Each year it’s impossible to miss the fanfare over new models as manufacturers vie to get attention for their latest wares. But fame is a fickle mistress and those machines that bask in the limelight as the latest and greatest will often last just a few years before they’re unceremoniously ushered out of the back door.
And in 2017 in particular we’re seeing a particularly large cull. Pressures to make bikes meet the latest European construction and use rules – including the much-talked-about Euro4 emissions rules and other tech changes like the introduction of on-board diagnosis and mandatory ABS – mean that models that might otherwise have remained on sale are being given the bullet.
As a bit of background, the new European regulations finally come into force on the 1st January, 2017. And unless they’ve been given special dispensation, bikes that don’t meet the rules at that point can no longer be sold as new models. There is an avenue to clear old stock, using ‘end-of-series’ rules that allow manufacturers to sell small numbers of non-compliant, Euro3-spec machines, but only for a maximum of two years and on the basis that they account for no more than 10% of that manufacturer's sales over the previous two years.
We’re focussing in particular on bikes that have no direct replacement rather than models that have been upgraded or usurped for 2017 – and you might be surprised at some of the machines included on the list, which is so big, we're having to spread it out over two parts. Here's what's happening at Honda, Suzuki and Triumph.
Honda
CBR600RR
This is one casualty of the new Euro4 rules that has already had a lot of column-inches spent on it. The demise of the CBR600RR (pictured above) has been the leading news in a story that basically sees the supersport 600 category annihilated in Europe in 2017. Most of its former rivals are also getting axed, with the notable exception of Yamaha’s newly-revamped R6, which looks set to have the field largely to itself next year.
On a worldwide scale, the CBR600RR isn’t entirely dead, though. While poor sales mean it’s not viable to develop a Euro4 compliant version for Europe, the bike has been given a new set of 2017-spec paint jobs for the American market, where it will remain on sale for a while longer. Any hopes of an all-new, high-spec 600cc supersports bike from Honda look to be non-existent at the moment, although the firm doesn’t rule out a return to the market if one day it makes economic sense.
VFR1200F
What? The VFR1200F, Honda’s great hope just a handful of years ago, is being killed? It turns out that it is. The white knight that came riding in to restore Honda’s ‘ownership’ of the V4 engine format and establish technological supremacy over its rivals seems to have become a white elephant instead.
Sales started strongly in 2010 when over 900 were registered in the UK, but the VFR1200F hasn’t achieved even half that number in any subsequent year. Between January and September this year, only 82 new VFR1200Fs hit the road according to government figures.
For a model that was so eagerly anticipated and which ushered in such high-end ideas as a dual-clutch transmission, it’s an ignominious end that comes in part to a migration of riders away from the traditional sports-tourer category. It’s not even as though the Euro4 emissions rules can be squarely blamed for the bike’s demise, since the similarly-engined VFR1200X Crosstourer is remaining in the range, having fared better in sales terms over the past few years.
ST1300 Pan European
The Pan is something of a legend, with a strong following among its fans, but it’s long in the tooth and clearly not hitting the sales numbers needed to make Euro4 updates worth the cost and effort. In fact, while UK figures show that 52 of them were registered in the first three-quarters of 2017, Honda hasn’t actually been bringing them in to the country for a couple of years now. There’s been a steady decline in sales and you have to go back to 2012 to find the last time more than 100 of them were sold in a 12 month period.
While that might well be down to the lack of updates – owners aren’t going to trade up to a new one when it’s no different to their existing bike. But the fact that adventure-style bikes are also gobbling up much of the more traditional tourer market must also be factored in.
One thing is for sure, and that’s with the VFR1200F and the ST1300 gone, Honda’s touring range for 2017 is looking thin. But if there are no buyers out there for such bikes, perhaps it doesn’t matter.
CTX1300
Since it shares the ST1300’s engine it’s no surprise that the CTX is also getting taken out of Honda’s European range in 2017. And it’s even less surprising when the sales figures are taken into account.
Given that it was a new model for 2014, the CTX didn’t make many waves. Only 34 hit the road in the UK that year, with a slight rise to 47 in 2015. This year’s number? Up to September it totalled just seven registrations.
Cheerio, CTX1300. At least you know that if you bought one you’re in a very exclusive club.
CBR125R
Now this is a stumper. Last year Honda sold nearly 1300 units of the CBR125R (pictured above) in the UK. That makes it a top-10 best seller. Between January and September this year it’s done over 900 registrations, so the numbers are holding up, too.
And yet for 2017 it’s a goner. That’s got to be Euro4 doing its worst. However, the numbers also suggest that Honda isn’t likely to permanently vacate this section of the market. It’s worth noting that earlier in 2016 Honda launched an all-new CBR150R in Asia and India, with styling and technology very much in line with the new CBR250RR’s.
Can we expect a sleeved-down version of that machine over here? If it can be made Euro4-legal, it might make a lot of sense.
CBR300R
The CBR300R only went on sale late in 2014, and here we are two years later talking of its demise. The numbers show that it never really took off in the UK, and a combination of competition from its CBR500R sibling and rivals like Yamaha’s newer, twin-cylinder R3 mean sales have been on a downward arc.
So, making it Euro4-complient probably never made much sense.
On the plus side, there’s still a good chance that Honda will eventually create a Euro-spec, 300cc-plus version of the CBR250RR twin that was launched this year in Asia.
Suzuki
There are not so many models dropping out of the Suzuki range, as they take advantage of the 'derogation' rule, but we know that it's curtains for these models...
GSX1250F
The GSX1250 might be old enough to have witnessed the construction of Stonehenge but it represented a crazy bargain in its autumn years. Honestly, £7999 (list, before you work on a discount) for a 1250 sports-tourer? It’s hard to argue with that.
But for 2017, it’s gone.
GSX650F
A decade old, the GSX650F was even more aged under its sporty-looking skin, where Bandit 650 mechanical parts hid. And while it was still a good little budget bike, sales have tailed off markedly over the last few years so it’s unsurprising to see the axe fall.
Bandit 1250
Mechanically the same as the GSX1250F, the Bandit 1250 (pictured above) suffers the same fate. With it, the Bandit name disappears from UK Suzuki showrooms for the second time – it had already been absent before being reintroduced for 2015.
What was once something of a budget hooligan bike, the Bandit has been rather neglected and with more modern alternatives like the GSX1000S in the range it’s easy to see why it’s gone.
Inazuma 250
Unquestionably the ugliest bike Suzuki has sold in years, the Inazuma won’t be mourned by many. The new GSX250R, sharing many of its underpinnings, should do rather better.
C800, M800, C1500T, M1500, C1800R
We’re not going to split these. By putting its cruiser range up against a wall and shooting the lot of them (M1800R aside, since it continues for a while under derogation), Suzuki is performing an act of mercy. Sales have been minuscule for years.
