Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Moving up the ladder, the motorcycle Honda rolled out (again, an exhibition model) for those who favor sport bikes was the "644 Super Mono." Give Honda a lot of credit on· this one for original styling that uses classical cafe-racer themes harmonized with modern sportbike tech to create a fresh, attractive package. For the traditionalists, the 644 Super Mono features a Ducati-like steeltube frame - with larger-diameter tubes then on a typical Duke - painted in Italian red, an aluminum oval tube swingarm with the typical swingarm bracing and eccentric rear-axle adjusters, . and a half-fairing that ends at the valve covers of the engine. For the individualists, the 644 Super Mono features upside-down forks that look the business, full floating front disks, upswept chrome dual exhausts, carbon-fiber fenders and side covers, 17-inch front wheel, IS-inch rear wheel, and a tri"ck underthe-engine single rear shock that at least looks like a more sensible design than, say, the Buell system. Other nifty features include a cowl-mounted oil cooler, and a computerized dash with analog tachometer and digital speedometer. However,. the 644cc, radial four-valve engine is an air-cooled derivative of the big thumper found in Honda dirt bikes, and a lighter, water-cooled unit as now offered by m<:,st of the serious European manufacturers looks to be all that this bike needs to develop die-hard "owner loyalty. Alongside the 644 Super Mono was the CL644 which, as anyone can guess, used the same engine package as the Super Mono, but in chrome trim rather than black. Those who were around motorcycles 25 years ago remember that "CL" was used by Honda for the various "scrambler" motorcycles that wer'e meant for the rider who wanted something between the "CB" streetbike and the "SL" off-road bikes. The CL644 does not instantly invoke memories of the older CLs, but the chrome dual upswept exhaust pipes are routed along the right side of the bike, in true CL tradition. Wire wheels, a conventional front fork and dual rear shock suspension system, and traditional gas tank, seat, and fender styling give the CL644 an all-American look that avoids looking like another Japanese rip-off of Harley. If Honda decides to market the CL644, one has to wonder if they would support a CL644 one-make race series at AMA dirt track events... For those wondering, "where's the beef?" the answer is the "X-4." An exhibition model at the Tokyo Motor Show, the X-4 is Honda's all-out, twist-firstand ask·questions-Iater drag racer for the street - a Dyno-Jet dyno's worst nightmare. Honda's publicity materials simpl)' stated the capacity of the wide in-line four at "over l000cc." The fourinto-one chrome exhaust with megaphone muffler are drag-racing influenced all the way, as are the flat handlebars, the shorty mirrors, the spun-aluminum rear wheel, the laydown rear Showa shocks, the massive and wide rear swingarm, and a rear Dunlop tire so wide that it didn't even have size markings - the only molding mark was the direction arrow for fitment! Attention to details included a centrally located white-faced speedometer, a mini black-faced tachometer, and what looked like provisions for mounting a wheelie bar off the end of the extruded aluminum swingarm. Curiously, passenger foot pegs are provided even though the seat looks to be designed for one person only. As any reader ought to have guessed by now, the X-4 was painted black. And finally, for something completely different... A Tokyo Motor Show is never complete without one completely unorthodox motorcycle from Honda, and this year that bike was the "Zodia." At first glance the Zodia comes across as a thr~ dimensional rendering of some stylist's free-hand sketches, but after a longer study the high-tech aspects of this 21st Century cruiser reveal themselves. As with all cruisers, the engine is hung out for all the world to see, in this case a 1500cc-plus, narrow-angle, air- and oilcooled, V-twin. Nothing innovative so far, until you reach the transmission: The Zodia is the first streetbike to feature Honda's PGM-HMT automatic transmission that was developed on a CR250 campaigned in the All-Japan Championship during the early 1~90s. The PGMHMT has a conventional clutch thai then drives a hydraulic pump with a fixed swash-plate angle. The output ports of the pump feed directly to a hydraulic motor with a swash-plate angle that is continuously variable over a fixed range, thereby allowing for a wide range of "gear ·ratios." It gets even more unconventional, as the output shaft of the motor fea- tures a countershaft sprocket for a silentchain final drive. Silent chains are· sometimes used in cam-drive systems, but never for the final dri've of a motorcycle (if a chain is used, it's technically called a "single-strand roller chain"). The silent chain drive has two strategically located idle'r wheels that provide constant cllain tension at any swingarm position. The swingarm is single-sided, but styled as a two-sided arm, with the right side supporting the fourpiston brake caliper, but not the' axle. How is that possible? Easy: the brake disc is fixed to the rim of the rear wheel, thereby eliminating any need to support th.e brake components ofli the rear axle. A rear telescopic shock is located under the solo seat, slightly inclined from horizontal. Oddly enough, the shock is not circular, but rather is oblong (semi-circular "ends" with flat "sides"), much like the pistons from the early NRSOO. This bizarre rear shock was probably designed to complement the bizarre front suspension assembly of the Zodia: a massive trailing link and a non-telescopic fork which features a chrome engine-oil cooler mounted between the primary legs (the oil cooler mounted on the bottom front of the engine is a transmission hydraulic-fluid cooler). A large, circular, single-telescopic front shock is mounted in the steering head. As with the rear brake, the front disc .is mounted' on the rim, and an eight-piston caliper is mounted on the right-hand-side pivot link. Honda claims that the Zodia has anti-lock brakes, although the wheel speed sensors could not be identified. The Zodia features sweeping, sensual body lines. It may be too much for consumers today, but Hollywood could probably use it in the next Batman movie. KAWASAKI The Kawasaki display stand was the antithesis of Honda's: All the motorcycles were alJ:eady in production, or had been announced in the preceding month. However, Kawasaki's year has been a difficult one, as Masamoto Tazaki, Senior General Manager of Kawasaki's

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