Generally speaking,anodizing is a lot less expensive than painting andis much harder than paint. So my guess is Honda did it for cost and durability. Somebody else probably has a better answer...but that's my best shot at sounding like a Honda engineer!!

 

^^ Correct. I will also add that anodizing can not peel off and can be ready faster then paint.

 

Well explained. Thx

 

they are all the same. I would go for the 07 as it is much cheaper and clearly has the same stuff as the 08 model. Change the lower cowl to a red colour like the 08 and no one would know the diffrence. People will think you are riding the 08 model.