We’ve got air-cooled bikes on the brain today, so it seemed appropriate to share one of Oberdan Bezzi’s latest work. The Honda CB1100R concept imagines an air-cooled inline-four engin, wrapped in the bodywork of a sport bike that harkens back to the Honda RC30.
Two classic bikes from Honda’s lineup that make for odd bedfellows, Bezzi’s concept strikes a chord though – especially with more veteran riders who remember when 100hp was more than any street rider could hope for.
Despite the advent of Euro4 emission regulations and crack-downs by the EPA, air-cooled motorcycles are finding their second wind. Free from having to achieve outright performance figures, less powerful air-cooled motorcycles are filling a niche where more simple and affordable bikes are the most alluring.
I’m not sure what the market response would be for a bike like the one proposed here, but it certainly would be interesting.
Would older riders, who maybe started out on an air-cooled machine, find more space in their garage for something more nostalgic? Would new riders be lured into riding something more simple and affordable?
In an industry that’s seeing the price of new motorcycles out-pace the price of inflation, and having difficulty reaching out to cash-strapped millennials who account for $1.3 trillion dollars in student loan debt, Bezzi’s proposal here has some interesting merits. What are your thoughts?
Source: Oberdan Bezzi (Blog)
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