Honda has always built great bikes and I’m sure the Rebel is too. And I wasn’t really liking the looks till I saw one at the dealer , me and the salesman lookin at a 500 then he asked me “ so what do you think” and with a huge grin I told him “ it’s uglier than the pics , it looks worse up close. We laughed he told me he thought it wouldn’t sell cause of it looks but he said once you ride it you’ll like it and told me they sell fast and then offered a test ride and I promptly said no ,laughing.

Fugly , Fugly , Fugly

Why can't they let it have some "Shinny" to it ?

Shiny = $$
They trying to keep costs down to increase profits !

yea , what Zip said !  
........................

I'd buy a 500/650cc version of the old air cooled 250 Rebel on sight.  Seems like 45-55 Hp is enough for any thing I ever want to do.   The styling on the CB350 pushes all the right buttons for me too --- but the 21Hp. just don't seem like enough for American roads.  
The Suzuki TU250 is another one that tickles my eye-balls and makes me wonder "where is the 500cc version of this".  
My LS-650 looks better all the time ... but that dern little-bitty fuel tank leaves me looking for better , Heck - you can't have a real adventure very far from home on 2.7 gallons .   

What I don't like about most of the newer bikes is the lack of easy access to maintenance stuff. Back in the late 60's there was so much more open space around the engine. Carb work, points (glad they're gone), air filter, oil changes, valve adjustment were all right there and available without have to remove a bunch of other stuff. On my old Ducati 250, all this stuff just hung out in the open.

I need to do a valve adjustment on my '98 Kaw Vulcan 800. However, it entails removing the gas tank, removing a big air intake plenum under the tank, moving fuel and air injection lines, removing the choke control from its mount on the frame, finessing the rear rocker cover out from under the frame where it only comes out one way after wiggling it past about 3 other things. I'm getting old with a bad back and knees, and I can't get my bifocals to focus on what I need to see. It just makes me tired to even think about it.

This is on a '98. From the pic of that Rebel 1100, it looks 10 times worse to work on it.

Thanks for letting me rant.

I may be an oddball but I'm kind of intrigued by the new Rebel. Almost 90 fewer pounds than my 883 Sportster, and almost 30 more HP. Looking at the specs, the Honda is close to the same size as a Sportster too. That's one of the things that I've always liked about Sportster's. They are  actually pretty small motorcycles.

I don't even think the Honda is all that ugly either. At least as long as I only had to look at the left side. That muffler though !! I mean, come on Honda, it's a parallel twin. How about a pair of nice slim pipes, one on each side of the bike. If they were black like everything else you'd hardly notice them!

I kinda like this thing.  The style is "unusual" but it looks to be totally functional.  Nice comfy seat position.  Pegs in just the right place.  Bars just the right height & width.  Suspension looks like it will probably be top notch.  An exhaust system that places function over style.

I googled it.  It uses the basic Africa engine with a few changes.  Has a 270 degree crank so it's gonna have that potato potato thump thump.  Uses a different cam grind for each cylinder, one side optimizes power below 4000 rpm, the other side optimizes power above 4000 rpm.  It has three levels of wheelie control (guess it makes some good power).

A modern cruiser/standard, function over form.  Cool.