Here are some general comments about Honda's ST1100 Line of motorcycles; I hope they are of use to prospective ST1100 buyers.
(These comments are organized around the key words type, time, and turf or market.)
In terms of type, Honda considers the ST1100 Line to have three types of ST models:
The ABS/TCS type is denoted ST1100A by Honda,
The Police type is denoted ST1100P, and
The standard type is denoted simply as ST1100.
So the ST1100 Line can be called the ST1100/A/P Line, or ST1100/A/P Family of motorcycles.
In terms of time, Honda effectively assigned each of the following model years to at least one ST1100/A/P model:
All years 1990 through 2003.
For example, the only model they built for 2003 was the '03 ST1100P3 police model that was built for the USA market.
(Only in the case of Australian models did Honda make their assigned model year match the year in which the model was built. For non-Australian markets, the usual pattern was to assign a model year one year greater than the year in which the ST wss built.)
In terms of turf, The ST1100/A/P Line was built for and imported through 15 markets worldwide.
Eleven of those 15 markets were European. The ST1100/A/P Line was designed and built mainly for Europeans. As two examples, the first ST1100P models built were imported only by Europe; and Europe imported about ten times as many of the first ST1100A bikes as did North America.
(Many European governments assigned their own "model year" to the STs they imported. So it is best to speak to a European in terms of the model year code of the ST because that code accurately indicates the model year assigned by Honda.)
Three of those 15 markets were North American. Those three are the Canadian market, the USA California market, and the USA 49-state market.
But those two US markets were effectively merged starting with the 2003 model year. (For example, the '03 ST1100P mentioned above was built with California, low engine emissions, but so were all '03 and later ST1300 models.) The North American markets rose in importance at the end of ST1100/A/P production; all ST1100/A/P models for Honda model years after 2000 were for either for Canada or the USA.
The fifteenth market was for the Australian Continent. It got into full swing in Honda model year 1995, when all three types of ST were imported there. Australia/New Zealand imported Police ST1100Ps for model years 1995, 1996, and 2000 whereas North Americans did not get their only ST1100P model until 2003. In about half of Australia's ten States, the Government assigns a "model year" that can differ from Honda's model year. So as is the case with Europeans, it is best to talk to an Aussie in terms of model year code, rather than model year. (For example, I can restate what I said above by saying that the Australian market got into full swing when it imported their three S models, where S is the year code for 1995.)
Now, how can that be useful when buying an ST1100/A/P?
Type, time, and turf can all be important when buying a used ST1100.
When buying an ST1100/A/P, I look first at model type, especially to distinguish an ST1100A from a non-ABS ST1100/P. The presence of ABS will at least affect the price.
Then I check model year and year code to sort bikes into four time groups:
pre-1995 models;
1995 S models;
1996 T models; and for completeness,
post-1996 models.
By then, if the bike is an ST1100A, I will have made the important distinction between a pre-1996 ABS I model and a post-1995 ABS II model. The brakes on those two models are completely different, in my opinion. (More on that later.) The first two time groups are there because all ST models received numerous updates for 1995, S year. And all models received an updated charging/power system for 1996, the T year. The ABS II models received an updated control module for 1997; the non-ABS may have received new carburetors and/or camshafts for 1997. I'm not sure whether it is important to make a distinction between 1996 and post-1996.
Finally, the turf, or the importing market, distinguishes American ST1100 models from Canadian/Australian ST1100 models, and from ST1100 Pan European models. But those distinctions are usually relatively unimportant (because they only sorts out things like headlight unit, original paint color, cam shafts/timing, engine anti-smog equipment, and carburetor jets, or extra carburetor ports and hoses that, again, reduce engine emissions).
After looking at all three of those aspects, I feel that, as a buyer, I at least know what components were used to build the ST1100/A/P at hand (except in the case of a 1991 USA ST1100, which can require slightly more checking).
