Couldn't have said it better myself. I guess this is why I enjoy my little Hondas as much or more than I do my "big bikes" which seem to sit idle a lot lately.
Send American Honda a personal check with a down payment on one. They'll send it back but hopefully they'll get the idea. Maybe if we all did this...
I like this idea. I've been looking for a while for just a step up from my Ruckus scooter for my short, in-town commute. This would be perfect for my needs.
After being out of biking for a few years, I was given a '77 Honda Trail 90....and I'm having a ball with it. Now, I just picked up a 76 Goldwing and I'm looking forward to getting on the road this spring. But I have no intention of getting rid of the Trail 90. That bike will STILL be fun! (Hey! The 90 is light enough that I bet I could make a trailer to pull it behind the Goldwing!)
Am I the only weirdo that could see himself touring on one of these ? :huh I have been looking for an urban beater and this would be perfect!!
Nope: Here is a guy that rode his CT70 Monkey bike (Honda Mini Trail 1,650 miles form Louisiana to Sturgis. They show him at 2:02 in this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CLsBQTETci8#! I found it in this thread: http://lilhonda.com/webboard/f4/longest-ride-home-whats-yours-6981/index2.html
Damn, I really would love to get one of these. I'm 5'8 170 lbs and could zip around on one of these like a bat out of hell. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux0QWEajCpw
Just to throw a wrench in our enthusiasm for this bike consider the fact that in stock form it's probably going to be a slug, requiring a shitload of aftermarket stuff to make it exciting to ride. (Priced Takegawa stuff lately??) The other thing is all the ads and vids have shown the bike with Asians riding it who are usually pretty small people. The average American male is a pretty tall critter that may not fit on to these things. It'll work for me but I'm a runt. Finally consider that for $1849 plus $130 shipping Pitster Pro sells a CT70/Dax style bike with a 125cc manual clutch four-speed motor with 12" wheels (http://shop.pitsterpro.com/classicpro125.aspx). For under two grand you'll have a bike that, unless I miss my guess, will not only perform as well as this bike but give you some financial room to build it as you see fit. Yeah, it's old fashioned styling-wise but underneath the flash of the new Honda is the same old horizontal engine they've been building since the earth cooled and in a walk around in one of the videos you can see they put an elcheapo shock on it. Wonder what other components have been cheapened up??? Understand that if Honda does bring these into the U. S. and can sell 'em for under three grand I'll probably buy one but now that I've had a chance to catch my breath and carefully study the on-line information about it the bike may not be as cool as we think it is. Thoughts?
Yeah, got to admit that Pitster is pretty cool. There's a dealer 120 miles from me. Have to check it out. Thanx!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svm2y_gKf8w
I have the skyteam 125 which is the same as the pitster, currently stripped and then rebuilt ,almost finished, good bike but what it boils down to is Chinese quality to Honda quality, resale value, you can still get decent money back from the Honda when time to sell comes along, Chinese wont, I know I have owned a few, also here in the UK, it will be a lot easier to insure as the insurance companys in the UK don't really want to touch the Chinese copies, the ones that do want silly money and usually refuse to fully cover them incase of theft or damage as there cheap and easy to steal, Honda is a proper brand name so hopefully wont come across on paper as a monkeybike which its not really, should appeal to a wider market as theres lots of custom variations and bling lined up for it to suit varied tastes, also you get a decent warranty, pretty much sums it up in the UK!
As far as the performance of the bike, it is what it is. It's not necessary to have 0-60 times of a GSXR. As far as the Pitster Pro, I worked for a dealer that sold the SkyTeam line(exact same Chinese manufacturer) and the quality was bad. Bike had tranny issues, kick starter components broke on one of the CT-70 copies, the chrome finishes rusted. You get what you pay for. I'd spring for the Honda product.
https://www.speedwaysatv.com/TaoTao-BMS-150-Zuma-Look-150cc-Scooter-Moped.html 150cc and just $1049. You can buy 3 of these (2 for spare parts, ) for the cost of one Zuma 125. Not only that, but 4 years later you can sell this one for $150, losing $900. The Zuma, with an msrp of $3400, may be worth $2400 then. So you lost $1000 in depreciation. Hey, you lost more money by buying the Zuma .
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R3cy9SolajQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> http://youtu.be/R3cy9SolajQ
Can you imagine American Honda using this ad during the Super Bowl? Folks would be lined up at the dealerships with money in hand if they could sell 'em for $2995 or less. Sadly they've gone totally P. C. and even if they brought 'em in wouldn't dream of showing this commercial. If they did the American media would crucify them for being "irresponsible" and "promoting dangerous riding." They do make it look like fun and ain't that what it's all about?
I could see American Honda bringing it in, but the ad campaign would be different. Maybe, you meet the nicest stunters on a Honda.