ST1300 replacement planned?

HONDA may be planning to replace its 12-year-old ST1300 Pan European in the near future with a full-fat tourer derived from the CTX1300.

Although its easy to dismiss the bagger-style CTX as being an ST1300-derived oddball, a bit like the F6B in relation to the Goldwing, in fact Honda put a huge amount of re-engineering work into the CTX, including a new frame and retuned version of the Pan Euro’s torquey V4 engine.

Given the firm’s recent love of platform-sharing, as seen on the CB500 line up and the NC750 range, it’s almost unthinkable that it will continue to make two chassis, with similar overall size, for two touring bikes that share the same engine. In fact, doesn’t it make sense that, with the addition of slightly steeper steering geometry, an adjustable screen, a bigger fuel tank and some bigger side panels, that the CTX could more than easily be a replacement for the ST1300?

While it might seem a retrograde step to replace the ST1300’s aluminium frame with the tubular steel double cradle chassis from the CTX, the figures suggest that the weight difference isn’t significant. Ready-to-ride, the ST1300 is 3kg heavier than a CTX1300 (331kg vs 328kg).