Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127848
RIDING IMPRESSION 1998 Honda Shadow ACE 750 o o ike mos t motorcycle manufacturers, Hond a usually goes to gre at len gths to introduce a new mod el. Afte r a ll, th e co m pa ny need s to get the w ord out about its new products. With Hond a's cru iser mod els, for example, when Hond a reintroduced the Magna a few years ago, it was a big deal - big enoug h that Honda inv ited the press to Northern California 's wine country for an un veiling and a riding session on the all-new Magna. Then came the first American Classic 36 Edition model, the Shadow 1100. That was a big deal. too, so Honda flew the press to Ohio to ride the bike and witness the machine rolling off the assembly line at Honda 's motorcycle plant in Marysville - you know, to drive the point home that the American Classic Ed ition is indeed "Made In America" (at least, most of it), just like it says on the back of the seat. Of course, Honda had. another big shindig (a couple of them, in fact) for the Valkyrie, and ano ther official unveiling /ride for the Shadow ACE Toure r. Bu t what about t he Sha dow ACE 750? Honda sneaked tha t one in on us without any fanfare at all. It just kind of appeared. Sure, Honda distributed photos and specs of the European version ACE 750 a wh ile back, bu t that was about it; then we got the phone call from Hond a's U.s. headquarters in Torrance, California, stating that the prod uction ACE 750 for the U.s. market had arriv ed and was available for us to pick up. We went there, they handed us the key and we rod e away. No parties, no champa gn~ toasts, no hangovers. Hmm. So w hy th e seeming ly "hohum" mann er in w hic h the ACE 750 was introdu ced? Maybe Hond a doesn' t th ink a wh ol e lot of t hi s p articu lar mod el. Perhaps Honda feels that a midsized, so-called en try-level cru iser jus t isn' t so me thi ng to ge t excited about. Perh aps )-Iond a ran out of champag ne. May be Ho nda th inks so highl y of the ACE 750 th at it d oesn't need a gala introd uctio n. After riding the bike, we have to believe in the latter theory. It's hard to look at the middleweight ACE and not think of it as just another entry-level cruise r, but it's a lot more than that. Don't think for a moment that just because it's a 750, and not an 1100 or 1500, for that matter - that the "little" ACE doesn't produce the right kind of power, torque or rumble to be a worthy cruiser for the more serious rider, 'cause it dues. Admi ttedly, it might not match some of the bigger cruisers ou t there on sheer torque and overall power, but it's not far off the pace. Its 745cc, SOHC, liqu id-cooled, 52-degree V-twin, longstroke, six-valve engine, which is distantly related to the original Shadow 600 VLX powerplant (mainly the crank case), is surprisingly torqu ey and, as a whole, impressively strong. It migh t not be outwa rd ly fas t but, despi te givi ng away some 50cc of displa cement to some of its class rivals like the Kaw asak i Vulc an 800 and Suzuki's Maraud er 800, it rates right up there among those bikes - and will give a couple of the bigger, heavyweight cruisers a run for their money, as well. Quite simply, the ACE 750 makes good power. . On the open highways, the 750 shows few signs of strain. Seventy-five mph is no problem, but when you start exceeding the 80- m p h mark, things begin to change: You'll start to notice it revving out. By how much? Who knows for su re, si nce there is no tacho meter with which to monitor it. It'll main tain 80 mph okay, bu t it just likes 75 better. Jus t as imp ressive as the eng ine 's overall power output is the exhaus t note th a t th e ACE em its from its 2-into-l exhaust system. In stock trim , this bike rumbles with the best of them, and you can attribute some of that to the single-pin crank desig n. You'll find yourself constantly taking advantage of the engi ne's worthy torque by clicking up a gear earlier than you no rmally would just so you can hear and fecI the motor throb again , something it does qui te well for a med ium-bore cruiser. However, when the thr ottl e is not bei ng hel d open, the ACE 750 is extremely quiet - almost too qu iet. At idle, you can barely hear - or feel - the nearl y vibra tion-free motor. Pull in the clutch lever and close the throttle while