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/127929
FIRST R IDE By Kit Pal me r Photos by Kinney Jones A i th n o fewer th a n eigh t Ho nd a cruiser-type models, fro m w hic h to choose last year, you would have thou ght that Honda had all of its bases cove red when it ca me to sa tisfying th e need s of th e American cruising public. Appare ntly, this wasn ' t the case. Mak e way for the all-new Shadow Aero. The Shadow Aero is Honda's answer to those who feel that the original Shad ow ACE is just not nostalgic enough for their cru isi ng ta stes. The ACE, Honda says, was sty led wi th the 1950-60s era in mind . But what abo u t the '30 and '40s, w hen fin ned -cars an d ai rp la nes w er e ge tting more sleek and ae rodynamic in shape (hence the name Aero)? Up un til the Aero, the only cru iser H onda offered 1998 Honda Shadow Aero that d id a decent job of representing this long-ago, white-walled era was the ACE 750, which was introduced just last year; but, for so me, a cruiser under 1000cc just doesn't cut it. Coming u p with th is "su per-retro" cruiser really wasn't all that difficul t for Honda . After all, it was already more tha n ha lf w ay there with th e VTll 00 Sha dow American Classic Edition, the machine tha t Honda used as a launching pad for the Aero. As a result, the Aero bears a strong resemblan ce to the ACE a quick glance and you might not even notice the d ifferen ce between the two; but take a longer gander at the Aero and thin gs start popping ou t at you, like the Aero's valenced front and rear fender s an d red esigned exhaus t sys tem. Mechanically, there are n't many di fferences between the Aero and the ACE, but there are a cou p le of subs ta ntial tJ ~ 12 ones, the first involvin g the cha ssis. To give the Aero tha t requ ired bigger and longer feel, it has an all-new and larg er steel frame . As a res ult, the w hee lbase has been stretched ou t to an expa nsive 66.1 inches, and the overall length of the b ike 'is over 8 fee t (8'4" to be exact), ma king it the lo n ges t m o torcycl e in Honda's fleet of street bikes. No t only is the Aero longer, it's also lower - bu t no t by mu ch. The top of th e Aero 's sea t is only 28.5 inches above the pavement, which is jus t .7 of an inch lower than the ACE's seat. (Top) The Shadow Aero is Honda's latest "s uper-retro" cru iser. (Above) Nimble it's not, but the 620-pluspound Aero is a steady handler. (Left) Basically, the Aero Is an ACEmade to look older. ' Wider and lower hand leb ars reach ou t to the rider, who will , while silting on the bike, experience some thing never befor e seen on a p ro d u ction Honda floorboards. Yes, the Ae ro is, belie ve it or not, the first Honda motorc ycle to be fitt ed wit h flo orb oa rds and a heel-toe shifter, of course.