Honda continues to tease its V4-based adventure bike ahead of its unveiling at EICMA next week. Finally showing off the actual lines of the machine, Honda has clearly made a cross between the CB1000R and VFR1200F in this design. Tall and purposeful, the concept clearly has the extra travel to soak-up an uncertain path, but Honda insists the bike is designed for on-road use. We dig the single-sided swingarm, but it will be interesting to see how Honda finishes off the exhaust pipe, and of course the final fit and finish of the design as a whole (the tail, like on the VFR1200F, seems to be an afterthought).
With the V4 expected to be designed for road use only, we’re not sure how the middleweight (800cc’s is rumored for the displacement) motorcycle will fare in this competitive segment since many bikers in the adventure category buy because of aspirations, not actualities.
Honda says the new V4 will have “the flexibility and exciting attitude of a naked performance machine, with the more comfortable upright riding position and design cues inspired by adventure bikes.” We’ll see how that goes over, but building a street-only adventure bike has seemingly worked out for Ducati with the Multistrada 1200. Can the same be true for Honda? Only time will tell.
Source: Honda
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