It's a BMW GS styled "adventure tourer" based on the VFR1200 with shaft drive and spoked wheels, which many will now expect me to slag off - except that it actually makes sense. It does! A tall, some would say commanding riding position in a chassis that is much more "all rounder" and much less "single purpose" using a new, latest technology, engine which will no doubt produce less power than it does in the VFR1200 but will be both more useable and more economical. So it will get much nearer to 200 miles from a tank of fuel than the measely 120 achieved by the VFR1200. Dual compound tyres will give better mileage and with panniers and topbox it will offer much greater practicality and I wouldn't mind a side bet that Honda will ensure the seat will be comfortable for mega distances.
Honda Crosstourer concept.So what's the down side? Firstly, there's BMW's GS1200 - top selling bike in both the Adventure Tourer & the Large Capacity classes of motorcycle. It is established and BMW pamper their owners so don't expect Honda to win sales there.
Then there's the Moto Guzzi Stelvio and NTX - the first is road biased and the other offers just a little bit more off-road - neither are good enough to challenge the BMW GS1200 but then some people like to be that little bit different from the crowd.
KTM - that's for HARD MEN (and very tall ones too).
Triumph are set to release their own Adventure Tourer in 2011 - in 800 cc guise, which is a smart move as it see them competing with the smaller capacity offering from BMW, so not a direct competetor for the R1200GS.
Which leaves the Super Tenere from Yamaha. That's the bike the Crosstourer has to beat. Yamaha have stolen a march on Honda, but, it will be the direct comparisons that matter - the winner will sell, the loser will have to be heavily discounted if it isn't to remain in the showrooms and warehouses across Europe.
So there you have it - a concept that will almost certainly make it into production. About the only thing that I see being a fly in Honda's ointment is the price. Currently Japan is pricing it's bikes beyond the realms of what most people will pay - making it a luxury item. By doing that they are accepting they will not see large volume sales. But large volume sales is what got the big 4 Japanese bike brands the global position they currently enjoy and I'm not sure that many bikers will see Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha as luxury brands. They are not the Aston Martin, Ferrari, Maserati or Rolls Royce of the motorbike world. They are much more Ford, Mazda, Vauxhall & Volkswagen - none of these have managed to move their image up-market and I wouldn't place money on the Japanese bike manufacturers doing so either.
Honda Crosstourer - I'd put one in my garage, but, I'd never pay full list price for one!
1 comment:
Phil:
the 120 mile range on the VFR1200 is a myth. I'm able to easily achieve 6.0L/100Km with normal riding... and I like to cruise at 90mph. That gives a range of 192 miles to empty. If I'm slabbing for long distance and keeping the bike under 5k RPM, I can stretch to 220 miles.
The warning light comes on around 150 miles, indicating that I have another gallon of fuel left so if I back off the throttle I can get another 50 miles easily.
Read my "badlands" post from a couple months ago on my blog. I failed to plan my fuel stops properly and had to stretch it... I rolled into a petrol station with 286 Kms on the clock and put 16L in the tank. I could have done another 50Km if I was careful.
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