Lots of CB's

L

LongRanger_imp

Road warrior
Thread starter
Just arrived in Paris for holiday and have already come across 3 different CB's (and an immaculate silver '79 CBX). Piaggio and its Korean and Chinese clones definitely dominate the landscape, but three CB's in less than an hour is a new record for me. All appeared to be '13 models with red tanks and 4 into 1 exhaust, though I can't be certain. Handful of Moto Guzzi V7's too, including a chrome-tank Anniversario. And several brands I'm unfamiliar with, including Bullet and Mondial. Surprisingly, quite a few Harleys too, all nicely muffled and civilized. It's a refreshing vibe.
 
Enjoy your holiday and the bikes, LongRanger.
 
Good resource, jtopsio. Thanks.
 
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Ms. LongRanger and I spent several hours at the Paris International Auto Show today, where they had an entire exhibit hall dedicated to motos. There were a lot of brands I've never heard of, including Mash, which offers a line-up of very nicely done vintage bike copies (Triumph T140, Norton, Dunstall, HD, etc.). Really cool.

Also lots of tour operators hawking 2-week moto trips to the U.S., mostly on Harleys and mostly along Route 66. One map I saw had Colorado mistitled "Nebraska." Yeah, right.

Of course, we headed straight to the Honda exhibit. No CB1100's in sight but they did have the new CB300R, which looks like a winner, and of course the Monkey. It's a bit bigger than I expected:

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Kawasaki had their usual current model line-up but also a wonderful display of NOS Z-1's and KZ900's, each labeled by year:

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Ducati was very well represented, as were the Japanese and Korean brands, but by far the most crowded manufacturer was Harley. I guess the Europeans have a fascination with these bikes. And Indian was there as well, though not with the same crowd size. I did see the FTR1200. A few stalls down was a "new" Brough Superior 1000. Some things can't be held sacred, which is a pity. BMW and Moto Guzzi were conspicuously absent from this year's show. I understand there's another show in Germany next week and that's where they'll be.

On the way out, I glimpsed a CB1100EX parked at the curb, so that makes five so far...
 
They have a monkey on a big pedestal in my local showroom. it has a huge sign on it that says "don't touch" but they let my wife sit on it. she's in love. it really is EXACTLY her size. Still waiting on the new Cub to come out before we make any decisions, but that monkey really spoke to her.
 
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The new Cub was parked just to the left of the Monkey. There was a line of folks waiting to sit on the Monkey. On the Cub, not so much.
 
LongRanger_imp said:
The new Cub was parked just to the left of the Monkey. There was a line of folks waiting to sit on the Monkey. On the Cub, not so much.
Click to expand...
people are so often seduced by the flashy that they cannot appreciate the refined :-p.

the cub might be a better day-to-day rider for her, especially because of the automatic clutch. that's why we're waiting. she'll probably test both of them.
 
well mash is a chinese production.....i dont know how strict are the quality controlls...
there i trust more in the monkey that is produced in thailand under the eyes from honda....
 
LR. Keep those pics coming. Really interesting what’s on the other side of the Atlantic that’s in vogue which we don’t have here.
 
I had always heard that chinese-made bikes have a whole lot more penetration in Europe than in north America. over here you see the odd SSR or Lifan, but everything else chinese is a Scooter. Seems like there really are a whole spectrum of asian manufacturers out there though.
 
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I'm guessing the Chinese take one look at the U.S. market penetration of Harley-Davidson, shake their head in disbelief, and say to themselves, "Why bother?"
 
Mondial is an old Italian brand. Today it belongs to Piaggio (like so many) and they have them built in China.

Mash is indeed a Chinese bike, but those that are sold here in Europe are prepared by the French importer. They are actually quite good value for money, and quality has improved. The latest flat tracker 650 is quite nice, with a single 600 based on the Honda XL600 engine. It will be way cheaper (and lighter) than the Indian, and obviously not really a competitor. Still, it does look cool and could be a fun second bike.

Bullit is another Chinese build, and I think a bit lesser quality than the Mash. Mainly 125cc but they also have a 250cc.

Orcal is yet another Chinese made 125cc bike.

Finally, the Masai is yet more of the same. These are really cheap, with the 125 going for like $2'500 in France.
 
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