vfr 1200f luggage

[chornbe]

It's a Japanese thing. The paint on my FJR would thin down and rub off if you looked at it too hard

[STJoe]

Owners are reporting that the paint is very soft and easily damaged.

So there may have been a couple of these sold after all?

 

[atadaskew]

So there may have been a couple of these sold after all?

 

Is three a big enough population for a statistical determination?

[Justin]

Owners are reporting that the paint is very soft and easily damaged.  My Wing 1800 was the same.
So I'm not sure as to how that counts as quality paint, unless you never use the bike.

well, since these bikes stay at the dealer and don't get sold, then the paint quality is perfect for that

[Will_Munny]

Just a bit off color, but smooth as glass.  

Honda doesn't build the panniers. They're provided by an undisclosed jobber and supposedly have been discontinued.

OP: I have the factory panniers but I went with a big-ass Givi top case instead of the Honda one.

http://vfr1200fa.blogspot.com/2010/07/givi-e55-maxia-topcase.html

[motormike]

I saw a VFR1200 with bags and trunk at the Minneapolis Motorcycle Show last Friday.  The colors of the bike and luggage seemed noticeably different but not something that would deter me from buying the luggage.

Looks like an interesting bike, but not for me at my experience level.

[Cricket1]

Is three a big enough population for a statistical determination?

Seriously, does anyone know how many Honda has sold so far? It'd be very interesting to find out.

[Justin]

Seriously, does anyone know how many Honda has sold so far? It'd be very interesting to find out.

I was chatting with one of the large local dealers, and they sold a handful. But have not sold any with the automatic transmission.

[Cricket1]

I was chatting with one of the large local dealers, and they sold a handful. But have not sold any with the automatic transmission.

How many Honda dealers are there in the US?  400, 500?. If that is indicative of the average dealer, then maybe Honda has sold 1,500 or so in the US? I wonder how that compares to the first year of the last generation, 2002?

[Justin]

How many Honda dealers are there in the US?  400, 500?. If that is indicative of the average dealer, then maybe Honda has sold 1,500 or so in the US? I wonder how that compares to the first year of the last generation, 2002?

Maybe, but most of them are going to be smaller - so I'd be surprised if they sold more that 1500. But who knows.

[atadaskew]

Maybe, but most of them are going to be smaller - so I'd be surprised if they sold more that 1500. But who knows.

No way.  Living in SoCal, the #1 bike market in the US, I think I've maybe seen one out in the wild that was not part of Honda's test fleet.

[Will_Munny]

No way.  Living in SoCal, the #1 bike market in the US, I think I've maybe seen one out in the wild that was not part of Honda's test fleet.

I'd be surprised if they sold more than 5 or 600 in all of North America. I know for a fact that I have the only one in Calgary... not a huge bike market but a city of over a million.

They've sold thousands in Europe and the UK though.

I expect they'll really tighten up supply for the 2011 model making it a really hard bike to get... special order only type of thing.

[Cricket1]

I'd be surprised if they sold more than 5 or 600 in all of North America. I know for a fact that I have the only one in Calgary... not a huge bike market but a city of over a million.

They've sold thousands in Europe and the UK though.

I expect they'll really tighten up supply for the 2011 model making it a really hard bike to get... special order only type of thing.

OK, so how low do the sales numbers have to be before Honda listens and makes changes? Or since it's Honda, maybe they don't really care much about N. America, since they are selling ok other places?

[Justin]

No way.  Living in SoCal, the #1 bike market in the US, I think I've maybe seen one out in the wild that was not part of Honda's test fleet.

I was just making a guess based on one of the larger dealers here in the Denver area - I believe they said they sold 4 or 5, so if every large dealer sold that many, and 1 by each smaller dealer, it sounds about right. But based on the fact I have yet to see one in the wild, I'd not be surprised if that number was in fact under 1000

[atadaskew]

OK, so how low do the sales numbers have to be before Honda listens and makes changes? Or since it's Honda, maybe they don't really care much about N. America, since they are selling ok other places?

The only change I can think of is lowering the price.  There is nothing wrong with the bike, just a combination of poor timing and not anticipating how the market has really moved on technologically.  The VFR may have high tech bits in the motor, but that stuff is invisible.  Tech that is visible is stuff the rider can access and make changes to directly, like different mappings, elec suspension settings, traction settings etc.
This VFR would have rocked the world if it came out 5 years ago.

[Will_Munny]

Also while the VFR is a popular target for "i told you so" I don't think Honda got anywhere near their North American targets on ANY of their motorcycles last year.

From what I've read the VFR1200 was a top seller in europe and UK for most of last year.