...decisions like that comes out of the cost-police in big companies like Honda and the other OEMs. They'll climb all over their mothers to save 15 cents - even if the engineers advise against it.
Of all the OEMs - Honda is usually seen as the most engineer-driven and so it is relatively rare for Honda to muff something as badly as they muffed the V4 motorcycle cylinder heads - but it isn't unknown and the same goes for their cars. My sister has just won an argument with Honda on the AC unit in her CR-V small SUV - and that was crummy engineering as well. Normally, the engineers can come up with a work-around to stupid management decisions, but occasionally, those decisions come back around like a bad penny - and that's when recalls happen - and THAT ALWAYS costs more than if they had simply done it right in the first place.
I don't wish to touch off an argument, but from the data I have seen on cars over the last couple of decades, the reputation for Japanese invincibility is largely unjustified relative to NAM brands and all of them are better than any of the German brands. Just ask a VW-Audi/Porsche, M-B or Bimmer owner if they are having any electrical issues with their 4-7 year old car....and remember that the average age of a North American vehicle is around 10-11 years.
Anyhow, to conclude...if that bike has had the recall done - it could be a very nice buy at $2K. I'm not sure how you could tell - perhaps go on the Honda website or just call American Honda or speak to an old mechanic about how to find out. Quite often, they put some sort of external marking on "fixed" bikes to show dealers which ones had been done....
