Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Even though the Aero is propelled by . the same liquid-cooled , 1099cc, V-twin, single-pin crankshaft motor as the ACE, i t pump s out a' cla im e d 5 hp m ore , th anks to a new fre er-b re athing 2-1-1, low -slu ng exhaust sys tem . Although the engines in b oth the Aero a nd ACE are rubber-moun ted to their respective chassis, th e density of th e Aero 's rubb er is d iffe re n t. That, co mbin ed with w ha t Honda dubs a "tu ning ba r" that a ttac hes the exha ust pipe to the fram e, improves the feel of the engi ne pulses through the bike's . chas sis . Honda claims th e pulses are "not as strong but more pleasant." Pretty much the rest of the. changes are sty le-related. The front end features a sma ller 17-inch diameter wheel, a nd th e fo rks b oast la rge, chromed u p p er co ve rs. Un like the ACE, the Aero features a headligh t-mou nted, electronically op era ted speedometer, which runs off an electro nic speed sensor and features a large, ivory-colored face. Attention was pa id to detail with the Aero, as is evidenced by the chrome d accent trim on both fenders and the fish- Honda VT11 OOC3 Shadow Aero ! Specifications Engine type .. . . . 1099cc. liquid·cooled, 45·degree Vvtwi n w/single·pin crankshaft Bore & st r o k e · ; . 87.5 x 9 1.4mm Compress ion ratio 8.0; 1 SOHC. V alve t rain three valves per cylinder 36mm CV (2) Carburetion Solid-state digital wltwo Ig nit io n spark plugs per cylinder Horsepower : 48 hp (rear wheel) Transmission s-speed Final drive Shaft Suspension Front 41mm. telescopic fork Rear Dual shock w/5-positioning spring preload adjustability Wheel travel Front 5.9 in. Rear 3.9 in. Brakes Front . . Single disc w/twin-plston caliper Rear . Single disc w/ sinqle-piston caliper TI res 140/80-1 7 in. Front Rear .• . ..... .. ... ... . 170/ 80·15 in. Wheelbase 66.1 in. Seat height 28.5 in. Claimed dry weight 615.1 Ibs. Fuel capacity 4.2 gal. w/O.S gal. reserve MSRP : $9699. $999 9 tail tip on the ex ha us t p ip e. For th a t a d ded re tro look, yo u no w have th e option of d etaching the passenger portion of the seat; on the ACE, the passenge r and pilot' s saddle are pe rmanently joined togeth er. You probabl y won 't have to worry too much about encountering ano ther Aero rider with the sam e paint scheme as you, since the Aero comes in five diffe r en t co lo r co m b ina tio ns : p e arl orange/ pea rl w hite; pearl gree n/ pearl white; black /pearl silv er; black /pearl dark red ; and all blac k. Th e tw o- to ne models will run you a few hundred dollars mo re th a n the all-black mod el, as the tw o-tone ve rsio ns will carry a sug-' g es ted retail price of $999 9, a nd the black model $9699. The Aeros shou ld be on your dealer's showroom floor by the time you read this . . You will notice, th e first time ' you throw a leg over the Aero, its size. It' s a big bike, and the 38.4-inch-wi de handleba rs make it feel eve n big ger . Bu t despite its gir th , th e Aero d oes no t intimidate the rider, thanks .to its ultra low seat height, w hich makes you feel as one wit h the bike. Honda m ad e n o effor t to hide the ig nition switch, which is con ve n ien tly located just ab ove the left engine case; .even mor e convenien tly positioned is th e ha ndlebar-mounted ch oke lev er . Touch the starter bu tton and the Aero quickly en ters u p on a s teady, reasonably quiet yet throaty cadence . It's a sweet-sou nd ing mach ine, which sings eve n better when you blip the throttle . Yes, its single-pin-cran k reverb reminds us a lot of a Ha rley 's, perhaps more so than any ot her Japanese-built cru ise r we 've hear d . There's little resistan ce when pulling in theAero's clutch lever - thr ee fing ers are sufficient. Push down on the shift lever and you 'll notice a slig ht "clunk," but very little resistance, when the fivespeed transmission drops into first