2012 sportbikes

[ian22]

Anyone got any interesting news? There are a lot of rumors out there about V4s and dual clutch transmissions. I have a feeling there'll be no new bikes, due to the economy. But, I've been wrong before. Seems to me a V4 liter-bike that is competitively priced would sell. Ducati has that superquadrata thing coming out...but I'm wondering what Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki are planning.

[mdub]

i hope Honda does not drastically change the Buddy 50

[VFR]

VFR is now a dual sport or adventure bike

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcycles/2012models/2012-Honda-CrossrunnerVFR800Xe-small.jpg

[ian22]

Interesting.....any other news?

[BC14]

Anyone got any interesting news? There are a lot of rumors out there about V4s and dual clutch transmissions. I have a feeling there'll be no new bikes, due to the economy. But, I've been wrong before. Seems to me a V4 liter-bike that is competitively priced would sell. Ducati has that superquadrata thing coming out...but I'm wondering what Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki are planning.
Aprilia Tuono V4R....Not really "competitively priced" though.....

[spideyrdr]

Maybe Honda will put out a CBR with a slipper clutch?? The CBR600RR is ready for a make over, and all other Japanese 600's and 1000's have a slipper already.

[Ghost]

Maybe Honda will put out a CBR with a slipper clutch?? The CBR600RR is ready for a make over, and all other Japanese 600's and 1000's have a slipper already.

The current CBR600RR is a hold-over that's past its Major Change according to Honda's pre-economic-turndown schedule. It was supposed to be replaced with the new design in 2011, but due to the bike market being so down they stretched the current platform instead of introducing the new one--Suzuki didn't even have a 2010 model year for their bikes, so it's really no surprise Honda just slapped BNG on the old bike.

As to a slipper...considering even their CBR1000RR has it, and every OTHER 600 has one, they do need to put one in--their various excuses aside.

FWIW, part of why I held off in 2007 when they first came out was I was expecting a slipper for the "refresh" in 2009...which obviously didn't happen...

Of course, as they're already the most expensive 600, I'm sure they'll up the price in order to include the slipper...

[ian22]

It'd be great if they could do their motogp trans technology in the cbr600rr. The one where it uses a pawl to grab the next gear, there is virtually no time involved in shifting. I'm guessing the market just isn't there to do something that cool. I'm still quite surprised that yamaha did so much with the R1, that had to have cost them alot of $$.

[Ghost]

It'd be great if they could do their motogp trans technology in the cbr600rr. The one where it uses a pawl to grab the next gear, there is virtually no time involved in shifting. I'm guessing the market just isn't there to do something that cool. I'm still quite surprised that yamaha did so much with the R1, that had to have cost them alot of $$.

Yeah, it would be cool--but sportbikes aren't (really) like GP bikes, especially when they're tied to a very strict budget.

A lot of tech is finally drifting down (ABS, TCS, Wheelie Control, etc) but you'll see it on the high-end bikes first (Ducati, Aprilia) and then as an extra-cost option on the rest (like ABS on the CBRs).

The flat-plane crank on the R1 is a different design idea for a sport bike, but it's not really more expensive to manufacture.

...I'd love to see a lot of things, but money is always the limiter on what will actually happen...

[Matt]

2012 Hondas (not all categories announced yet):

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcycles/2012models/2012-honda.htm

This page has links to all brands.