Replacement for Honda ST1300 in 2015?

patiodadio

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I have owned just about all the sport touring bikes, Concours, ST, RT and taken long rides on others, FJR etc. I now own an R1200RT and really like it but I would love to have another Honda ST. But I want a lighter, faster, better mpg ST :) I sure hope they come out with a new ST soon.
 

veefore

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The updated ST will be my next bike........till then I'll keep trying to wear this one out.
 
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I would have in a second depending on the updates.. If they came close to the FJR w/features I'd still go with the Honda even if it was a tad more $$..
My point exactly, most of us would have. Would they have sold fewer updated ST-1300s than they did DN-01s, NM-4s, CTX-1300s, or Valkyries? The last two were semi-current platforms that were re-engineered. Since you aren't going to make a lighter, faster, ST-1300 with more features--you can't beat physics after all. All the 1200/1300 sport touring bikes are close to the same weight so that means you don't have to start all over, just bring the current platform up to date like Yamaha did.
 

TPadden

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Are you talking about the blow out of 2007 R/W/B VFR models for $7000 a few years ago or the currently hot selling VFR-1200?
Yes.......... NO VFR has ever been hot selling; but like the ST it has a pretty fervent fan base. The VFR-1200 sold so well it's current inventory NEW model is 2-3 years old (2013/12).

http://powersports.honda.com/2013/vfr1200f.aspx
 
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Yes.......... NO VFR has ever been hot selling; but like the ST it has a pretty fervent fan base. The VFR-1200 sold so well it's current inventory NEW model is 2-3 years old (2013/12).

http://powersports.honda.com/2013/vfr1200f.aspx
Yes, the word "hot" was used tongue in cheek. I looked at the VFR-1200, in 2010 but after getting an insurance quote I dropped the idea pretty quickly. How many model years have they made it? 2010's were around for quite a few years.
 

TPadden

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Yes, the word "hot" was used tongue in cheek. I looked at the VFR-1200, in 2010 but after getting an insurance quote I dropped the idea pretty quickly. How many model years have they made it? 2010's were around for quite a few years.
Not sure on the 1200 but sometimes a rabid fan base complaining works. The fans managed to bring back the smaller VFR 800 Interceptor (in 14/15) which was discontinued for sale in the US in 09.

Go figure: My son's insurance went down by almost 50% when he went from his Honda VFR 800 to an at least 50% more powerful, faster, expensive, same year BMW 1200 Sport. :confused:
 

Blrfl

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Go figure: My son's insurance went down by almost 50% when he went from his Honda VFR 800 to an at least 50% more powerful, faster, expensive, same year BMW 1200 Sport. :confused:
Three words: better claims experience.

--Mark
 

dduelin

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Four word translation: more attractive to Squids.
Eight word translation: after spending that much afraid to 'cane it.

It's not original to me, I paraphrase a contemporary magazine review of the 1977 R100.
 

TPadden

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Eight word translation: after spending that much afraid to 'cane it.

It's not original to me, I paraphrase a contemporary magazine review of the 1977 R100.
Again your bias is showing :BDH:. The BMW's are too expensive to really ride rant isn't anywhere as relevant today as it may have been in the past (paraphrase 1977).
 

dduelin

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The paraphrase was really "after spending that much afraid to break it".

Glad to see you back Tom. I thought you were banned.
 
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They fit the FJR just fine........25000 miles on those beads between the ST and FJR.........thanks again.........ff
 
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My feeling has been that Honda has been charging BMW prices without the features. Yamaha, Kawasaki and BMW keep updating their ST bikes but Honda has let the ST1300 stagnate and die while raising the price every year.
This. Feature to value ratio is not in the ST1300's favor in this market. The resurrected FJR came to market a year after the ST1300, and has been updated multiple times. The C14 came to market a few years later, and is now on it's second generation as well. When the ST1300 appeared, BMW was selling the R1150. Then they brought the R1200 to market, and followed it with the Wasser-Boxer. Triumph has brought their Trophy, which as the "simple" bike of the ST1300's competitors still has far more gee-whiz content than the ST1300. So now it's a crowded segment.

Each of these have steadily added more features with the updates. Honda, on the other hand, has done nada. Me, I think their intention was to use the VFR1200 platform for a new bike in the ST's market space, but the Veefer didn't do as well as they had hoped. Perhaps they will revisit the market segment soon, perhaps not. Me, I expect the next generation 'Wing to arrive before a new ST, regardless of what engine lurks within. Is there even enough market to justify the development expense for Honda?
 
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I remember when the VFR1200 was first announced. I hard a hard time with the style (fuggly IMO) but I was amazed when I checked out the features (or lack thereof).

For $16,000.00 you get (or don't get):

1) Saddlebags are a $1400.00 accessory.
2) Saddlebag liners extra also.
3) No powered windshield.
4) Center stand a $250.00 accessory. Really?
5) No cruise control.
6) Several complaints about the seriously crappy suspension.
7) At 5.0 gallons, a ridiculously dinky tank.
8) 1st and 2nd gear power is de-tuned for some goofy reason. Owners have to get an after-market gizmo called a Z-Bomb to over-ride this.
9) Lots of complaints of buzziness.

Honda is extremely proud of this motorcycle calling it "The Bike of Tomorrow - Today".

I'll go with yesterday, thanks.

This is one reason why (to me) it is hard to trust Honda to come out with something that improves on the ST1300 package. They seem to have lost their collective minds.

Dan
 

dduelin

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2010, the year of the VFR1200F introduction, seems to be forgotten for reasons like bank failures, a global economy still in free fall, motorcycle sales still on their way to losing 40% of 2005 numbers, credit for big boy toys drying up, etc.

The F model was never intended to replace the ST. At the time of intro Honda said three bikes would build off the 1237cc platform. We eventually saw the F and the X (Crosstourer) but given the economic realities of the time it appears Honda shelved the S variant. In the best tradition of Monday morning quarterbacking Honda got it wrong in not refreshing the ST1300 like Yamaha and Kawasaki did but undoubtably they had millions of yen tied up in the new 1200 platform and it was not Honda's demonstrated history to refresh aging bikes but instead keep them unchanged in long production runs. Honda branded Givi bags were a way to broaden the VFR's appeal to some touring riders but the VFR1200ST never saw the light of day. If people weren't buying $17,000 Japanese motorcycles how many $20,000 sport tourers would have sold?
 
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Let's face it, Honda's marketing strategy is not apparent to most of us. How many millions have they wasted on the DN-01, NM-4, Valkyrie, CT-1300 and their chopper lineup? How many of you have actually seen any of these bikes on the road? I haven't seen any and I ride 40,000 miles a year. They won't they bring the Crosstour or Crossrunner to the US, but import the naked CB1000? We all know how well naked bikes like that sell here. Yet the big adventure bike market, the one that is actually growing in the US, is ignored. The new Africa Twin comes over next year and again, it's a tweener that doesn't have the amenities of a full bore adventure bike and is too heavy and road oriented to be a real dirt bike.
 
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