Interesting question. To date, Honda offered the Repsol replica paint scheme on the CBR1000RR in 2005, 2007, and 2009. It began in 2005, celebrating a decade of the Honda Repsol partnership in MotoGP. Though the 2005 edition may have initially been intended as a one-off, strong sales and the fact that Hayden won the MotoGP title in 2006 led Honda to release another Repsol replica in 2007, ostensibly to celebrate Hayden s championship. Then they released another one in 2009, throwing the whole "celebration" idea out of the window because there was not much to celebrate in 2008. But two possible patterns now emerge: first, as you note, the Repsol replica could have become an odd-year deal. Second, and in my opinion more convincingly, during the second model year of each generation of the bike, Honda offers the special edition Repsol livery. Think about it: new bike for 2004, Repsol edition in 2005. New bike for 2006, Repsol edition for 2007. New bike for 2008, Repsol edition for 2009. So what happens next? If they stick to odd years, you will see a Repsol bike in 2011. If they stick to the second-year-in-a-generation, well, the answer is not so easy. The 2010 bike is more an evolution of the 08/09 bikes than an entirely new generation. Changes aren t limited to graphics, but the only real change is a bigger/heavier flywheel (a simple and cheap way to emulate the new R1 s smoothness without having to introduce an entirely new engine configuration?). I say the 2010 bike is part of the 08/09 generation, and we will not see a dramatic redesign until 2011. Which would mean that we could see another Replica in 2012. Then again, if Pedrosa stays healthy next season, he has as good a chance as anyone to win the MotoGP championship, thus giving Honda another reason to celebrate in 2011. Interesting as all that may be to a bike nut, it doesn t really answer your question. If I had my sights set on a Repsol, would I buy a 2009 or wait for the next one (potentially until the 2012 model year)? I would pull the trigger on a lightly used 09 Repsol right now. The 08/09 bike is so near perfection, no wonder they didn t feel the need to do anything drastic for 2010. And right now, you can get some GREAT deals on bikes. Due to the state of the economy, people are offloading their toys like crazy. Hell, if you ever wanted a Duc or even an MV Agusta, those things are selling at 50% of last year s bluebook prices. Whatever you decide to do, enjoy it, ride safe, and keep the sticky side where it belongs.
