Honda CBR600RR being killed off in Europe | GTAMotorcycle.com

Honda CBR600RR being killed off in Europe

hope they keep them here but you never know. since EU is gone, Cali will probably be next because of their emission laws too.
the Jap spec ones have a detuned ECU and its missing about 40 hp ive read and thats because of emission laws.
maybe they just go that route... i mean everyone who really wants to pull all the power out of them possible rips out the exhaust and tunes the bikes anyway.
 
I would think the slow decline of the 600 market in general has a lot to do with this as well. Younger guys used to jump on 6's as soon as they could, but with the difficulties of SS insurance for anybody under 30 they're not the seller's they once were. And if you want an SS and you're old enough to get insured, for a few grand more you can have a litre and not have to live life at 12k RPM. No brainer in my books
 
Back in the late 1990s the CBR600F sold more than 4500 units in the UK each year. Last year, only 150 CBR600RRs were brought into the UK, and many of those went straight to the Honda Ron Haslam Race School rather than into dealers.
 
I hate to say it, but this is the death knell for the CBR600RR line. Even if they do sell them outside of the UK, there's no money in it for them to make a new model, so at best we will continue to get the current model here in North America, until such time as it isn't profitable for Honda. Also with the way insurance is going in Ontario, I can't see them selling that many here either.

Now all that said, does this also mean Honda is going to pull out of Supersport World Championship as they will no longer have a 600cc class bike in their lineup?
 
conundrum said:
Now all that said, does this also mean Honda is going to pull out of Supersport World Championship as they will no longer have a 600cc class bike in their lineup?
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Will it be the death of the Moto2 spec engine; one can dream
 
Neil_V said:
Will it be the death of the Moto2 spec engine; one can dream
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Didn't they just recently extend that deal also, can't remember if it was just for a year though?
 
From what I've read, it's the same economics that killed off sporty 250cc I4s and 400cc I4s. The engineering and manufacturing costs of 600cc I4s are similar to 1000cc I4s. When sales are booming, it's justified. When they drop off, running two production teams gets expensive. Also, the headlines of the past 5 years or so have been dominated by SS litre bikes: S1000RR, Panigale, RSV4, H2R, R1, etcetera. Even the nakeds are in the spotlight: Tuono, Superduke, Monster, GSX1000, Z1000...hard to imagine why the average buyer would pay attention to the smaller displacement machines if insurance/licensing didn't force them to.
 
conundrum said:
I hate to say it, but this is the death knell for the CBR600RR line. Even if they do sell them outside of the UK, there's no money in it for them to make a new model, so at best we will continue to get the current model here in North America, until such time as it isn't profitable for Honda. Also with the way insurance is going in Ontario, I can't see them selling that many here either.

Now all that said, does this also mean Honda is going to pull out of Supersport World Championship as they will no longer have a 600cc class bike in their lineup?
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its only ontario that is having the insurance issue. big market? sure but the states and the rest of canada doesnt have this issue.
also, its more just localized to the GTA...im just outside of the GTA and only pay $650 a year on a 600rr.
i have a buddy who is in mississauga who i got set up on his 600rr for $1700 a year (give or take a bit)
we are both over 30 and clean records just live about a hour apart. i know i have my other vehicle on my policy, not sure if he does offhand.
 
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-D- said:
focus on a good 750cc motor and you get the best of both worlds
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Either that, or keep the displacement down but add in forced induction, like the H1R. Arguably that could make things interesting...have a smaller engine but different classes based on power produced. Would essentially mean Honda and others could have a single platform, but two different tunes to run in two different classes.
 
EaZ8 said:
its only ontario that is having the insurance issue. big market? sure but the states and the rest of canada doesnt have this issue.
also, its more just localized to the GTA...im just outside of the GTA and only pay $650 a year on a 600rr.
i have a buddy who is in mississauga who i got set up on his 600rr for $1700 a year (give or take a bit)
we are both over 30 and clean records just live about a hour apart. i know i have my other vehicle on my policy, not sure if he does offhand.
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I only know Ontario, but at least based on news articles supersports are not selling well anywhere in North America right now. Maybe due to insurance in some places, and also due to poor-ish economy and people not wanting to spend money on what is deemed a luxury vehicle (vs a more utilitarian bike or no bike at all). If you do look at the CBR600RR...how many post 2013 models have you seen on the roads? I think I've seen maybe 3-4 tops (and only know of about 2 owners).

