The mid-April earthquake that damaged Honda’s Kumamoto plant is still delaying production, meaning adventure riders might have to wait longer for this season’s most eagerly awaited ADV bike.
After the earthquake, Honda was hoping to have the plant back at full production within days. Unfortunately, the plant is too badly damaged for that. While partial production has already been underway for a while, Honda says they will be back at full speed until August.
That’s bad news for anyone who wants a premium Honda, as the flashest machines in Big Red’s lineup are built at Kumamoto. But at least, if you want a Gold Wing or F6B or something like that, you can probably find a leftover somewhere.
That’s not the case with the Africa Twin. The new-for-2016 was already in high demand, so production delays potentially mean an even longer wait for the antsy riders waiting to buy the latest big-bore duallie. The Internet forums are already full of worry that the AT might not arrive in time, or at all, this year.
But while a production delay at the plant sounds bad, it doesn’t mean riders won’t be able buy an Africa Twin, and it’s a safe bet Honda is canny enough to build their most desirable bikes first, if they have to choose between cranking out CBR1000s with Bold New Graphics or Africa Twins. US dealers are telling their customers not to expect delays for the adventure bike, so maybe all the worry is over nothing at all. Should the fears prove true, though, it will be a godsend to the competition, who no doubt anticipated a drop in sales of GSs, Tigers, and the like, due to the Africa Twin.
I’m doing the math. 2 weeks in a container. 2 weeks on rail from shipyard to dealer. That is one month from factory to dealer door, at best.
Bikes “promised” to Canadian customers in May would have been on the water during the earthquake in May.
Where are these bikes that paying customers have ordered? I can’t believe in this digital age that no-one knows.
Earthquake in mid April that is.
I did try a VRF800 and a CBR600F last weekend at the Honda test ride event at my local dealership.
I was surprised to find the Africa Twin was absent from the event.
As for the other bikes nothing very exciting to report really, including the ones I tried. The 600 felt like the Toyota Corolla of motorcycles (with pitiful brakes), truly boring, while the VRF is pretty and sounds nice but lacks too many modern things to be worth the money (even with the big Honda rebate), no slipper clutch (the clutch is hard), no drive by wire (no modes, no cruise), not enough power at low revs and not even an inverted front fork.
Don’t know what’s going on with Honda but (especially compared with Yamaha) that company looks like it’s throwing the towel! Sad, but maybe they’re just more interested in selling lawn mowers.
CBR650F it was, not 600, but still awfully boring…