Modern Vespa

As Mark Mothersbaugh (allegedly) said, "There's nothing so dated as yesterday's futurism".

When Honda released the DN-01, they were clearly looking into the future from a viewpoint in the past. They undoubtedly thought it looked "futuristic".

They were wrong.

One day you might see a Sea-Doo zoom past you in the left lane and re-think that

I'll be sure to carry a barf bag with me, then.

Honda can be cutting edge at times, but mostly are conservative when it comes to designs and direction.

There is more than a few guys using a See-Doo body over a Burgman 400 carcass. Mostly an exercise in stupidity as you can barely lean them into a curve.

Huh? No motor company can come close to the radical breakthroughs that Honda routinely unveils. This was a shoestring operation started by one man in a post-war Japan that, twenty years later, produced the RC166, a six cylinder 250 that revved to 20k rpm.
The number of mind-blowing game changers and technological tours de force that Honda has unveiled are too numerous to mention. They're constantly answering questions that nobody has yet thought to ask.

Yeah DN-01's are reaching really silly prices these days.

Anyone got a Rune ?

This 100%. I love Honda. They make a machine that will last forever. That said, I would rather have an R-1 than a CBR1000r.

It's a decision to stay at home and read a book, or go out and have a drink.

Top selling scooter worldwide in 2022 - Honda PCX 125.

Top selling vehicle of all time - Honda Cub.

Most ugly PTW of all time BMW C1

No argument from me on any of these points. Honda builds reliable, boring machines. Reliable and boring will always be more popular than the other options.

And if you think either the PCX or the Honda Cub is futuristic, then you are living in the 1930s.

Are you saying Honda is boring because they're reliable?
Are bikes only exciting if you have to be constantly working on them? Like basically any Italian bike. Ducati, Aprilia, etc.

Honda has put DCT in a motorcycle. They have recently shown automatic clutch that with some electric wizardry, and some thingie connected to the gears, might give nearly any bike the option of automatic shifting if the rider wants it to. Fuel consumption that other can only dream about. They are leading in the technological advances in the motorcycle market.

BMW C1 was not renown for its beauty, but it is a beauty queen next to the BMW CE4. Talking about barf bags.

No. I am saying they are boring and reliable. That's been Honda's stock-in-trade for decades now, and it is a key to their success and their popularity. Kudos to them for that.

And with very few exceptions (like the aforementioned DN-01) they keep their aesthetics fairly restrained. Hey, if that's what you're after, more power to you. No argument from me on the reliability points of Italian bikes. But no, that's not what makes those bikes interesting. I would argue that automated manual gearing has been done by countless others before in a variety of contexts. Honda putting it on a motorcycle doesn't seem especially groundbreaking to me.

Putting that quibble aside, technology is great. Boring, but great. And Honda does a great job here. But don't confuse technology with futuristic design. They are different things.

I have yet to see a futuristic design that survives meeting the future.

And I will refer you back to my earlier statement in this thread.

I present the future. It's beautiful isn't it.

Instead of the 500x you mean?

Interesting discussion on Honda as a motorcycle brand.

Honda was the bike that flamed my interest towards two-wheelers.
To be specific, my friend's dad had a CB900 Bol D'or. One ride as a pillion with that speed freak changed my life

To me, Honda's production models, since the UJM times, have been effortless tools for the masses. Goldwing for long distance haulers, Cub for commuting and being 'general purpose vehicles' (in many countries), Africa Twin for allroad adventures, CB (and the likes) for those into motorcycling, CR for dirt bikes....etc.

Beside being reliable, effortless means just that - when you'll buy a Honda, you'll know that gears are easy to change, clutch works, fuelling works, engine power & torque curves are predictable and match the vehicle purpose etc.....This, I'll guess is the boring part. High on being effortless for as many as possible, low on having unique characteristics or features that do not serve a purpose.

Honda has been wildly innovative too - as a company. From Azimo to self riding motorcycles....it is just that they clearly put the commercial side to the front for what they'll bring into production, allowing some play with the appearances but not with the 'quality' or predictability of the brand.

I'll guess the emphasis on predictability limits the future horizon of Honda products. They aim to cater today's markets and get a feel of tomorrow's, with only few long distance shots. Or this is how it looks to me.

Sure. If you're a 12 year old boy.

Or if you don't understand irony.

Depending when the NX is available ( and I believe that it is ) it's still next on the list.

CB500X's have been withdrawn from the local dealers webpage.

Ignore that. In black it's so boring I couldn't see it.

Wow, that things took quite a beating from a ugly stick!

You should try riding it.

Invisible to radar?

Invisible to taste.

If that's an ADV350, they're waiting to figure how to install a drum brake on it B4 they release it to the U.S.

A PCX in a different package with some tweaks. It is a stretch calling it an ADV,, but Honda is doing what other manufacturers are doing and using the same engine (with tweaks) in different applications. This keeps costs down without having to reinvent the wheel and since they are in the business to make money, I don't have a problem with it.

I don't think that's what everyone is objecting to here.

Understood, it is ugly, but there are some that think the Groms are a pretty scoot. Maybe those same people would buy this too.

The picture Bill posted looks to be an ADV 750.

I've seen ADV750 only once 'live' in a local bike meet-up.

It was surprisingly...well, substantial.

Looked much taller and larger than in pics, or even in a show room where I've seen it before and even sat on one.

The owner was a lady, a bit shorter than myself. She showed me her platform shoes that help reaching the ground.

The ADV750 is based on the NC750. Brilliantly engineered bike (NC = New Concept) where Honda asked.
"How would a bike be that broke away from old traditions, was highly optimised for low centre of gravity, great fuel consumption, low tuned for longevity?"
Then they asked
"How many people can we impress if we also make a futuristic version called NM4?"
NM4. There is a great futuristic bike that nearly no one admits to liking.

This post was not quite
What we were hoping to see
Try again, perhaps?

I removed the last post for insufficient quoting and lack of context.

oh buddy do I have news for the two of you!

top selling hamburger world wide in 2022- McDonald's

top selling ground coffee of all time: Foldgers

just because it's popular doesn't make it good or bad. it just means it's available

I think Honda probably deserves their place on the two-wheel sales charts. Boring and reliable sells. Most people around the world probably don't care if their motorcycle speaks to them or not, or if their bike has "character". It's just transportation.

And if all you want is reliable transportation, that's okay. Honda's got you covered.

Yes, that's why I said cutting edge. What kept Honda at the front was the dedication to racing. I am a big Honda fan and impressed that the quality of their products being built outside of Japan have remained high. Downside is like most of the machines out there, they are getting harder to work on despite the longer service intervals. Hondas will get you where you want to go, for sure, with a minimum of fuss. But Vespas will get you there in style.

Did not know the DN-01 came in yellow and pink. Must be custom.