Kevin Greenwald - Touring Tips Editor
Nationally Certified Law Enforcement Motor Officer (Ret.)
MSF RiderCoach # 121656 (BRC,SBRC,IS,IME,SMARTrainer,THE REF Staff)
Iron Butt Association Member # 34281
Don't put your money on it. Honda is lagging far behind today, when it comes to offering a large range of bikes for all interested in riding and getting some top-notch technology incorporated. I am a Honda fan too, and own six of them. They are all from an era when honda was the leader of the pack. Honda may be one of the best "small engine" manufacturers, but the implementation of what they can do into motorcycles has fallen behind. Still no reason to call it "Jap crap".
I started riding in Germany when the Japanese bikes were state-of-the-art and changed the motorcycle world. There was NOTHING that compared to a Honda CB750 Four a Kawasaki H2 or Z1 or later a Yamaha XS1100, Suzuki GS1000S or Honda CBX.
Now, be honest guys: This new CB1100 retro is a bike for someone who has another bike already!! It is a bike for a Sunday morning ride, not for serious touring nor for spirited canyon carving. It brings back memories and is targeted to those who have them. Thus it has a limited sales potential due to a quick saturation of demand. Like the Volkswagen Beetle and the (BMW) Mini.
Mike Simon
78 BMW R100S, 90 BMW K1; 99 BMW R1100RT, 12 K1600GT