Honda House (January 23, 2011)

Two posts down is a post of the Honda DN-01, and two of the BRP Spyder trikes; but this is the more conventional bikes at Honda House. Went to see the new CBR250R and the CB1000R but they were not in yet. Still, some fine motorcycles at Honda House. The first is the Honda Fury, which is Honda's "factory chopper" and is based on the VTX-1300 V-twin engine. The Fury from all reports has done well, I have seen (and heard) a lot of them on the roads of North Carolina. Liked the seating position (low) the raked front end, and the use of forward controls and footpegs. Chopper popularity may be down, but this is a very fine motorcycle.
Along with the Fury, much of the same components have gone into two other bikes; the Sabre (seen here in red) and the Interstate (which is much the same as the Fury but with a windshield and saddlebags). All three use the VTX-1300 engine. The Sabre is not as raked as the Fury, sits higher, and has its instruments mounted on the tank (the Fury has them on the handlebars). I would imagine the handling is a bit crisper than with the longer Fury. It is a big change from this version to the old model of the Honda Sabre (and its former other model the Spirit) but a really impressive remake of a long time Honda motorcycle.

I find this a very interesting bike. It is the NV-700 which is sort of a light touring bike. It uses the same 680cc V-twin as the DN-01 (though the NV-700 does not come with an automatic, which I like...enjoy shifting my own gears on a motorcycle, but to each their own), an adjustable windshield, and hard bags for storage. I would think this would be a great commuter bike, or a very fine light weekend tourer. 700 cc's is a very good size for a motorcycle, and in addition the bike is also said to get very good gas mileage. This bike came to Europe and was a huge seller there, not sure how it is doing in the US (where bigger is better in many eyes) but I like this bike, and it could be worth a look in my future.
Finally, this is one of the few 2011 bikes at the dealership, though it is basically the newest model of the CBR1000RR and looks to be pretty much unchanged for this year from the previous years version. The bike though got a lot of interest from the motorcycle press when it came out as a major re-work of the previous design in 2007. It has won a number of "Motorcycle of the Year" awards, and in addition has been a very successful bike in motorcycle road racing. This is a bike for the experienced motorcyclist, but would be a great deal of fun on the roads (and road courses) of America.
Honda makes some fine and interesting motorcycles, and many of them have some interesting technology. Much of what they learn in racing is put into their bikes. The company also makes cars, lawn equipment, and even a small jet private plane called The Hondajet which is headquartered and built in North Carolina. Be watching here for the two new bikes in an upcoming post further down the road (which hopefully when the winter weather abates is where you will find me!). Ride safe!