Why no CX500E/CX650E in the US?

for those of you that have M.B.S. (multiple bike syndrome) and have the "silver wing" models.
as our sponsors also have supplies for those bikes and they are popular with the "wing" crowd.

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BlueThunder
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Why no CX500E/CX650E in the US?

#1

Post by BlueThunder »

Is there any reason why Honda did not market the CX500E or CX650E in the US? I would love to have one.
...Brian
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Re: Why no CX500E/CX650E in the US?

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Post by BigDub »

BlueThunder wrote:Is there any reason why Honda did not market the CX500E or CX650E in the US? I would love to have one.
That's a good question. Isn't that because of emissions standards?
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Re: Why no CX500E/CX650E in the US?

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Post by BlueThunder »

I thought about that but... Honda met the requirements by jetting lean. I think its more about what they thought Americans would buy. Europe gets the sportier models a least a year or two before we do. I want the sportier Europe Sport model, but can't. Anyone in Canada wants to sell theirs?
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Re: Why no CX500E/CX650E in the US?

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Post by Rat »

BlueThunder wrote:I thought about that but... Honda met the requirements by jetting lean. I think its more about what they thought Americans would buy. Europe gets the sportier models a least a year or two before we do. I want the sportier Europe Sport model, but can't. Anyone in Canada wants to sell theirs?

Sold a CX650E, a real good runner two years ago, took me forever to find a buyer.

Only got $800.00 for it.

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Re: Why no CX500E/CX650E in the US?

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Post by Sidecar Bob »

Man, I would have taken it for that price if I had known.

As for emissions, the CX650E and the GL650I have exactly the same engine, ignition, carbs &c and, because of the 18" back wheel, actually run a bit lower RPM so if the GL passed US testing the CX-E surely would have.

There was a crippling recession in the '80s and bike sales worldwide plummeted. Large numbers of last year's models sat in the warehouses of the importers and at the dealerships and there they sat unless they were heavy discounted, and even then it wasn't easy. A friend of mine bought a new old stock '83 Seca 650 for about 40% of the original MSRP in '85 and that wasn't the best deal offered that month.

Someone at Honda America decided that importing the CX-E was probably only going to result in them sitting in the warehouse and at the dealers for a couple of years and then being sold at a loss too so they didn't import any of them. Someone at American Suzuki made the same decision about the GS400E (Suzuki's midweight Eurosport), but they took the GS450E instead.

By the time the recession was over, Honda no longer made the CX range.

Perhaps because of Canada's smaller economy (which translates to less bikes imported and therefore less stale inventory), or perhaps because they felt that these models would be different enough to attract buyers, Honda Canada and Suzuki Canada decided differently and both models were imported into Canada.

All these years later, who is to say whether these decisions were right or not?
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Re: Why no CX500E/CX650E in the US?

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Post by BlueThunder »

Ok, that explains why the model was discontinued. But doesn't when the CX was first introducted, the E version was excluded from the US.
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Re: Why no CX500E/CX650E in the US?

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Post by Sidecar Bob »

Sidecar Bob wrote:There was a crippling recession in the '80s and bike sales worldwide plummeted. Large numbers of last year's models sat in the warehouses of the importers and at the dealerships and there they sat unless they were heavy discounted, and even then it wasn't easy.

Someone at Honda America decided that importing the CX-E was probably only going to result in them sitting in the warehouse and at the dealers for a couple of years and then being sold at a loss too so they didn't import any of them.
Mr. Honda ('83 GL1100/Dnepr) summer How a motorcycle evolves thread
The Famous Eccles ('84 CX650EI/VeloUral) winter Never Ending Build (CX500forum)
Click: Colour schematics for all GL1000 & GL1100 and GL1200 standard models plus instructions on how to download the full size version
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Another guy with two sidecars..... Hmmmm... must be something to that....
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Re: Why no CX500E/CX650E in the US?

#8

Post by Missourimike »

When Honda discontinued the CX line, it wasn't all about the economy. They also had numerous models in competition for the Con$umer$ money. Can't be all things for all people and not all good ideas, like the CXs, are profitable. How many "better mousetraps" have been invented and ended up in the dump? Too much competition within Honda's own house.
I used to work for Motorola, back when they made wafer chips for their own phones. One of the main reasons they went broke is because they made TWENTY-TWO different models and still produced parts for the outdated models. The competition only made 3 or 4 and when a new model came out, they quit making an older one. Public bought the new.
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