Honda has just pulled the covers off a radical new concept motorcycle at the Intermot show in Cologne, Germany. Technically, there isn't much here that's real, but there's still plenty to dissect. Honda is obviously feverishly working on a new V4 engine and that will soon show up in a production bike. Rumor has it that the Japanese company is taking another look at oval pistons, which would allow for more valves and larger combustion chambers. Could this powerplant show up in a new Interceptor? While this is currently nothing more than a sculpture, so was the new VMax when Yamaha first showed that concept. Studying the lines a bit, we can tell that this wouldn't likely be a race bike, but more likely a new street-going model. We also see hubless wheels, which would be an extremely far-out bit of tech if they were to make it into production. Is that possible? According to Honda, yes. Big Red is saying this design is a "new beginning" for the company and the direction that it's headed, and that sounds awfully exciting. We'll be watching.
[Source: Honda]
RESS RELEASE:
Cologne, Germany, October 7, 2008-- Honda Motor Europe Ltd. exhibited the World Premiere V4 Concept Model at Intermot Cologne. The V4 Concept Model proposes a new, sensual design direction based on Honda's trademark 4-cylinder V- engine.
This year Honda celebrates its 60th anniversary as a company and next year the 50th anniversary of its participation in road racing, as well as the 30th anniversary of racing with an innovative 4-cylinder V-engine with oval pistons. Considering these milestones, Honda chose "The New Beginning" as its exhibition theme leading into 2009 and exhibited the V4 Concept Model which signifies the beginning of a new era.
For Intermot, Honda collected and exhibited successive V4 race machines as well as mass-market motorcycle products which were developed by feeding back the technologies cultivated through participation in challenging race competition, enabling visitors to review the lineage of 30 years of V4 engine technologies and see how Honda will take motorcycling somewhere it has not been before. The exhibition also offers an easy-to-understand introduction to various challenges Honda has undertaken in order to create joy for its customers, by utilizing its technologies that have been continuously advanced through Honda's 60-year history and by its participation in motorsports.
Honda understands the global trend today that motorcycle users see increasing value in more emotional and sensual performance during the real world riding experience rather than absolute performance measured in numeric specifications. On another front, user friendly features that meet with human sensibilities are also becoming important along with safety and environmental features, especially in mature markets.
Honda believes that the challenge to create attractive products with an increased focus on sensual performance will be the key for the future. At the same time, safety and environmental technologies as well as future energy technologies will continue to become an important theme for the development of motorcycle products. Moreover, in order to offer a comfortable life with motorcycles for a larger number of customers, Honda will put increased focus on the human-fitting match of rider and machine. Conceived around the trademark 4-cylinder V-engine, the V4 Concept Model expresses functional beauty as well as a more sensual image to appeal more to the emotions of people. Embodying Honda's passion for motorcycle development, the V4 Concept Model expresses the unique characteristics of Honda for a new era.
The V4 Concept Model mobilizes the driving forces of Honda - dreams, challenges, and creating new value. Honda positions this model as "the new beginning" of Honda's motorcycles.
Cologne, Germany, October 7, 2008-- Honda Motor Europe Ltd. exhibited the World Premiere V4 Concept Model at Intermot Cologne. The V4 Concept Model proposes a new, sensual design direction based on Honda's trademark 4-cylinder V- engine.
This year Honda celebrates its 60th anniversary as a company and next year the 50th anniversary of its participation in road racing, as well as the 30th anniversary of racing with an innovative 4-cylinder V-engine with oval pistons. Considering these milestones, Honda chose "The New Beginning" as its exhibition theme leading into 2009 and exhibited the V4 Concept Model which signifies the beginning of a new era.
For Intermot, Honda collected and exhibited successive V4 race machines as well as mass-market motorcycle products which were developed by feeding back the technologies cultivated through participation in challenging race competition, enabling visitors to review the lineage of 30 years of V4 engine technologies and see how Honda will take motorcycling somewhere it has not been before. The exhibition also offers an easy-to-understand introduction to various challenges Honda has undertaken in order to create joy for its customers, by utilizing its technologies that have been continuously advanced through Honda's 60-year history and by its participation in motorsports.
Honda understands the global trend today that motorcycle users see increasing value in more emotional and sensual performance during the real world riding experience rather than absolute performance measured in numeric specifications. On another front, user friendly features that meet with human sensibilities are also becoming important along with safety and environmental features, especially in mature markets.
