8Th Gen Cheaper Than My 3Rd Gen

[RC1237V]

Wow, I noticed this on cycle trader........

http://www.cycletrader.com/dealers/Temecula-Motorsports-2904772/listing/2014-Honda-Interceptor-%28VFR800%29-112482700

I think my 3rd Gen was $7,200 back in 1990............of course that was 26 years ago, so my recolection could be wrong.............

[Rectaltronics]

MSRP on my 4th gen was something like nine 'n change I think.

EDIT: The VFR wiki sez $9299.

I picked up a leftover in '99 for a bit under seven out the door. See a trend?

[JZH]

Wow, I noticed this on cycle trader........

http://www.cycletrader.com/dealers/Temecula-Motorsports-2904772/listing/2014-Honda-Interceptor-%28VFR800%29-112482700

I think my 3rd Gen was $7,200 back in 1990............of course that was 26 years ago, so my recolection could be wrong.............

Sounds about right. Mine was $7,730.18 "on the road" at long gone T&O Yamaha Honda in Lomita, CA in April 1990.

Ciao,

[Shinigami]

In retrospect the non DLX model was probably a mistake on the part of American Honda. The kind of riders who appreciate the VFR also appreciate things like a center stand.

[Cogswell]

I paid $8,500 for my 5th gen new. Amazing prices now for a new bike.

[Bent]

In retrospect the non DLX model was probably a mistake on the part of American Honda. The kind of riders who appreciate the VFR also appreciate things like a center stand.

I have a non-DLX sitting in my garage on it's center stand. It's pretty inexpensive and easy to buy one and put it on.

Agree, the bike needs a center stand.

[Knight]

Individual purchases do not reflect the average sale price of a bike, although they may give some insight into it.

Has the discounting off of MSRP changed? If the market for high end bikes is soft are there more discounts today than in the robust 90's market? Or do manufacturers play with the volume of motorcycles produced in a way that maintains the same margins? Maybe those of you who work at dealers have some insight into this.

Secondly, this is a key:

http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

You must first account for inflation by normalizing the dollars to a present value before doing any comparison whatsoever. More recently I read an article which did a lot of this math and the result was that the cost of a typical motorcycle today is less in constant or real dollars than it was in the 1990's. My bad memory thinks the result was the MSRP is tyipically $1500 less today than 15-20 years ago.

Cogswell posts that he got a discounted 5th gen at $8500 and people are buying discounting 8th gens in the same range in 2016. That would make the 8th gen tremendously less expensive in constant dollars. But there are some number of people that walk in and buy the bikes at MSRP. Inexpensive loans have made this possible and these MSRPs would probably never stick without them. But again, only the mfr. knows the average sale price, the data that we need to complete the picture.

[JZH]

Based on the price in 1990, in constant dollars, a new VFR should be about $14,000. Looks like it's about $13k, according to MSRP, so slightly cheaper now than 25 years ago.

I put two deposits down on the 1990 VFR750 before it was available, and the best discount I could get was $200 off, I think. Had to have it!

Ciao,

[RC1237V]

Also the market segment has changed. Back when I bought my bike there was the CBR600, and the VFR as far as sport bikes from Honda. The VFR had more power, but the CBR was lighter - the road split there, and the CBR went on to get lighter and more powerful, and the VFR only got refined and heavier. All the other Mfr's were making race replica's, and no noe really had a competing product for the VFR. The Katana 750 which was the soft version of the GSXR was the only thing that comes to mind, but they were not popular by any means.

Fast forward to today, and you have so many more choices on bikes - SV's, Bandit's, V-strom's, GSX's (Non- R models), FJ09, FZ1, FZ09, FZ07, Ninja 1K, and 800, Versys, and that's just the japanese models that might compete for a VFR buyer's money.

The 90's were great with Lawson, Rainey, Spencer, Gardner, all those guys - and the Honda V4 was the odd one out, but has serious appeal. Those guys (me) are getting older, and the younger crowd has a different frame of reference. Look at Honda's lineup of cheap, smaller multi platform bikes........they are trying to fit the marketplace.

Honda rode the wave for a long time, but I think the VFR days are coming to an end, and the 7th and 8th gen sales show that - I hate to say that, but the writing is on the wall. Personally, I think they should re-market them and really make them world class, in power, looks, performance, and include every option, but price them like the ducati's - $18K for the 800(or make it a 900, or 1K), $24K for the 1200, but they would need to use premium parts, and drop a ton of weight. They would probably need to re-brand them as they did with Acura.

I always look at the Ducati's, Beemer's, MV's, and Aprilia's and think, "Wow, that's nice - if it were only as reliable and repairable as my Honda" I have the ability to buy a bike like that, but being a Porsche mechanic gave me a lot of insight to the reliability and longevity of these complex mechanical machines as well as their non-serviceable electronic computers and systems. There is a reason you can buy a $200K Mercedes V12 twin turbo for $35K when its only 8 years old...........or a $100K Cayanne Turbo for $20K after about the same time period........

Anyway, enough rating, I am just afraid of change - hopefully the "Heritage" will bring value to the VFR's once they discontinue them.................

[windyrun]

Weight and VTEC and relatively low power are the biggest deterrents to vfr sales. Plenty on this site have mentioned it. Also, the interest in a modern vfr seems high given the 1.8 million views of the thread on what gen the 2014 vfr is. ONE MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND!!!

P.S. I saw my first 8th gen in the wild (in public on the road) today---it was red and looked great!

[Shinigami]

In retrospect the non DLX model was probably a mistake on the part of American Honda. The kind of riders who appreciate the VFR also appreciate things like a center stand.

