#Honda

Beau Horton is a self-confessed Honda RC51 lover, as are many folks out there. Here he regales us with his personal love affair with Honda’s direct challenge to Ducati – the RC51. 

Has it really been 20 years since the world didn’t seize up at the stroke of midnight, as we feared it might? Yes. Every time I walk out into the garage, my 2000 R1 sitting dormant on its stand (the last year of the first-gen R1) reminds me of what a long time ago that was. Next to all the new bikes it sees come and go, the old girl is positively archaic. In a good, Ann-Margret way, but still. While we’re still quarantining seems like a good time to look back upon what bikes have moved the game forward the most since the millennium.

When you think of a 1000cc Honda V-Twin sportbike from the start of the millennium, what comes to mind? Naturally, it’s the VTR1000F, right? Wait, what’s that? You’re thinking of the RC51? Well, Micky Garneau wasn’t. Granted he was looking for a street bike, but the time, effort, and money he’s put into his VTR1000F Firestorm, otherwise known as the Superhawk in the US, rivals that of many racebike builds we’ve seen. Here’s Part 1 of Micky’s bike build.

Remember Robert Perkins and his hopped-up 1990 Honda NS144F? Well, due to popular demand, he’s back with the creation story of his Frankenbike.

The title of this story pretty much sums it all, doesn’t it? Today’s flagship literbikes are getting increasingly expensive, putting them out of the realm of all but the most well off among us. So, let’s look at sportbikes at the lower end of the price scale, shall we? Mainly the Ducati Panigale V2. Ducati’s last V-Twin sportbike, the super-mid comes in at 955cc and $16,500 (well, $16,495 at the time I’m writing this). I had lots of good things to say about it when I got to sample it around the Jerez circuit at the end of 2019. Mainly, I was impressed with how easy it was to ride (a refreshing thing after hustling 200 hp beasts around lately. I know, I’m spoiled) and how well the electronics work. 

Honda revealed a new concept model based inspired by the CB900F. The Honda CB-F Concept is based on the Neo Sports Café-styled CB1000R, but with a decidedly more retro vibe. The CB-F Concept was originally intended to be a part of Honda’s display at the Osaka and Tokyo Motorcycle Shows, but due to COVID-19, was instead revealed in an online “Virtual Show” along with other models like the new CT125 Hunter Cub.

Since the 2021 CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP was announced in November, we’ve been eagerly waiting for  Honda to release horsepower figures for the U.S. market, hoping it wouldn’t be far off the 215 hp claimed for the European-spec model. Thanks to VIN documentation Honda submitted to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, we can now report the American-spec CBR1000RR-R will only produce 188 hp.

Honda officially confirmed the CT125 minibike is going into production as the CT125 Hunter Cub. At the moment, the 2021 Honda CT125 Hunter Cub has only been announced for the Japanese market, where it will be available for 440,000 yen (US$3952).

My greatest fear was of not taking the chance, of wimping out, of being that half-drunk guy at the bar, many years in the future, mumbling about the special whine of straight-cut gear-driven overhead cams, or staring at the floor in embarrassment, unable to pronounce “homologation” on the third try. Everyone who’s ever had a dream bike can tell you a story about it; most of them end with the words, “I wish I had it back.”

Once in a blue moon, Honda likes to flex its muscle and remind everyone that it’s Honda, and when its team of engineers and designers want to, they can produce cool motorcycles capable of completely blowing your socks off. Bikes like the RC35, RC45, RC51 (arguably), the oval-piston NR750, and who can forget the road going MotoGP bike, the RC213V-S? And though we haven’t ridden it yet, the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP promises to carry on that tradition, at which point those same designers and engineers can go back to their usual business of coming up with things like the DN-01 and NM4.

Honda has registered designs for the production version of a new CT125 model. Honda showed off a concept version of the CT125 at the Tokyo Motor Show last fall (pictured below), but the new design contains details indicating a production-ready model.

After taking a look at the factory teams from Honda, Yamaha, Ducati and Suzuki in Part One, Bruce Allen continues his preview of the 2020 MotoGP season with a look at the Aprilia and KTM factory teams plus the satellite teams.

Repsol Honda phenom Marc Marquez is, as per usual, the early favorite to make it seven world championships in eight tries in 2020. Sure, there are a lot of fast challengers – Yamaha NKT (new kid in town) Fabio Quartararo, Ducati #1 Andrea Dovizioso, Yamaha’s inconsistent Maverick Viñales topping that list – and Marquez is coming off right shoulder surgery. Sadly, the result is likely to be the same. If you’re planning to wager on anyone other than ReMarcAble Marc, best get yourself some odds.

The Honda ADV150 may soon be coming to the U.S., as the California Air Resources Board has certified the scooter for the 2021 model year. [UPDATE: Honda has submitted VIN data for the ADV150 with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, further confirming it will be coming to the U.S. as a 2021 model]

Updated February 2020