[Guest]

Draw your own conclusions:

 

[RedValk]

er....could you tell those of us (like me) that are clueless what we should be looking for? I'm trying to read between the lines and come up with a wild guess....i mean the thing says battery fluid, acid....on the front left. So i'm guessing it's a cover for a bunch of battery acid?

If i really take a stretch at a guess....do the numbers in the squares after the names of bikes indicate year models? Is that what this is hinting at ? IE...that this would SEEM to indicate to some that there is an 05 model?

IF that is the guess i'm supposed to make....i'm not making much connection by a tarp/cover for battery acid. and would they already have a cover with these models now?

Hey, i'm just trying to speculate on what we are supposed to be 'conspiring on'. Am I on the right track? If not, can you give me another hint? and where is this picture taken from? More clues would be good :wink:

I'm not good at these guessing games

 

[Guest]

This is the outside of the crate that just arrived today with a new 05 motorcycle in it. The space marked with an X indicates the model inside. But obviously they have made provisions for a 2005 Rune and only 2 models where it was 4 in 2004 if I remember correctly.

Just speculation based on what is on the crate.

 

[Guest]

Maybe this will put it in perspective:

 

[jumpin' Jack]

But is doesn't say when the cover was printed!
For al we know it was printed six months ago! :?:

 

[RuneSpyder]

Codes are the same as '04

D - Spec 47 Wheels
E - Chrome Wheels

A - Forward Bars
B - Rear Bars

There is actually one combination missing, DA. Spec 47 and Forward Bars. I think?

Is the 4 and 5 blocks for model years? If so, why would 4 be missing on the 2 VTX models? They were available in '04, weren't they?

 

[Guest]

This is the first one of these crate covers we have seen so it is a relatively new item. Some 2004 models may be missing as they no longer had any planned production when these were printed.

 

[RedValk]

let me go on record again (i don't want anyone thinking i might change my mind or be slipping :roll: ). Don't know what this means....but NO 05s. There's my prediction. The cover doesn't mean much to me. But what do i know :?: (nothing....absolutely nothing, that's what i know ) But if i'm wrong....you guys will be the first right here to hear me state so. i'll take all the mudslingin' folks want to give me.....i'm a big boy :wink: But even i will have to admit.....IF I WAS ONE OF THOSE THAT BELIEVED in an 05 model....this would tend to get my hopes up. Me, i don't believe in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny.....or an 05 Rune :twisted:

on an unrelated note, got the package Hal. THANKS :!: :!: :!:

 

[SiteData]

Could be yes, could be no.

Three weeks ago I bought a 2005 Chrysler Crossfire; the only difference in the 05 and the 04 is the date on the title. It may be, if there is an 05 Rune, the original production run ran into the manufacturing change of year cut off date. This is of course just another wild, ignorant guess from a clueless nincompoop.

 

[Runerod]

Here's another little puff of smoke without fire. UK bike magazines are reporting that the Rune is going to be officially imported into the UK in spring '05. Now IF it's true that would mean a new run as all the current production is on dealer showroom floors.
All the UK mags so far are quoting the Rune as the only thing that could wipe the smile off Triumph UK's faces (if/when it becomes officially available over here) since launching the Rocket 3. To quote a major sportbike biased mag " if you aren't impressed by the Rune, and knocked out by it's unique styling, check your pulse you may be dead".
A weekly tv bike show quotes " the Ducati 916 was given a display in the Gugenheim (?) museum for being a work of art, on that score the Rune should be given an entire floor".
The journo's sure do like the Rune over here.

 

[ELP_JC]

let me go on record again....NO 05s.

Your time to eat crow is rapidly approaching my friend <he he>. Hopefully when somebody posts a pic with an '05 VIN you won't say it was 'made up'. It's obvious Honda intends to build '05s just by the fact it's already printed on HONDA crate covers.

Going back to the speculation months ago, I didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings here, but 'limited production', in its true meaning, doesn't exist in the vocabulary of a mass-production manufacturer (like Honda). It's used as a gimmick. If Honda produced, let's say, 15,000 Valkyries a year, anything else than that could be claimed as a 'limited' production (the Rune is a Valkyrie, remember?). Furthermore, it doesn't mean they won't produce the same amount next year (aha!). You can ask Honda: Hey, you guys said when they're gone, they're gone. And they'd respond: yeah, but we were talking about '04, not '05. It never made business sense Honda would only produce such an expensive model for one year only. And finally, does it make sense a flagship model, which attracts customers to dealers' floors, to be produced for only one year? You already know the answer. Think of it as an NSX of the Honda motorcycle world: only 60 or so NSXs were sold in the US in '03 (lack of sales, not 'limited' production), but it's still being produced after many years; gives Acura 'status', just like Honda Motorcycles is getting with the Rune.

The only thing that forces a 'limited' production status on a Honda bike is lack of sales or lack of manufacturing capacity (usually the former). And when a model doesn't make economic sense, it's discontinued. The good news about the Rune is it's 80% Goldwing, and it makes sense to keep it around (brand pride) for a long time, even with ridiculous sales numbers.

The only question left is HOW they're going to bring it back: as a slow seller, keeping price the same or higher (a bike version of the NSX, if you will), or by substantially lowering the MSRP to increase sales. Either way, Honda can afford it.

Finally, I have one more prediction: a resurrected Valkyrie. I bet this was planned all along. It'll look different than the Rune for sure, just like the Rune looks different than the Goldwing (different fenders, less chrome, etc.), but will still have the heart and soul of both. Economies of scale (platform sharing) at work. The more they produce, the cheaper they get. In other words, the GW and Valkyrie can keep subsidizing the Rune. Heck, even the GW alone can keep subsidizing the Rune for a long time.

Two more months to have physical evidence of Redvalk's 'blindness' :lol:

Take care guys.

 

[RedValk]

oh ...you obviously don't know me very well. I've seen and heard it all before. I'm not giving in...i STILL....SAY....NO....REPEAT....NO 05 models. Period. I've seen nothing at all to change my mind. I'll know if they produce any. I have friends on the inside in high places :lol:

In the very unlikely event i'm wrong....which we'll know mid September....then sure, i'd be the first to say so. But so far in this fiasco on the Rune...which started for us LONG TIMERS back in spring of 2002, i haven't been wrong yet :wink:

Now i will tend to agree with you more on your prediction of a resurrected Valk. That DOES make since...and may happen in the next two years. 05 Rune....VERY UNLIKELY................just go look at all the 04s sitting in the show room and .....ok, i've already listed all the other many reasons.

two more months. Somebody is going to eat crow. Will it be you 05 'wishers'.....or will it be me? Don't know. Don't care. I got mine (x2) Been enjoying for quite a while now....and wouldn't have waited for NOTHIN' :!: :!: :!: