Why Honda won't update the CBR1100XX

Warchild · 10-17-2006, 5:53 PM

Because they are spending too much money building Jets!

HondaJet | The Sky Is Yours

And too much money building goofy-ass white robots...

Honda Worldwide | ASIMO

And too much money building racing cages.....

Honda Racing

So why couldn't they just fix their scooter-like ST1300's high-speed instability, and make it a shit-hot super-sport touring platform like the one seen in this video?!

tag --> <title>Kawasaki 1400GTR - Movies

OSIRIS · 10-17-2006, 7:59 PM

I wish they would now, more than ever. Now that I've got another sport bike in the garage...I'd love to have a Blackbird to tour around on.

I need to find a new leftover somewheres

SomeStrangeGuy · 10-18-2006, 1:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warchild

So why couldn't they just fix their scooter-like ST1300's high-speed instability, and make it a shit-hot super-sport touring platform like the one seen in this video?!

tag --> <title>Kawasaki 1400GTR - Movies

Nice vid WC, how soon is that thing coming over here?

Warchild · 10-18-2006, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by somestrangeguy

Nice vid WC, how soon is that thing coming over here?

Kawasaki isn't officially saying, but the word is that it will be a special 2008 model to be released in the late spring of next year (late April or May-ish).

Which probably really means sometime in the summer, given their history on predicted arrivals.

SomeStrangeGuy · 10-18-2006, 7:47 PM

As long as they make enough that they don't have to have the same wait list that the FJR did...I'll be happy

ssweird · 10-19-2006, 8:31 AM

I rememebr reading a year or so back when Honda decided to dis-continue making DA XX and replace with a 1600 monster called DODO. yes feel free to laugh, the name for a 1600 is just hilarious...

BrianR · 10-19-2006, 2:36 PM

I think Honda has the space in the lineup for a new and revissed CBRXX along with an improved ST1300. Just like Kawi has the 1400 Ninja and the 1400 GTR. By the way my local Kaqi guy says it is coming here next year as an 08 and he will take orders in January for delivery a few months later - so probably early summertime delivery is my guess. Still need to see some detaila (especially about the valve train).

Jette · 12-03-2006, 5:58 PM

New Honda goals:

Improve the ST, Target: FJR
Improve the XX, Target: Kawi (go for 190 and faster all the way up to it)

DosXX · 12-03-2006, 7:13 PM

Honda should dump the VLJ ( very light jet ) Eclipse avaition has theirs fully certified by the FAA. This is a long process of which Honda has just begun. The Honda is far more expensive that the Eclipse and the Eclipse is already building to supply pre orders.

Yeah, all that R&D and they were not able to out do a small company such as Eclipse.

All that R&D could have been focused on the MC line..Way to go Honda

Jette · 12-10-2006, 11:36 PM

But a "Honda" Jet... how cool is that!

... my other car is a Honda... Jet! says the sticker

I do wish they werent' dropping out of the cycle market in so many ways. The Ducati 1098 sure is sweet, and only 15K!

ccriderXX · 12-11-2006, 12:21 AM

The Honda Jet has a toilet!

Honda Expects Strong Jet Demand
The Wall Street Journal Online 12/07/2006
Author: Norihiko Shirouzu

Honda Motor Co. is forecasting strong demand for its new small business jet from emerging air-taxi operators and others, and is considering increasing production capacity for the aircraft.

Although inexpensive microjets are opening the skies to flying-taxi operators, a senior Honda executive believes its microjet, despite its relatively high price, should compete well with lower-price rivals because of its "much better comfort," including a full-size toilet.

The Honda Jet, as it is named, sells for $3.65 million. Most minijets being considered for air-taxi services -- such as the Eclipse 500 made by closely held Eclipse Aviation Corp., of the U.S., which sells for $1.5 million -- come without lavatories or with makeshift toilets, in part to maximize seating space.

Some aspiring air-taxi operators, focused mostly on providing trips of about 800 kilometers and shorter, are opting to put a seat rather than a bathroom aboard because of their limited range of service.

Still, Honda's Michimasa Fujino, who designed the Honda Jet and is now president of a new unit called Honda Aircraft Co., said he expects not every air-taxi operator would go for a business model that provides bare-bones service.

He told reporters in Detroit Tuesday that some of those operators would opt for a minijet with more comfort, such as one with a full toilet. The Honda Jet, which the Japanese company spent the last two decades developing, offers a configuration that comes with a full airliner lavatory, Mr. Fujino said.

The Eclipse jet doesn't have a toilet. Other microjets, including those planned by Adam Aircraft Industries and Cessna Aircraft Co., a unit of Textron Inc., both of the U.S., offer makeshift toilets that passengers would use, in some cases, by pulling a partition up for privacy.

The Honda Jet also has a roomier and quieter passenger cabin with more storage space, Mr. Fujino said.

The Honda Jet, a five- to six-passenger twin-engine jet for which Honda began taking orders last month, is 30% more fuel-efficient than a comparable conventional jet, Mr. Fujino said. The plane can fly at a speed of about 770 kilometers an hour and can cover nearly 2,600 kilometers before needing to refuel.

The industry calls microjets "very light jets" -- aircraft weighing a maximum of 4,500 kilograms and generally costing $1.5 million to $4 million.

Honda expects to start delivering the plane to customers in 2010. Mr. Fujino said the company's original business plans, without taking into account expected demand from the emerging air-taxi business, believed it could sell 70 Honda Jets a year beginning in 2010. The executive said that based on the response the company has received recently, he believes Honda needs to boost manufacturing capacity for the minijet. However, he declined to say by how much.

Mr. Fujino said Honda has "well over 100 orders," mostly from individuals, for the Honda Jet, and it expects an equal number of orders from corporate-fleet customers.

Honda hasn't decided on the location of a plant to produce the jet.

One industry estimate predicts U.S. demand for very light jets, taking into account demand from air-taxi operators, might allow microjet makers to sell 4,500 to 5,000 jets in total over the next 10 years.

tripledigits · 12-11-2006, 6:40 PM

Those full size toilets are much better than those cheap half toilets....

Involute · 12-11-2006, 8:28 PM

I'm in the process of assisting in the design of a Bevel Gear Set for those toilets. Hopefully they sell like hotcakes and provide me with some job security.