Give 'Em What They Want.

It seems someone at Honda Canada has been listening to their customers. I was impressed last year when they came out with the CBR125, as I found that the "entry level" category had been sorely lacking for the past few years. For someone looking to learn on something other than a cruiser, about the only thing available was the Ninja 250 at a whopping $6,200CAD. The micro-CBR has a much more accessible MSRP of $3,499.

However, Honda was still lacking in the Sport-Touring and Adventure-Touring categories. For sport-touring, they still have the ST1300... which is a great bike, but I've always found it somewhat bulky for spirited riding (kinda like a GoldWing on Jenny Craig). Now they've confirmed that they'll be bringing the CBF1000A to Canada. This model should fit nicely between the VFR Interceptor and the ST1300.

For the adventure-touring segment (which has known the most growth over the past two years), they'll finally offer the Varadero 1000. A quick glance at the spec sheet puts this bike into direct competition with the Suzuki DL1000 V-Strom: similar power, 90° v-twin, large fuel tank, etc. The one thing it will offer over the big 'Strom is ABS (which is only available on the DL650). Of course, it also packs a few extra pounds...

No pricing information was available yet. However, it should be noted that only Canadians will be getting these new offerings, like the CBR125 last year, they won't be going Stateside.