Silver Anniversary: None of the earlieST North American ST1100s were silver.

This is history thread.

Twenty-five years ago, in about February, 1990, Honda started building their first ST1100s; those STs were for North America. The proposed topic here is those earliest STs which Honda used to launch the ST1100 Line in Canada and the USA. (Since some of them were branded as 1991 models by Honda, we might as well include minor mention of selected 1991 models as well, even if they were not launch STs.)

Some proposed questions for discussion are:

Q1: How many launch STs did Honda build for the US and Canada?
Q2: When did they build them?
Q3: How did they label them?

Jeez, man, I have a hard enough time living in the present....ff

Seems to me you have already answered all of these questions yourself on this topic over on the My/mc site.

Q1. At least 65, as mine is the 65th one destined for Canada (I've seen at least 5 others for sale on Kijjiji in Ontario)
Q2. Mine was built in 02/90
Q3. Mine is labeled ST1100

So what do you guys do for fun in Topeka during the winter :?:

SC26 is PCN for ST1100.

Bush said:

Seems to me you have already answered all of these questions yourself on this topic over on the My/mc site.

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And yet STill everyone wonders what this data-mining is about...

You missed capitalization of two "st" first in your first sentence and Wooster in the sig.

Man that ST cap stuff sure makes it hard to read but party on Mr. WooSTer.

kiltman said:

Q1. At least 65, as mine is the 65th one destined for Canada. (I've seen at least 5 others for sale on Kijjiji in Ontario.)
Q2. Mine was built in 02/90.
Q3. Mine is labeled ST1100.

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Your serial number 000065 is probably from the easiest North American ST1100 launch model to understand, so I like the idea of starting this discussion with it. (And to help those Canadian STs stand out more, I will use blue type like this to highlight discussion of them.)

The 1990 Canadian ST1100 model was built in about February, 1990 and consisted of 200 STs. The build month of 02/90 makes it clear that Honda intended to sell most of them in the Spring and Summer of 1990. Those seasons are also when the Pan was mainly launched in Europe and also when the ST1100 Line was launched in North America. Each of the 200 bikes are labeled with the year "1990" and with a Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) which contain a "year code" of L. (The bike count was obtained from the reported first and last frame numbers (or VINs) that Honda Parts publishes with their parts lists.)

The next Canadian model, their 1991 ST1100, was built around October, 1990, which made it too late to be part of the original launch season(s). That model seems to be painted mostly silver metallic, but the earlier 1990 model seems to be all black, in line with the title of this thread. So the bike count for the 1991 model is irrelevant here; the bike count of 200 for the '90 model tells us how many Canadian launch STs were built.

There is indeed a history thread on a competing site that discusses that 1990 Canadian ST1100L model and all three other 1990 Pan and ST models (which are usually called L models outside of North America). It notes that the USA launch models had to be omitted there because all USA launch models were branded as "1991" models and year code M instead of L. (But they are a prime topic here.)

Thanks for the info. I'm mostly interested in this as it gives me bragging rights to having one of the oldest ST1100's that's still running and with the 28 amp alternator. Of note, the 1990 Canadian version did not have the PAIR system, that probably came in 1991. I'm not sure how many examples of this bike are still running, I suspect most have succumbed to a faulty alternator and burned out VRR and wiring and have been taken off the road.
My interest in the history of the bike is more personal, the MOT records indicate that I'm the 7th owner of this bike, it went back to the original dealer a couple of times for resale, and three of the owners were women.
Having said this, I'm on the lookout for a newer version, possibly the last ST1100 that came to Canada.
I also think there will be more of a cause of celebration for the 25th anniversary of the introduction to the US market. There are a number of members here that have kept those examples running and have modified the electrics.

kiltman said:

I'm mostly interested in this as it gives me bragging rights to having one of the oldest ST1100's that's still running and with the 28 amp alternator.

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How many kilometres are on this ancient artifact?

Bush said:

How many kilometres are on this ancient artifact?