Honda believes that the challenge to create attractive products with an increased focus on sensual performance will be the key for the future. At the same time, safety and environmental technologies as well as future energy technologies will continue to become an important theme for the development of motorcycle products. Moreover, in order to offer a comfortable life with motorcycles for a larger number of customers, Honda will put increased focus on the human-fitting match of rider and machine. Conceived around the trademark 4-cylinder V-engine, the V4 Concept Model expresses functional beauty as well as a more sensual image to appeal more to the emotions of people. Embodying Honda's passion for motorcycle development, the V4 Concept Model expresses the unique characteristics of Honda for a new era.
The V4 Concept Model mobilizes the driving forces of Honda - dreams, challenges, and creating new value. Honda positions this model as "the new beginning" of Honda's motorcycles.
Million Dollar Motorcycles
By Stephen Milioti
Japanese artists are renowned for their Zen-like patience, but spending 7,500 hours hand-crafting a motorcycle would seem to push that to absurd lengths - until you see the motorcycle. Then you wonder how Chicara Nagata managed to build something so stunning in so little time.
Nagata's award-winning motorcycles are breathtaking works of art, so it is fitting that three of them are featured in an exhibit at New York's Ippodo Gallery and the Contemporary Asian Art Fair. The bikes are as meticulously crafted as they are stunningly detailed, blending vintage parts with modern design to create motorcycles that are simultaneously retro and futuristic.
Nagata's art pays tribute to the very machines that almost killed him, and to the people who saved him. "There are many ways a man can express himself, but there are not many things I can do," he writes in the notes accompanying his exhibit. "I have found something on which I will pour my life."
Nagata, 46, was 16 when a motorcycle accident nearly killed him. He endured eight months of intensive therapy and several blood transfusions during his recovery, all the while wondering why he should survive so horrible an accident when so many others haven't. Nagata, whose name means "power," decided to honor those who had died, and those who saved him, by creating art. He became a graphic designer in 1982 and launched his own studio a decade later.
His love affair with motorcycles was rekindled in 1993 when he started building his first custom. It took him seven years. Whereas most motorcycle "builders" do little more than open the Fat Book parts catalog and start ordering parts they simply bolt together in a week or two, Nagata hand-crafts everything but the drivetrains. The frames, the suspension components, even the throttle assemblies and hand controls are designed and made by Nagata.
He's built 13 bikes so far. Nagata won the grand prize in the 2006 AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building for Chicara Art I, a sleek retro-ride powered by a 1939 Harley-Davidson U motor. He took second place last year with Chicara Art II, which features a 1942 Harley WLA motor. The three bikes featured at Ippodo can be had for $1 million apiece which, given the level of workmanship, strikes us as a bargain.
Photos courtesy Ippodo Gallery. Be sure to check out Nagata's work on his Web site.
Photo Above: Chicara Art I. Finished 2006. It's powered by a 1939 Harley Davidson flathead "U" motor displacing 1,200cc.
Photo above: Engine detail shot of Chicara III showing the 1950 Meguro racing motor and 1950 Triumph transmission. As with all of Nagata's bikes, all parts -- hand controls, foot controls, throttle and clutch linkages, everything -- but the engine and drivetrain are hand-crafted. The bike was completed this year.
Photo above: Engine detail shot of Chicara III showing the 1950 Meguro racing motor and 1950 Triumph transmission. As with all of Nagata's bikes, all parts -- hand controls, foot controls, throttle and clutch linkages, everything -- but the engine and drivetrain are hand-crafted. The bike was completed this year.
Fighter Motorcycle at Neiman Marcus
The holiday season is around the corner and as expected, Neiman Marcus has a range of “Wow Gifts” in their latest Christmas Book for the super rich, including the stunning, limited edition Fighter Motorcycle, which we have covered earlier too. This beast from Confederate Motor Company packs 190 mph of terrific performance into its avant-garde carbon fiber, titanium and aluminum chassis. Attention has been paid to every detail and the finest of the materials have been used in the making. Only 45 units have been put into production and 39 only will be available before the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book is closed. Priced at $110,000, the limited edition Fighter Motorcycle gives stiff competition to Chicara Nagata’s handmade million dollar motorcycles.
Suzuki Hydrogen Fuel Cell Motorcycle
Folks at Suzuki have come with their latest concept and they’ve been spotted testing it, introducing the Suzuki Crosscage Hydrogen Fuel Cell Motorcycle. This motorcycle comes with no gears, no clutch and no emissions. This hydrogen fuel cell / electric hybrid two-wheeler might be the future of motorcycles. More pictures after the break.
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