How many 1200 have been sold?

jayzonk - I actually agree with you on the points you've listed. I too am Honda brand loyal. I always have been. I currently own 8 of them. Honda's have always carried a premium even way back in my MX days. They were always and still are the leader in quality and reliability. I am willing to pay the premium and I'll never own another brand.

However, not every owner is like you and me. In addition, the other brands HAVE caught up. Honda isn't going to keep the lights on by relying on people like us to exclusively buy their product. There are many buyers who don't have the same emotional attachment and are looking at the bottom line. My point is that if Honda was closer to the price range of it's competition, then they would be selling more bikes. Unfortunately, people like us are in the minority.

 

The deals at American Honda suck. I will say this 200 bonus bucks... Bwahahah Come on I'm sure like most of you thats not going to cover my helmet or jacket that I would ride in. Honda should know its VFR market. How many of us are riding around in a 200 dollar brain bucket? The helmets I would start to look at cost MSRP of $400 and go up from there. So if I want a new helmet and jacket to go with my new ride I'm in the price range of about 600-800. And they want to kick in 200. If they offered a sale of all VFR accessories 50% off they would start moving them at least I think so. I have been holding out Hoping they would release a better sale or rebate from honda but not so much. It would make me pull the trigger at least.

 

For many, MANY years the VFR750/800 stood on its own. No other bikes in its class. Now that the VFR is in a 'class' that includes a lot of other bikes that might be considered 'comparable', the price premium has become an issue.

 

This is all great feedback, and I'm glad to hear all of this support for the bike. I just took a look through the list of new features that the VFR1200 has, and I think a lot of them make the MSRP price worth paying:
1. Slipper Clutch
2. Probably the highest quality paint finish in both the auto and the motorcycle industry (see the link to the paint comparison that I posted)
3. Advanced Single Overhead Cam design (Unicam) to make the engine more compact and improve torque and fuel efficiency
4. Throttle by wire
5. Standard ABS
6. Differential cylinder bank, which gives the bike a narrower profile (I especially like this, as I've never liked wide, bulky bikes!) - related to Point #3
7. Layered fairing to direct airflow (and besides, it looks totally high quality!)
8. DCT (optional, but totally cool!)
9. 28 Degree crankshaft, which reduces engine vibration and eliminates the need for a balance shaft
10. Offset Pivot Driveshaft - to reduce driveline lash and give the bike a chain-like ride
I'm not an expert at any one of these things, and I'm sure each of them will mean different things to each of us! And, it is promotional material. But still, my senses tell me that a lot of effort went into this bike.
And I love the mature, distinctive look. And that headlight!
So different than a repli racer!
Sure, there's other bikes in the class, but can you say they have the innovation of the VFR? I invite the challenge......

 

Yes, there was obviously alot of effort put into this bike. I have one and I wish they would have put a alot more into some more important things besides "how it looks" and luckily they didn't over do it with all this ridiculous electronic gadgetry that BMW's and other manufacturers are throwing at their bikes.

It's starting to look like the damn auto industry. Pretty soon bikes will be required by the feds to have tire pressure monitoring systems like cars do! Though with bikes I bet it will be traction control or some other crap to make it more "safe" for everyone. Because we all know how our "leaders" like to make everything all equal and safe for anyone who wants to give something a go.


Err....oh dear I went off on a tangent....later.

 

Nah, that's a great post man! I was just thinking that they should have had more range for the gas tank. I'm not sure how the design process works, but I suspect that fuel tank size is something that gets squeezed in at the end, and it ends up having to fit with the rest of the design. I'm wondering if the second layer of fairing had something to do with squeezing the tank size down. And perhaps the narrower frame overall. No big deal to me! My butt's ready for a break well before I run out of fuel....:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

Add +1 to the amount been sold.

 

Congrats. I love mine. It is a sweet bike. Its also a harbinger of the industry; sooner or later gov't regs will change our love.

 

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