- Joined
- May 4, 2005
- Location
- Orinda, CA
- Moto(s)
- A funky red & white Italian named Gianni Cervo! Versys - two of 'em! And a Ducati for laughs.
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 281672
This thread will probably include a rant or two. You have been warned.
First, I'm sharing this because I like Lamb Chop Rides' YouTube channel. He's enthusiastic, and he (generally) is not full of shit, unlike some of the moto channels on YouTube. Though he makes a couple comments in this video that led to eye rolling, they are the exception, not the rule.
Second, I'm sharing it because everything I've heard/read/seen about this bike looks very interesting.
But I've also heard that Honda USA will not be importing it. Of course not. Why would Honda import an interesting bike when they can import boring ones?
My first street bike was a Honda, and I haven't owned one since, in part because either they haven't imported anything I liked, or I wasn't in the market at the time. I'd be inclined to buy one of these.
[youtube]Jp8C4lmoCWc[/youtube]
I've already made the shift to lower power bikes. None of my current bikes makes more than 70 bhp at the wheel, so 90 sounds like an upgrade to me, but what I really like is that it's 190 kilos curb weight (lighter than any of my current bikes). That and a little more than average suspension travel (130mm at the front, 150mm at the rear). The combination of those characteristics leads me to believe that it would be quite a weapon on the types of roads I like.
Honda is apparently bringing in the another bike that shares this engine, the Transalp, and maybe I'll like the T/A better, but it still sucks that Honda USA won't bring it in.
For those of you who say, "Yeah, but it's a parallel twin, and all Hornets should be fours", I hear you, but I don't care. Making it a twin lowers both cost and weight, and it makes packaging for best performance easier too. The common factor between this and the old 599 Hornet is that for quite a while Honda didn't import that one either except when its sales success in Europe encouraged Honda to take a risk.
First, I'm sharing this because I like Lamb Chop Rides' YouTube channel. He's enthusiastic, and he (generally) is not full of shit, unlike some of the moto channels on YouTube. Though he makes a couple comments in this video that led to eye rolling, they are the exception, not the rule.
Second, I'm sharing it because everything I've heard/read/seen about this bike looks very interesting.
But I've also heard that Honda USA will not be importing it. Of course not. Why would Honda import an interesting bike when they can import boring ones?
My first street bike was a Honda, and I haven't owned one since, in part because either they haven't imported anything I liked, or I wasn't in the market at the time. I'd be inclined to buy one of these. [youtube]Jp8C4lmoCWc[/youtube]
I've already made the shift to lower power bikes. None of my current bikes makes more than 70 bhp at the wheel, so 90 sounds like an upgrade to me, but what I really like is that it's 190 kilos curb weight (lighter than any of my current bikes). That and a little more than average suspension travel (130mm at the front, 150mm at the rear). The combination of those characteristics leads me to believe that it would be quite a weapon on the types of roads I like.
Honda is apparently bringing in the another bike that shares this engine, the Transalp, and maybe I'll like the T/A better, but it still sucks that Honda USA won't bring it in.
For those of you who say, "Yeah, but it's a parallel twin, and all Hornets should be fours", I hear you, but I don't care. Making it a twin lowers both cost and weight, and it makes packaging for best performance easier too. The common factor between this and the old 599 Hornet is that for quite a while Honda didn't import that one either except when its sales success in Europe encouraged Honda to take a risk.
