Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - _ --- - ._ 1995 Honda Shadow American Classic Edition , By Kit Palmer omething just wasn' t right. But what was it? We were cruising down the ackroads of Ohio during the ~press introduction of Honda's latest V-twin Shad ow, the new 1l00cc American Classic Edition cruiser, when I finally realized what was bugging me . As it turned out, the answer was right in front of my eyes - literally. There, printed on the back of the seat on the Shadow ahead of me, were the wo rds "Made in America." Despite having just taken a tour of the Honda of America Manufacturing (H .A.M.) plant in Marysville, Ohio, where the new Shadows are being built, the idea of a Honda cruiser produced in the U.s. just didn't sink in until I spotted those words on the back of that seat. Then I began to put it all together, "American Classic. Made in America. A tour of HAM." Obviously, Honda is pulling out the heavy artillery and aiming their guns directly at Harley-Davidson, and the new Shadow is their number one weapon. But there's nothing new about the Jap an ese OEMs wanting a piece of Harley-Da vidson's pie when it comes to the cruiser, or custom, street bike marketthey' ve been building Harley look-a-likes for quite some time now, and have basically been doing a good job at it. Despite the fact that most of the Japanese cruisers on the market have a lot going for them - looks, reliability, performance and reasonable prices - the fact that they're not American-made hurt sales. So what has Honda d one about that? Emphasize the fact that the Shadow, Honda's meanest and baddest cruiser in its line, is, in fact, mad e in America - ju st like the ones being pumped out in Milwaukee. Well, almost. Unlike the Honda Gold Wing which is entirely built and assembled in Ohio , the Sha dow incorporates a big V-twin engine that's built in Japan but installed at H.A.M. What other components aren't buil t in Marysville are provided by numerous U.S. suppliers. Okay, so the Shadow isn't entirely "Made in America", but, then again, i~ you want to get picky, neither are the ones pumped out in Milwaukee - they come equipped with (at least for now) Nissin brakes, Keihin carbs, Yuasa batteries and Showa forks. Nonetheless, the Shadow American Classic is Honda's latest pride and joy and is for all intent ana purpose an allnew motorcycle. It has a wh ole new look, similar to its sportier and performanceminded Magna, which was "re-" introduced just last year . Like the Magna, the American Classic's styling is reminiscent of the car-hop days of the '50s and 60s, when checkerboard floors and muscle carswere "in," Honda went way out of its wa y to please the potential custom bike buyer who are generally finicky about coloring and styling. They tried to accomplish this by offering a variety of colors and patterns to chose from. The American Classic Edition will be available in 10 color combinations in three design pattern s: There are two "A" and "B" two-to ne patterns, as well as a "solid pattern," Although the liquid-cooled , l099cc 45degree V-twin motor is based after the original VT1100 engine, it does feature a few significant changes, most notably to the crankshaft. There's now just one, . ins tead of tw o, crank pins to give the , Shadow a more "rumply" feeling, it la Harley-Davidson. To compensate for the added vibration that tags along with the single-pin design, the engine is now rubber-mounted to the frame. Power is transferred to the rear wheel via a five-speed, as opposed to fourspeed, gearbox, and thr ough a shaft drive . Other than new exhaust pipes, the rest of the changes to the engine are mostly cosmetic. There is more chrome than before and the engine cases and cylinder fins are painted black; though the outer edges of the fins are buffed silver. An all-new frame gives the American Classic that long and low look, and the suspension is handled by a 41mm fork and dual, chromed shocks . A ma ssive 170 /80 ti r e wraps around a IS -inch spoked rim, and a fairly big 120/90 tire caresses an IS-inch spoked wheel. Disc brakes are found at both ends' - dual-piston grippers up front, and a single-piston outback. Honda Is now emphasizing the fact that the new Shadow cru iser Is made In America (Marys vill e. Ohio). hence Its name the American Classic. The new Shadow will be available In 10 different color combinations in three different patterns. The Shadow shown here has the " 8" pattern- It goes for $9499. The Shadow has a low 28.7-inch seat height, though not quite as low as the 26inch seat height of the p revious model, and the footpegs are positioned ap proximately two inches closer to the center of the bike than before. A major improvement over the previous Shadow model is that the 4.2-gallon gas tank on the American Classic is larg er, holdin g nearly a gallon more than the '94 Shadow. During our stay in Ohio, we had a chance to ride the new American Classic, though only briefly. From what we could tell, the bike is much more comfo rtable than before, thanks to the moved-in foo tpegs, wider and lower handlebars and a slightly higher seat height. The motor jus t feels right. There' s plenty of torque on tap and it sound s more like a Harle y than any other Japanese-built cruiser we 've ridden. There's more vibration than before, of course, but it wasn't overly annoying or offensive. Hopefully, we will get our hands on one for a longer evaluation, but our first

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