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Not that many... 157,000km. I purchased it 2 years ago in April with 129,000. I believe there's a lot of life left in her. (I've had the timing belt changed last year, the valves inspected this year, so I'm good for another 150,000 )

kiltman said:

Not that many... 157,000km. I purchased it 2 years ago in April with 129,000. I believe there's a lot of life left in her. (I've had the timing belt changed last year, the valves inspected this year, so I'm good for another 150,000 )

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I noticed in another thread that you are making up some heated riding gear. Your comment here about still having the original 28 amp alternator makes me want to warn you about taxing that system too much, especially if you have already added other non OEM electrical draws, like higher wattage headlight bulbs, etc.

My '95 went 174,000 kms on the OEM 28 amper before it finally failed and I never added anything more than 55/60W headlight bulbs and I used a heated vest occasionally too, over the 20 years that I owned the bike. There is definitely a lot of life left in the bike, but maybe not so much in the alternator.

If your heated gloves and socks end up drawing 8 watts each, that's another 2.5 amps draw on the alternator, which only has about 10 amps to spare from OEM spec.

Thanks for the warning. I've been monitoring the charging system rigourously for the past year, and you bring up a strong reminder on the vulnerability of the system. One of the reasons I'm keeping an eye out for a post 96 model.

It can be a '96 also, as that's the year the alternator changed. That's what I did when my '95 went into alternator failure mode, bought a '96 and have recently sold the '95 after replacing the stator. Get a '96 or '97 and you get the best red ever put on the ST1100.

My '91 was made 3/90 last three digits of serial number 887. Paint code is black, when I got it it was silver and black and now white and lighter. Original 28amp alternator and VR/R with 103K+ miles on the clock.

Finishing the Canadian case, and starting the California case

ZIAMON said:

You missed capitalization of two "st"; first in your first sentence and Wooster in the sig. Man, that ST cap stuff sure makes it hard to read, but party on, Mr. WooSTer.

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Capitalization of "st" has been removed from that original post. (I can't remove it now from the thread title.)

dduelin said:

SC26 is PCN for ST1100.

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Yes, that "SC26" is part of every ST1100 and Pan frame number and engine number.

kiltman said:

... I'm mostly interested in this as it gives me bragging rights to having one of the oldest ST1100's that's still running and with the 28 amp alternator. Of note, the 1990 Canadian version did not have the PAIR system, that probably came in 1991. I'm not sure how many examples of this bike are still running, I suspect most have succumbed to a faulty alternator and burned out VRR and wiring and have been taken off the road....
I also think there will be more of a cause of celebration for the 25th anniversary of the introduction to the US market. There are a number of members here that have kept those examples running and have modified the electrics.

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We know of no older ST1100 month of manufacture than what yours is: February, 1990. We know that there were about 3100 Pans built with the same electrics prior to the building of the first ST1100s like yours. And there are an estimated hundreds of US ST1100s also built in 02/90. (PAIR came to Canada in 1996, I think.)
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EDIT added:
We have looked at the Canadian launch model: their 1990 ST1100L.
Their '91 ST1100M was not a launch model and consisted of only 50 STs.
Sample parts lists for those two Canadian models:
http://www.cmsnl.com/honda-st1100-pan-european-1990-canadakph_model4710/partslist/ for '90, and
http://www.cmsnl.com/honda-st1100-pan-european-1991-canadakph_model4723/partslist/ for the '91.

So it is time to turn to the US launch models. I think the term "version" of a model will be most useful in the following discussion. A US model is a group of STs, and a version of a model is a portion of, or a part of, a model. I plan to start with the California '91 model even though Ralph's sample above is a 49-state 1991 ST. (I will highlight the California discussion by using orange type like this for it and will use red type like this to highlight discussion of 49-state STs.)

There was no 1990 USA ST, so we look at model year 1991 for launch STs. There are two 1991 US ST1100 models:

The '91 California ST and
The '91 49-state ST1100

We can start with the California model and compare it to the combined 1990-'91 Canadian STs.

