Congrats.... That's a great ride, My Buddy owns a '04 and swears it the last bike he will buy. He bought his new in '05 and got a great deal on it.
If your buddy bought his XX new in the U.S., it's HIGHLY unlikely it's an '04. The Honda Blackbird was manufactured for model years 1997 through 2007. However, only 1997 though 2003 model years were imported to the U.S. I'm reasonably sure Canada didn't get them after the 2003 year, as well, but I could be wrong about that. Europe and Australia did get them, so if someone on a Blackbird forum is talking about a 2004 to 2007 model, it's a pretty sure bet he or she is from those continents.
There were a few still-in-the-crate '03s floating around as late as 2005 in the U.S., and while I recall people on the XX boards scouring the country for the last of them, I just don't recall whether the last ones went in '05 or '06. I also recall discussions about whether it was feasible to buy a newer one elsewhere and get it licensed in the U.S. Seems to me that the conclusion was that it'd be more expensive to get the compliance certification than the effort would be worth.
And FWIW, under 10,000 miles really IS barely broken in for an XX. Glass smooth engine with overbuilt bottom end. Many go 200,000 miles with just basic maintenance, and there was one story about someone in Europe, I think, with some outrageous number like 340,000 miles (I recall it reported as Mi, not Km.). IMO, the late model XX's (including my current '03, ndivita's '01, but not my previous '97) have the best of all worlds in terms of instrument cluster. I like an analogue tach that's easy to read, and that's in the middle. Besides that, the truly nice touch is the LARGE numeral, well buffered digital speedo on the right. The combination makes glancing quickly for info a snap. And the digital temperature read-out instead of bars is nice, too.
The CCT replacement is a $25, 15 minute job. The early ones went through R/Rs, but I'm thinking it was 2000 or 2001 that the RR got relocated with bigger fins and the problem mostly disappeared. The '01's candy red IS gorgeous. The '02 (silver) and '03 (metallic black) got the last generation of upgrades, but there wasn't much more that hadn't been done on the '01. I believe the '01 has the earlier version of FI (so, for example, you need a different Powercommander than an '02 or '03 if you go that direction), and it may have had the earlier wiring loom that I recall as sometimes being problematic on '99s and '00s.
Warchild no longer has an XX, but he had two that saw a LOT of miles as his primary LD mount, and it was on his '02 that he set that ungawdly nuts BBG record of consecutive 1500 mile days in the Nevada Desert in '06. He wrote a large volume of XX maintenance stuff as good as all the FJR stuff we benefit from here for maintenance. WC was also the farkle satan for XXs for years and is directly responsible for so much $$ in aftermarket goodies being on mine.
