Re: Replacement for the Honda ST1300 in 2014?
Glen, why do you still think it would cost so much more for Honda to build a competitive Sport Tourer than other brands (post 1118)? Some of the others are offering theirs for half what you implied Honda would have to sell theirs for. We aren't asking for unicorns here, we just want a modern, competitive bike with competitive options for a competitive price.
There are a number of discussions going on here. One is about the possibility of Honda releasing the VFR1200T and possible reasons why Honda (may have) backed down from that decision. If Honda released the VFR1200T, then it would be based on the shared technologies of the other VFR1200 releases, which means shared costs of development and lower pricing. However, if the VFR1200T was real, then all the evidence points to Honda backing away from releasing it. That suggests (at least to me) that Honda decided that it could not sell enough VFR1200Ts at a price which was competitive with the FJR and it wasn't going to be able to break into boutique markets occupied by companies like BMW.
Another discussion, is by people who don't want anything but a new, redesigned ST1300. That approach would be a stand-alone model which had to bear the entire cost of development. So the theory is that, if the VFR1200T wasn't going to fly financially for Honda, then building an all-new ST1300 was even less likely to fly.
I'm going to assume that folks at Motus are not stupid and have done their homework on market share etc. But their pricing might be higher for labour etc. So let's say that Honda could build a Motus for $5000 less than Motus could. That's still $25k.
Bike pricing is really interesting. The BMW S1000RR is packed with innovation and new technologies, but sells for half of a fully kitted K1600GT or R1200GS. Does BMW make money on the S1000RR? Do they make more money on the R1200GS? Probably.
The other discussion is why Honda is been steadily raising the price of the ST1300. Again, it seems to point to the idea that they are losing money on the ST13, rather than turning it into a cash cow (like the R1200GS). It just doesn't sell well enough.
Any product has to compete at a certain price point and given market share. I think that we have established that Honda buyers are not boutique buyers, so any ST replacement would have to compete with the established market leaders and existing, highly refined products (thinking FJR). I can't think of any other reason, other than cost and profit, that the VFR1200T was not released.