gear from n eu tral. Clutch disengagement is smooth and p recise as you roll on the throttle and start pulling away. Grab a handful, an d the Aero moves a lo ng p retty well; it' s by no mea ns a Valky rie when it comes to sheer ho rsep ower , bu t th e torque will get your attentio n - not to ment io n th e rumb le and vibes. It chugs well at low rpm an d yo u d o, in fact , pl easa n tly fee l every pulse of the twin-cylinder's big pistons . Revving the Aero ou t is nowhere nea r as sa tisfy ing as it is short-s hifting it th ro ugh it s five gears, and th at' s just how we like it. . W.e ran the Aero on a dyno , which • showed it pumpin g out 47.5 h p p eak, (measured .at th e rear wheel) a t 4750 rpm; p eak tor qu e was 65.0 ft.-lb. at just 3000 rp m. So yo u can se e w hy shortshifting the Aero is the only way to go . (Abov e) Honda chose t o m ount the speedo on th e head light assembly. (Right ) Long, wide and sp acious, the Aero Is one comfo rta b le rid e. (Below) The Aero is the first Honda to come with fl oorboards. Nevertheless, the Aero has no problem s hanging with freeway traffic, as it drones along as hap py as can be at 65 mph . It' ll start stra in i ng a li ttl e at around 80 mph, bu t the Aero is quite content ru mblin g alo ng between 65 and 75 mph. Cruisers have never been known for their plush rides . Aft er all, the re isn't mu ch you can do w hen you're wo rking wi th three inches of travel. But the 620plus -pound Aero is tolerable. The d ualshock rear suspension bor ders on being harsh, but yo u rea lly d on ' t get blow n out of the sea t u nless yo u nail a particularly big pot hole. The forks work qu ite well, offering a semicus hy rid e. Overa ll ha n dl in g is qu ite good for such a big motorcycl e . The Ae ro ha s' both ~ood low - and high -sp eed stability , and getting in through the tums doesn't take too much effort. As far as corne ring cleara nc e, we' d r a te the Aero a bo v e ave rage for a big cruiser. You w on' t be dragging the floorboards th rou gh every tu rn, but pick up the pace a little bit and you're going to star! producing sparks. Still, there is sufficien t floorboard clearance for casua l cru ising . Slowing the big Aero down requires a little bit of mu scle. The front, tw in-piston d isc brake is spo ngy - but strong and th e rear, sin gle-piston d isc brake doesn't have the bes t feel, though it is like the front - powerful eno ug h. Com- bined , the front and rear brakes work we ll and do an acceptable job of hauling in the Aero. When it comes to comfort, the Aero is hard to beat, thanksto its wid e sea t, wide ba rs, well-placed floorb oard s an d spacious layout. If your legs do start get ting cramped on the long hauls, you can '. easily rest them for a while on the passenger pegs. Also , you d on't get th at "wind -sail" effect on the Aero as much as we've e xperienced on many other cru is ers . Perha p s it's beca use of th e lower-than-usual ha n dl ebars, how th e rid er sits d eep into the bi ke, th e hu ge headlight assem bly th at slices a p ath th rou gh the wind, or all of the above. However, s queezing th rough ci ty traffic is a little uneasy at first because of th e w ide h and leb ars, but it re ally doesn't take lon g to ge t used to it. W e ' v e accu m u la te d hu ndre d s of miles on the Aer o and have ye t to find a nythi ng major to g ri pe a bo u t. One rider said he did not like the ivory face of the speedome ter , saying he found it di fficult to read the nu mb er s at night, . but that was abo u t it for complaints. We feel Hon d a certa inly hit the nail on the head w it h the Aero - it has th e looks, pe rfor mance an d co m fo r t th a t w ill u ndoubtedly win a lot of peop le over. Okay, maybe it still co u ld u se a litt le more power bu t, yo u know, so wha t? •':Ii It looks cool and feels right. 13

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