Cbr 150r

[dave_boo]

Anyone come across any 2008 model CBRs yet? There were plenty of speculations about what are (AP)Honda's plans, but nothing ever concrete. Just wondered if anything changed, at least enough for me to be able to justify buying a new one and passing my old one down to the brother in law.

[Richard-BKK]

I think you know what my idea is about a 'new' 2008 model, but anyway for the newer bikes they (AP-Honda) have install a key slot cover for better protection against theft. And this is on a price list which is marked as 2551 so you can call it the 2008 model... More details are not available, other that it seems that Honda has lowered the suggested retail price to 63,000 Baht.

If the same profit margin is still available we could see CBR-150R's for around 60,000 Baht on the market with "special" promotions of course..

[dave_boo]

I think you know what my idea is about a 'new' 2008 model, but anyway for the newer bikes they (AP-Honda) have install a key slot cover for better protection against theft. And this is on a price list which is marked as 2551 so you can call it the 2008 model... More details are not available, other that it seems that Honda has lowered the suggested retail price to 63,000 Baht.

If the same profit margin is still available we could see CBR-150R's for around 60,000 Baht on the market with "special" promotions of course..

I wonder if their profit marign is getting better due to the strenght of the baht against the dollar. I don't know where Thailand buys its iron ore from, but I'd assume it would be China. And since China keeps it's money more or less pegged to the USD, the cost to manufacture should have dropped quite a bit. But than again, I'm not an econominist.

The 'key slot cover'....is that the same they have on the Wave 125i? Because if it is, that's not new. Buying my bike in January 06 netted me one of those covers (the type that has a little piece of metal that rotates into position to prevent tools from being jammed down into the locking cylinder and you have to use that little piece of plastic on the head of the key to rotate the metal out of the way to unlock it.

[PeaceBlondie]

Let's see, the first model year was 2001 or 2002. Since then, no body changes, hardly even a change in mirrors, the handrail went from aluminum color to black, and the keylock was improved. That's hardly even 'cosmetic changes.' Maybe one or two very minor technical changes. Hey, some would say, time for a change! But do you realize how often BMW or Ducatti make earth-shattering changes? Not often. Same with the Phantom, once they went to a 4stroke 200cc.

The latest Suzuki GS500F has a motor very much like the 1978 GS400 engine. I believe the 2007 Kawasaki Ninja 500 was still half of a Ninja 900/1000 from the late 1990's.

The CBR150R hasn't even had one innovative paint job since the 2003 Repsol, which had the standard engine. The solid colors (black, dark grey, bright orange) were my favorites. Same old same old. OTOH, no sense fixing what sells, especially when the competition is....is...what, a Yamaha X1R which doesn't even have fuel injection, and comes with a four speed? The Suzuki Raider 150, seen even less often than the CBR150R?

When another serious contender appears in 175 form, Honda may give us a better CBR. Honda could give us a 250 sportbike, but at a much higher price.