500lbs and $8,000 for a beginner bike? Honda might have saved a few pounds and dollars going with a cvt instead of a trendy dual clutch. They've been selling great beginner level bikes and scooters in Asia for years, decades even. Ever ridden a Vario, or Blade, or Air Blade? Decent bikes, and far from 8 grand. Electric motorbikes by Brammo and Zero are already beating these for power and weight, and even price. Why would anyone want to buy this?

There aren't many other motorcycles that offer an automatic transmission.
The NC700X won some awards in 2012 but the combination of being 500 lbs and having a 32.7 inch seat deters some of the new riders that might have been interested in it for the transmission. The seat on the NC700X is also a little on the sporty (hard) side without much for the passenger to sit on. It does a few things right and a few wrong.
The lower seat in the CTX700N makes the weight a little more manageable for a new rider and it's still 100 lbs lighter than a Harley. The 60 MPG and 3.7 gal tank isn't great (222 miles per tank) but it's still more than a 600RR or a Sportster.
Every time gas prices climb there seems to be more demand for commuter motorcycles and there aren't that many to pick from.
The downside of the new 700's is they seem to omit the best feature from the original NC700, the storage compartment in the NC is large enough for a full face helmet: http://i.imgur.com/tsKzREg.jpg
The new CTX offers a smaller (glove box sized) storage compartment but keeps the same 3.7 gal fuel capacity. The NC kept fuel under the seat so I assume adding a more cushioned, lower seat required moving fuel back up to the standard tank location. That is kind of a tragedy.

"Only 36 KW" still translates to almost 160KW per ton. For a beginner it is plenty fast and offers something few motorbikes can deliver - real world fuel efficiency.

Being a rider for almost 3½ decades I advise all new and beginning riders to not get a bike because of fuel economy, it's only a side benefit. Make sure you will like this machine for a long time because your going to have to live with it and make sure it will suit your needs and not be unsafe or even become to boring for you quickly? It's AMAZING how much money you can end up throwing at a motorcycle? Fuel economy is almost an afterthought in my experience over the years? :-)

Bikes need streamlined bodies like cars have. Then comes supreme fuel economy, and high-speed cruising that isn't just the rider fight air. Anything else is a joke, this isn't the '70's and there's no excuse for this technology stagnation.

@mookins for most motorcycles people purchase fuel economy is an afterthought.
Part of the reason I assume is there is a huge difference in cost between a car that gets the job done and one that will do 10 second 1/4 mile times but with a motorcycle for $2k or $3k more than the price of entry you can buy one of the fastest street legal vehicles in the world.
When even absurdly fast machines like the BMW 1000 RR get 41 MPG the amount of money people spend on gas for a motorcycle isn't a major concern.
Generally the people reckless enough to get on a motorcycle in traffic with cagers are reckless enough to want something faster than they need (and/or loud enough to be heard).
Certainly there is a lot to be done with making more practical motorcycles but the lack of products is more reflective of a lack of consumer demand than it is lack of talent at the companies making products.
I welcome an influx of people looking for bikes like this because of high gas prices though because right now it feels like the industry either makes race bikes or cruisers and doesn't focus on that much else. There has been more focus on adventure bikes lately but > $15k, 600lb bikes with 36" seats seem pretty common in that segment.
It is a little worrisome that 600 super sports are probably still the most common bikes for beginners.

A few years ago I looked at bikes for transportation and the cost of a new bike was too much. If this was available then I think I would have picked it up. Right now it's more than I'd feel comfortable spending. Maybe there should be a model between moped and this? Note I've only ever rode a dirt bike and that was only one time so I don't know what the difference is between that and a full bike.

Having owned and ridden motorcycles since my first bike, a Harley XLCH in 1973, I can say the only reason to purchase one is for the enjoyment of riding. My current Honda CB750 gets 48mpg but I put on $250 worth of tires every 10,000 miles. The US needs the same high mileage diesel cars that sell in Europe and elsewhere.

Boring and Ugly. Honda have no imagination, and a beginner should not be using a "automatic" for their first motorbike. No one should have an automatic motorbike, where's the fun in that, may as well get a scooter.

If they make a modernized v4 750cc magna, I'd buy it in an instant. There is nothing close or similar to it.