As for insurance here, back in 2013-14 I was quoted around $1600/year for full coverage on a new CBR600RRA, but decided against that bike due to the fact insurance only goes up vs down, plus a number of other things it had going against it as well imo (eg. ergonomics, risk of theft, etc). In contrast, I can insure my CBR650F this year for anywhere between $800-1200/year depending on who I go with, and how I bundle it.
 
conundrum said:
I only know Ontario, but at least based on news articles supersports are not selling well anywhere in North America right now. Maybe due to insurance in some places, and also due to poor-ish economy and people not wanting to spend money on what is deemed a luxury vehicle (vs a more utilitarian bike or no bike at all). If you do look at the CBR600RR...how many post 2013 models have you seen on the roads? I think I've seen maybe 3-4 tops (and only know of about 2 owners).

As for insurance here, back in 2013-14 I was quoted around $1600/year for full coverage on a new CBR600RRA, but decided against that bike due to the fact insurance only goes up vs down, plus a number of other things it had going against it as well imo (eg. ergonomics, risk of theft, etc). In contrast, I can insure my CBR650F this year for anywhere between $800-1200/year depending on who I go with, and how I bundle it.
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i get the theft concerns...especially if you are in toronto. but that is any supersport.
Ergos...really? i have a corbin seat on mine (which is more comfortable for your behind but also makes the rider sit a little higher thus making it similar to having lower clip ons...less ergonomic) and i find the bike comfortable. i just did a ride from 11am to 6pm with a 45 min layover for lunch. was riding with a group of my friends all different bikes last weekend(2 sportsters with pan seats and apes, stock F4i, 2 CBR600rr's, triumph t100, kawi 636) and we all rode the whole trip,and ya the last hour was rough but it was ok..(first hour was worse from being up late the night before lol) in 2 days we did just under 1000km.
i just dont think that the cbr650 would cut it for what i want..maybe it will i dont know... but im also considering 1000cc minimum for my next bike...i want a sport touring or a cruiser....harley again would be ideal.
ive ridden the ninja 650's and they didnt do it for me.

anyway...there are different bikes for different uses.. buy what you like but personally i dont think i could go without a SS for the street in my garage...at least not any time soon.
i plan on keeping mine for a long time.
 
Well it might sell better if it wasn't ugly as f***.
 
EaZ8 said:
i get the theft concerns...especially if you are in toronto. but that is any supersport.
Ergos...really? i have a corbin seat on mine (which is more comfortable for your behind but also makes the rider sit a little higher thus making it similar to having lower clip ons...less ergonomic) and i find the bike comfortable. i just did a ride from 11am to 6pm with a 45 min layover for lunch. was riding with a group of my friends all different bikes last weekend(2 sportsters with pan seats and apes, stock F4i, 2 CBR600rr's, triumph t100, kawi 636) and we all rode the whole trip,and ya the last hour was rough but it was ok..(first hour was worse from being up late the night before lol) in 2 days we did just under 1000km.
i just dont think that the cbr650 would cut it for what i want..maybe it will i dont know... but im also considering 1000cc minimum for my next bike...i want a sport touring or a cruiser....harley again would be ideal.
ive ridden the ninja 650's and they didnt do it for me.

anyway...there are different bikes for different uses.. buy what you like but personally i dont think i could go without a SS for the street in my garage...at least not any time soon.
i plan on keeping mine for a long time.
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Different strokes too I guess. I rode the 600RR and 650F back to back, and at street speeds I didn't see a huge difference in performance between the bikes. The 600RR didn't seem to hit its stride until over 100km/h, which basically means to ride it how it wants to be ridden, you'd be well over every speed limit in Ontario. Even with the 650F, I don't even use half of what it is capable of speed-wise, as you could enter HTA 172 territory in 2nd (or maybe 3rd) gear, just like a SS bike. As for ergonomics, the seat was fine, but I didn't like the forwards lean for slow speeds/city riding. To me, for the street, something like the VFR800 is damned near perfect, and the 650 is just a touch more upright than that, and the 600 is much lower than that...but again to each their own. If I ever get tired of the 650F and still only have room for a single bike, I'm really leaning towards the VFR800...just too bad they are on the large size (over 500 lbs), and stupidly expensive new.

In the end I am not knocking the 600RR...just in my mind supersports are made for the track and not really for the street. I had also said after trying a 600 a few years prior that I wished they made a bike with the ergonomics of the CBR250RA or CBR500RA but with the 600's engine. Sure the 650F's engine isn't the same (87hp I4 vs 120hp I4), but it is a lot closer than what they had before (eg. the 500).

In your case, if you were coming from having the 600RR for years, then yeah maybe something like the VFR, Ninja 1000, or even one of the nakeds (CB1000R, MT-09, etc) would make more sense since you'd be going up in power vs down. I couldn't see moving on to a Harley though...even a 1000cc one would be like a pig in comparison to a sports tourer, let alone a supersport.
 
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