Honda Neo Sports Cafe Concept Revealed at Tokyo Motor Show
Production version may arrive at EICMA
UPDATE: We’ve added some more photos of the Honda Neo Sports Cafe concept straight from the Tokyo Show floor.
The Tokyo Show’s not just about motorcycles. In addition to at least six new automotive concepts, an advanced electronic two-man wheelchair and an electric self-propelled robotic lawn mower designed to “bring smiles and pleasant moments in people’s lives just like a pet or family member,” there’s this:
The Neo Sports Café Concept is “a concept model for a naked sport model that combines the fun and beauty of a sport bike with a new-generation motorcycle package.” That really doesn’t tell us much more than we learned from the pair of teaser videos Dennis posted last week, but at least now we have photos of an actual bike.
If you were expecting another kinder, gentler Honda, this one doesn’t appear to be it. It in fact appears to be the CB1000R update some people conjectured, with hints of the CB1000 “Big One” from the early ’90s. That’s definitely a big-bore Four suspended from not much of a steel (?) spine frame, and it’s definitely sprouting velocity stacks out the back of its airbox. That must be where the air goes in, old-school style, since there’s not a stitch of clothing on the bike to hide intake plumbing anywhere else that we can see. Another thing missing appears to be the hideous gas tank seam Honda first removed from last year’s lovely CB1100EX.
It sort of appears like the single-sided swingarm is controlled directly by the offset rear shock without benefit of linkage. And the whole package looks extremely stripped down and minimalist. Maybe that’s because all the legalities haven’t yet been addressed on this “concept,” but rumor has it the finished product should appear very soon at EICMA.
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Rumor has it, eh? Here’s to rumors!
Nice, very nice.