentives to dealers to clear the remaining stock -- like $2000-$3000 off. It sometimes pays to be patient.

I'm always interested in a BMer. in fact, the R9T was the bike i almost got instead of the CB, unti i found out the CB was like 5k under MSRP.

 

[the Ferret]

Just imagine it's 1983 and you are interested in the new Honda CB1100F and you think you'll wait a couple years and pick up a left over... HA!

 

[flynrider]

Just imagine it's 1983 and you are interested in the new Honda CB1100F and you think you'll wait a couple years and pick up a left over... HA!

That's what I was thinking when I paid full list on my '13, the first day they showed up at the dealer. Having awaited it's arrival for about 3 years, I was not going to take the chance that I wouldn't get one.

Oddly enough, the CB1100 is the only bike I've bought that wasn't a leftover. I usually go for the deals on leftover models. I bought my CB750 in the crate when it was 3 years old. Saved me about 20% over the (mechanically identical) new model that was available and it happened to be the color that I really wanted.

Anybody remember the great Japanese motorcycle glut of the early 80s? I remember when dealerships had more leftover models than new models. Back then it was more common to buy a two or three year old "new" bike than it was to buy a current model.

 

[Houtman_imp]

I have bought my 3 CB 1100's as soon as they came out.
You can wait of course to see if you could get one for a left over price but during that waiting period you probably spend more money on alcohol to forget your sorrows.

 

[Jfro5687_imp]

I bought my new RS last week and it had about £1500 off list price but unless you are in position to buy it oughtright (i.e with no p/x) its the cost to change that matters. I feel fairly relaxed about stuff like this because at the end of the day dealers have to make money to keep their shops alive and busy and pay the wages of all the people in the workshop too. A good dealer will look after you and you will be happy to pay a bit extra, if they dont then they will go bust. IMHO The only way to beat the system is buy one bike and keep it forever or dont buy in the first place and have no bike at all. Wouldnt life be dull though? No pockets in shrouds as they say.....

 

[Guth_imp]

When it comes to vehicles I know that typically if I see something that I really want then I'm likely going to pay a bit more up front compared to many others. But often because I went for exactly what it was that I wanted (when it's feasible that is) rather than compromising in some way in order to obtain a better deal, I've found that I'll still be enjoying my purchase long after others have moved on to something else.

In the case of my CB, by not holding out for a better price, I've had that much more time to enjoy my purchase. Of course I could have waited for a deal on a '13 CB1100 as others did, but back then I just didn't want to imagine not owning the bike as soon as possible. Jeez, I was worse than a kid at Christmas. No other motorcycle released over the past 25 years or so caught my eye the way the design of original CB1100 did. Certainly no other motorcycle has come along since I purchased my CB to cause me any regret over my purchase, the timing of it, or the price I paid for the bike. All of those details are now a part of what makes my CB "my CB".

I'm certainly not bragging. On the flip side of all that, I know that many people are simply more frugal than myself. They might get a different sort of contentment or happiness out of their purchases than me. I can also understand the guys who are constantly churning through various brands or models of motorcycles wanting to shop for the best deal possible to offset some of the monetary loss that they'll likely experience with each swap. Different strokes and all that jazz.

 

[misterprofessionality]

I bought my new RS last week and it had about £1500 off list price but unless you are in position to buy it oughtright (i.e with no p/x) its the cost to change that matters. I feel fairly relaxed about stuff like this because at the end of the day dealers have to make money to keep their shops alive and busy and pay the wages of all the people in the workshop too. A good dealer will look after you and you will be happy to pay a bit extra, if they dont then they will go bust. IMHO The only way to beat the system is buy one bike and keep it forever or dont buy in the first place and have no bike at all. Wouldnt life be dull though? No pockets in shrouds as they say.....

That was essentially my strategy with the CB11. I was also shopping for a Yamaha XSR9, and BMW R9T, and many other similar models, but at the end of the day i just felt like the CB could carry me into old age it was so darn refined and solid. I don't want to have to buy another vehicle, so It was really about taking the best opportunity available at the time. I guess that's where I differ from everybody else: I wasn't in the market in 2013. when the CB11 was presented to me it was presented as "you can have a 2017 model for 12k, or you can have a 2014 model for 7.5k." the choice was obvious. It's the hindsight that got me thinking If i ever did have to buy a new bike again I would search first and foremost for leftovers.

so, going back to one of the original questions on this post: does anybody know of other bikes on the market today in a similar "leftover" situation to the CB11? Or is our CB totally unique in that respect?