Honda to kill the CBR600RR?

In Germany, it is next to impossible to take off that heavy ass giant power robbing exhaust and replace it with something like a Yosh or an akrapovic. TUV testing is insane and if you don't have that mark on your can, you ain't legal.

That's what's coming your way in the land of the free, home of the Krave group.

 

I think that's the law here in NYC...but thankfully not enforced..yet. It's the Harley dudes that really overdo it though.

http://troopers.ny.gov/publications/traffic_safety/Required_Motorcycle_Equipment.cfm

"No person shall operate on any highway a motorcycle which is:.....

• equipped with a modified exhaust system that amplifies or increases the exhaust noise so it is louder than the noise made by the original exhaust system."

 

The harley riders might have started it but the sport bike riders have not exactly helped the cause. I like a GSXR1000 with a nice throaty Yosh pipe as much as the next circus clown but I hate them as much as the anti motorcycle puckered assholes when there's 10 ~ 20 of them riding, bouncing their engine off the red limiter at 2 am.

 

I suspect the big market will be back down to smaller cc bikes. There's simply way too many variables that don't make it affordable to own anything larger than a 500cc bike:

1. Overall cost OTD on new bikes.
2. Overall cost for used models.
3. The cost for someone under 35 to insure the bike
4. The cost to repair the bike.

And I will wholeheartedly agree. There is absolutely 0 reason to have the vast amount of electronic aids (wheelie control, 3 FI settings, launch control, etc..) on any bike sold for the street. If you want that, then yes you can get it on our $25,000 Panigale R or the R1M.

Motorcycles used to be about cheap and efficient transportation.

 

Agreed. Honda East sells more "lower CC" bikes nowadays, than they ever have. The price and insurance of the 600cc+ bikes rule out many, nowadays.

 

I call bullshit. They make kill off the current model but it will return at a later date.

BTW, fuck Honda. Their current sportbike and lightweight product line sucks.

 

This. Does the consumer want a 2005 GSX-R1000 that looks cool and does pop-a-wheelies for $9999 or does he want a $16,000 R1 that has electronics to keep it from doing pop-a-wheelies? I think I know the answer...

 

Almost Everyone loves pop-a-wheelies. If you don't, you're a gawd damn capri wearing, diesel peugot driving commie frenchman.

Chip, you hit the TUV testing with your goodies yet?

 

There's a reason people look at Honda as a trendsetter and a gauge of the market trends. If it isn't making them money, they won't sell it or put money into it. Even if Honda created the most significant 600 in history, it's still most likely going to be a $12,000 600cc bike that the majority of people flat out can't afford.

And think globally. In many countries, you can't even get a 600cc bike. The US is a big market, but we are not the major player we used to be.

 

I bet 90 % of the sportbikes sold never have a suspension adjustment touched, at least from what I see from my customers. Don't have a clue, don't care, you could have a basic damper rod fork on it , as long as it had a good finish on it they'd sell. Same thing with radial masters and calipers, most owners use what, maybe 10 % of the capability ? Build a version that's basic but blingy and they'd sell, company's would make money.

 

I loves me some "goofs". They buy bikes. They have to buy gear too. Helmets. suits, gloves and boots. They have to buy tires. They have to have trailers and securing hardware. The also "need" stands, tire warmers, EZ-Ups, generators. They make STT and like organizations possible, as well as the rent money for all the free/idle weekends the track facilities would otherwise have. I imagine US129 photos loves the "goofs" as well.
Heck, the "goofs" may be the saviors of the 600s. They know they "need" more than a 300, but they also know how intimidated they are by the 1000+ bikes.

 

Oil and tire changes rule the roost. A leaky fork seal means very little.

 

Nobody can kill a Honda. Not even Honda!

 

The money they're asking for these 600's today is nuts.
All the bells and whistles, I always contributed that to the evolution of technology not necessarily any more or extra R&D time.

Not being in my 20's any longer, I don't know what the mindset of today's youth is any more with these sportbikes but nowadays, the bikes that really seem to 'move' me is currently coming from Yamaha in their FZ line up, if I were in the market, I'm thinking one of those would def be in my future.

 

The goofs are keeping the after market alive IMHO. Motorcycle roadracers are the cheapest, penny pinchers on the face of the earth. They make me look like a spendthrift. The Goofs are a bit more open with their wallets.

 

I do agree and disagree at the same time.

I remember before I was track riding.
Spending a few hundred dollars in an exhaust was a big deal. Now most of us dont even flinch when spending hundreds in tires and entry fees.

But I also know how cheap I can be when looking up for parts.

 

Excuse me sir. They build a badass bike called The Grom

 

Maybe if Honda didn't make the most boring sport bikes on the market, they'd actually sell some.

If you do a mathematical adjustment for inflation, motorcycles are still pretty cheap bang for the buck.
I paid $6500 for my first 600 in 1994. I paid 9500 for a R6 in 2010. A $3000 increase in 16 years.

I paid $33,000 for my first SuperDuty in 2000. I paid $54,000 for my next SuperDuty in 2011. Both were full length bed crew cab dually's with diesel engines.
$21,000 increase in 10 years.

As much as I'm done with Suzuki and their annual BNG updates...they do and keep doing it right. They split their smaller sportbike development platform development
to make a 600 and a 750. Everyone else has abandoned the 750 but them.

 

Obviously you haven't met Blashfield. He's a Honda fanatic and that dude is a fucking prick!!!