New bike time
2011 Honda CRF450R
I'll admit it: new bike introductions have lost a little bit of their magic these past couple of years. Because of economic concerns at the factories--paired with the fact that very few riders spring for a new bike every single year--the excitement that used to surround the unveiling of the new models has diminished just a little. This trend was underlined during Honda's 2010 model launch, in which their flagship race bike, the CRF450, turned out to have no significant changes. Worse yet, Honda also revealed that the bikes would only arrive at dealers in very limited numbers...in the spring.
It wasn't Honda's fault, though--they still had lots of '09s sitting around, and that bike was a complete redesign from the '08. Still, I can't help but yearn for the days when nearly every year brought dramatic changes--the '80s and early '90s was the heyday for this--and nearly every year most serious riders would pop for a new ride (or two.) With the MSRP on the big bikes eclipsing $7,000, nowadays only riders who routinely sport top-hats and monocles can afford to buy bikes in the volume that regular guys did a few years ago.
All that said, the new rides from Honda and Suzuki still look plenty awesome. I don't think 2011 is a new-bike year for me (my '08 is still going strong,) but these new machines still do fire up the imagination...if not quite as much as they used to.
2011 Honda CRF250R
2011 Suzuki RMZ450
2011 Suzuki RMZ250
