they did, they started selling them for under $8k until the new stock ran out. I've not heard of a 09+ with the oil issue.

 

I don't think you will ever find one. But what you will find are companies that will stand behind their product when what they produce fails. Not hide it and make bogus claims that 1 liter per 1000 miles is an acceptable amount. If the true number of bikes affected are a small percentage,(which I think they are) then Honda should have bought those defective units back. We wouldn't even be discussing it because no customers would be pissed off and taking it to the internet.

A good example of what a company should do is Yamaha with their R6. After they were sold, the redline wasn't the 17,500 rpm it was listed as being able to achieve. Did they hide it? Did they say deal with it? nope, they offered to buy back any R6 the owner didn't want because it didn't reach the rpm stated. Not a very big deal, certainly not as big as oil consumption. But they admitted there was an issue and made an over the top attempt to make their customers happy. Again, I witnessed Yamaha's attention to fix their customers problems first hand with my friends R1.

I don't think anyone would dispute how great the new 1000RR's can be. But when a company does what Honda did, they deserve to have people sceptical of thier products. And I love my Honda. I will probably buy another one. But new buyers are going to ask questions, and rightfully so.

And thats a huge problem in my book. Honda had a great oportunity to fix the problem for their customers because lets be honest, the looks of the 08 really hurt its sales, not the oil issue. The oil issue wasn't even known for some. So, they had a lot of left over models with possible issues and instead of taking care of those issues, they drop the price and unload them. No one would have looked down on Honda for a brand new model to have a recall or two. but they decided to look the other way. And if they truly did fix it after 08, even more shame on them.

I still think this issue will haunt Honda for a long time. You can't go to any forum, motorcycle related website without seeing Honda and oil consumption. If its only a small number of bikes, Honda created a mountain out of a molehill by ignoring their customers. And thats the real shame in all of this. One of the greatest, most reliable motorcycle companies of all time, being looked at as subpar and unreliable.

 

You make it sound like every single one of the RR's for that year have an oil problem - they don't.

Yes, this is Honda's performance flagship. It is the bike that won the Superbike Smackdown against all other brands in 2008 and again in 2009 while the design was virtually unchanged. It narrowly lost out to the BMW in 2010 but people are seeing how the Honda still tears it up at the track.

The oil burn discount was in the form of a $2,500 rebate, as well as a major discount off the sticker price. At one time you could buy a brand new 2008 1000RR from the dealer for under $7,000. The MSRP was $11,599. I had no plans to buy a motorcycle but when someone alerted me that Honda was practically giving them away, along with 0.99% financing for 36 months, I jumped on the deal. It's sitting in my basement, waiting for the snow to melt.

 

Honda ran into a perfect storm -- hot on the heels of a very popular reintroduction of the 600RR the previous year, and based on the existing success of the 1000RR platform, production estimates for the new model failed to take into account 1) a controversial, significantly changed new model which ended up being received with widespread skepticism despite positive reviews, and 2) a broad economic downturn which removed a significant percentage of interested buyers with free cash or a desire to take on new debt. It is my opinion that the steep discounts had little to do with bribing buyers to accept a product defect - it would've been far more effective to replace some rings on a smaller subset of the production.
Given the atmosphere that has formed in the public regarding the potential for oil consumption issues on certain models, I'd say it's entirely valid to expect potential buyers to be wary and devote additional research into the topic before making a decision. (How many used For Sale ads do you see with the words: "Not an oil-burner!") It is, in fact, the primary reason I bought an extended warranty for my own bike, despite being convinced of Honda's mechanical reliability from owning a completely bulletproof f4i for several years without so much as a hiccup.
Spin it however you choose, Honda does have a public perception issue that they have never properly dealt with from a consumer's perspective, the consequences of which may be totally acceptable to them from a business perspective (and seems to be the case.) The noise from this issue will diminish exponentially the farther removed from 2008 we get.

 

Even if ONE burns oil....well that is too much for me.

I guess I am a stickler for excellence....in craftsmanship, in engineering, whatever.

I'm not a rocket scientist and haha not even close to being a motorcycle mechanic....but if I am gonna be spending my hard earned dollars on something it had better work as it was designed to.

Still, I understand there are always gonna be flaws with the first year of any new model.

I'm glad someone pointed out that Honda discounted those bikes that may have had the oil burning problem-- props to Honda.

I will still buy another. Still riding my '93 Blade. It is an excellent bike.

 

I forgot about that. Thanks for the information!

 

All very interesting posts, there are opinions on both sides, as a potential RR8-RR10 owner I only have one concern, and that is... has this '' Russian Roulette'' problem been fixed in the newer models, because Honda are adamant that there is no problem, it's difficult for them to come out and say they have changed this and that to fix the problem !! So future owners like myself are left in a bit of limbo land. The best way forward for me personally is to pick up a nice RR6/7 and wait a few years to see how the newer model performs, then as said in another post, the issue will slowly disappear because Honda (i suspect) have fixed this problem via the back door and told no one..... very un-Honda.

 

thanks for all your replies. I have to agree with you, i will never get 100 percent out of the bike (not even on the track), so i'm looking for something nice and reliable. not a big fan of 08+ front end as many of you mentioned but... I have '07 zx6r nice bike but i will never buy neither zx10 nor zx6 after '08+ the design is so horrible that i just want to ask kawasaki WTF were you thinking?! i always liked honda repsol, soooo unless honda changes the design by the time i get to buy one, i'll be looking for a used '07 1000r

 

go for the 07.

way cheaper, ( for some ) better looking, no oil probs, stronger in lower revs,

use the saved money on a suspension/brakes upgrade and you could eat 08's for breakfast ( after some track practice )

my 08 eater hahahaha but keep in mind....this one will set you back 43,780.08 USD