I have a non-DLX sitting in my garage on it's center stand. It's pretty inexpensive and easy to buy one and put it on.

Agree, the bike needs a center stand.

You seem to have missed my point. For the thousand dollars difference when the bike came out, ABS, TC, better suspension, heated grips, self cancelling indicators and the center stand were a compelling relative purchase. When the bike came out, the DLX (which is standard in the rest of the world) was a no-brainer compared to the cheaper model. Remember, we're talking only a thousand dollars here.

Now, you see deeply discounted non DLX leftover examples, which represent good current value. But offering this in the first place, was a mistake, or there wouldn't have been these leftovers.

[Knight]

In retrospect the non DLX model was probably a mistake on the part of American Honda. The kind of riders who appreciate the VFR also appreciate things like a center stand.

I have a non-DLX sitting in my garage on it's center stand. It's pretty inexpensive and easy to buy one and put it on.

Agree, the bike needs a center stand.

You seem to have missed my point. For the thousand dollars difference when the bike came out, ABS, TC, better suspension, heated grips, self cancelling indicators and the center stand were a compelling relative purchase. When the bike came out, the DLX (which is standard in the rest of the world) was a no-brainer compared to the cheaper model. Remember, we're talking only a thousand dollars here.

Now, you see deeply discounted non DLX leftover examples, which represent good current value. But offering this in the first place, was a mistake, or there wouldn't have been these leftovers.

There always exists the vehicle buyer who wants a very basic vehicle. ABS and TC are a big turn off for some people. And the person buying the 10 year old bike who has to troubleshoot ABS and TC will hate it even more. The rest of the list does consist of more universal items today, I agree.

In terms of cars which have a much higher cost, it bothers me greatly that for most vehicles I am obligated to purchase ABS, all manner of electronic gadgetry that many times is integrally connected with the ignition and running of the vehicle, and multiple air bags. I reject all of this stuff and even if it were $1,000 extra on a $25k vehicle, it is a poor value to me because these are all items that I do not want. I long for basic cars and basic bikes, particularly like the VFR800 where the engine is the bike.

Simply cutting the production numbers of the basic bike and increasing the numbers of deluxe to match the demand would address the issue, and Honda is probably up to speed on this already...that is, if this bike sticks around much longer.

[SEBSPEED]

The ad price was a typo. Description says $7999.

That said, I paid $9.5k for my 6th gen in 2006.

[Rectaltronics]

In retrospect the non DLX model was probably a mistake on the part of American Honda. The kind of riders who appreciate the VFR also appreciate things like a center stand.

I have a non-DLX sitting in my garage on it's center stand. It's pretty inexpensive and easy to buy one and put it on.

Agree, the bike needs a center stand.

You seem to have missed my point. For the thousand dollars difference when the bike came out, ABS, TC, better suspension, heated grips, self cancelling indicators and the center stand were a compelling relative purchase. When the bike came out, the DLX (which is standard in the rest of the world) was a no-brainer compared to the cheaper model. Remember, we're talking only a thousand dollars here.

Now, you see deeply discounted non DLX leftover examples, which represent good current value. But offering this in the first place, was a mistake, or there wouldn't have been these leftovers.

There always exists the vehicle buyer who wants a very basic vehicle. ABS and TC are a big turn off for some people. And the person buying the 10 year old bike who has to troubleshoot ABS and TC will hate it even more. The rest of the list does consist of more universal items today, I agree.

In terms of cars which have a much higher cost, it bothers me greatly that for most vehicles I am obligated to purchase ABS, all manner of electronic gadgetry that many times is integrally connected with the ignition and running of the vehicle, and multiple air bags. I reject all of this stuff and even if it were $1,000 extra on a $25k vehicle, it is a poor value to me because these are all items that I do not want. I long for basic cars and basic bikes, particularly like the VFR800 where the engine is the bike.

Simply cutting the production numbers of the basic bike and increasing the numbers of deluxe to match the demand would address the issue, and Honda is probably up to speed on this already...that is, if this bike sticks around much longer.

I see a lot of agreement to disagree. ;-)

Shinigami says the deeply discounted non-deluxe leftovers are a sign that folks were more interested in having a center stand, more suspension adjustability, ABS, TC, etc. Then Knight argues that ABS and TC are big turnoffs for some people.

Stepping back and looking at both statements, it would seem the camp that wants the DLX with all the bells and whistles outnumber the camp that hates ABS and TC.

In my opinion most folks who want a bike with "simple" in mind ain't gonna be looking at a VTEC VFR. Period. Forget all the yakety-yak about ABS and TC.

Besides, the bloody late-term abortion that is the VFR's TC can be shut off with one button press before you even fire up the engine and if I was so inclined, I'm sure there are at least one or two clever ways to get the ABS to turn off too. But personally speaking, the ABS is one of the features that sold me on the bike. For the thrice a year that my VFR will see a gravel or dirt road, or the once or twice in its lifetime it will see track pavement, I'm pretty sure I can manage to deal with the ABS as-is.

FWIW the ABS may have already saved the life or limb of one idiot pedestrian last year, along with my own plastics and whatever.

[Shinigami]

I agree about the TC, of all the bikes HONDA sells this is not the model that needs it, especially as implemented. I haven't needed the ABS but I sure do appreciate it being there. The remote adjustment for the rear shock, the center stand, the integrated heated grips, the extra suspension adjustability, and even the much-maligned self cancelling indicators are all features I really like.

[jhenley17]

All I really wanted were the heated grips. I'm happy with a braking system I can easily service myself, don't want a center stand, don't particularly want TC, and would prefer that they give us a nice upside down fork over throwing some adjusters on. I'd rather spend that $1000 on bags than those features.