The time line for the building of the two Canadian models combined is

1990: |-Feb-|-Mar-|-Apr-|-May-|-Jun-|-Jul-|-Aug-|-Sep-|-Oct-| of 1990

It illustrates that the 1990 was built in about February of '90, and the 1991, in about October of '90.

The time line for the '91 California model is similar:

1990: |-Feb-|-Mar-|-Apr-|-May-|-Jun-|-Jul-|-Aug-|-Sep-|-Oct-| of 1990

(The months in bold type are the ones that owners of the California model say their ST was built in.)

It is the early built "version" of the California model that contains launch STs. That early version was built in the first half of 1990.

I am not quite sure how this fits but my 1991 has a build date of 4/90. VIN digits M101198. I have not a clue as to how to tell if it is a California model.

Continuing with the California case mainly

There are these two 1991 USA ST1100 models:
The '91 California ST1100 and
The '91 "49-state" ST1100.
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I will try to describe only the California model here, using the language Honda uses.

Official model designation: ST1100LM where M is the "year code" for '91, and L is not a year code here.

VIN Range:
JH2SC261*MM100005 through
JH2SC261*MM100390 where the asterisk(*) is a place holder for a check digit that depends on the whole VIN.

Emissions sticker located on the upper frame bar, under the seat:
Mentions California in its last sentence.

Number of STs in this model: 386 (from the VIN range given just above).

When built: February/March of '90, and also September/October of '90, making for both an early version and a later version although Honda does not speak of two versions, other than to say, "The black unit became available Spring, '90; the silver unit became available Fall of 1990." (I think the sales brochure does not mention a separate California model. I think Honda uses the term "version" to describe any Pan model that was built for more than one European country.)

Area code: AC whereas that of the 49-state ST1100 is just A.

Paint sticker: Probably says "ST1100M" just like the other '91 US model, the 49-state 1991 ST1100. (Even the 1990 Canadian ST1100's paint sticker reads "ST1100M". Its year code is L, not M.)

Other characteristics: "Emissions canister" mounted onto swing arm; it is fairly visible.

Sample Parts List:
http://www.cmsnl.com/honda-st1100-1991-usa_model739/partslist/ (combined California/49-state)

Neither of the two specific samples mentioned so far (Brad's and Ralph's) are California models, but both are USA launch STs. Member Keith Rosendahl of the USA owned and may still own a California launch ST. (Member Don "Freestyle" Cortez I think parted out California ST JH2SC261*MM000241.)

The entire early version of this '91 California ST1100 (or ST1100L) consists of launch STs. That would be roughly half of the entire model.
How many bikes are in that version?
Sample Answer: 241 California '91 ST1100s, all of which were painted black, out of the 386 California bike total. (That 241 count, if accepted, would be slightly more than the 200 we've seen for the cousin bike, the 1990 Canadian ST1100.)

Grabcon said:

I am not quite sure how this fits, but my 1991 has a build date of 4/90. VIN digits M101198. I have not a clue as to how to tell if it is a California model.

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In a PM, Brad added, "My 1991 VIN is JH2SC2603MM101168, with a build date of 4/1990, which seems to be different than what you show ... for VIN.... PS: Is there any plus value $$ on these bikes for the very early or launch bikes?"
Brad's is not a California model; it is a 49-state model. The post above only covers the California model but does detail how to tell if an ST is Californian. (The 49-state '91 model has many more bikes in it than the Californian and will be discussed later.)

As for bike values, we can try to conclude this thread with a sort of Buyer's Guide to the 1990 and early USA 1991 bikes like Brad's , but the general trend with them is that there has been for some time now a relatively large number of black, North American ones of them for sale; hence they tend to not bring higher prices for the seller but tend to be good buys for the buyer, in my opinion.

How can we get at how many California launch ST1100s Honda built?
(I think Canadians can help by listing model differences, 1991 versus 1990, other than paint colour changes.)