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/128080
Show The 33rdTokyo M S otor how ,(Left) The Honda XWing stole the show in Tokyo. The concept bike is a cross between a Gold Wing and a CBR1100XX, making it the ultimate in sports tour ing bikes . (Bottom inset) The X-Wing features an Inside-out frontbrake dis c and caliper, where the large-diameter disc is attached to the rim of the front W l, rather than hee the hub. (Top inset) The large LCD flat-pane l display on the XWing can be switched from GPS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • navigation , to standard radio, to proving a way to ,log on to the Internet. ••••• If ther e was ever any doubt in you r m in d abo u t Ho n da's leadership in mot orcycle technology, the 33rd Tokyo Motor Show was your answer. By Tracy Hagen llll0 o ~ ~ '" .Q E > '" o Z 6 0 w hic h d ir ecti on ' d o you think the motorcycle mark et will go in the future?" as ked a marketing d ep artment manager from Honda while the two of us were looking over th e X-Wi ng, an ins piring s porttou ring concept bike by Honda R&D. That question revealed as much as it asked, as Honda rolled ou t such a wide array of new mo torcycle concepts at the Tokvo Mo tor Show that it is difficult to gauge in which direction Honda is moving . The truth is, Ho nda is moving in all d irections, and very impressively. Nearly 20 new bikes or techn ology concep ts were exhibited by Honda at the biannual Tokyo Motor Show, and this isn't counting th e new bikes on 'h and that were already presented at the Ll.S, dealer show, o r Milan or Paris. The other manufacturers combined did not equal Honda's mighty display of new product concepts. CJ0~[D& At each and eve ry Tok yo Motor Show, H ond a present s an ou t-of- this-world co nce p t moto rcycle fro m b eyond th e bo undaries of imagina tio n, but Ho nda has shown some self-restraint as of late . o superbikes wi th hydrogen-fuel-cellpowered superconducting motors have been see n since the ES21 from the 1993 Tokyo Mot or Show. The Zodia custom and FN-1 "naked sports" mod els 'from th e 1995 and ' 97 shows were co ncep t bikes Honda calle d "near-future models," and th e X-Wing concept model from this year's show could righ tly be termed a "near-nea r-future" model. The X-Wing is a sports tourer that bridges the gap in Honda 's big-bike market betw een the CBRII 00XX sport bike and the enormous Gold Wing tourer. It's the market niche tha t has kep t BMW and Moto-Guzzi going strong for years: high-speed, long- distance touring on Europe's no-speed-limit autobahns. If you had to imagine what kind of bike Mercedes-Benz would build if they ever decided to take up motorcycling, the XWing is probably what you 'd see, Even the X-Wing coloring - silver, blue-green metallic, and charcoal - looked to be derived from the Mercedes palette. "T h is co ncep t is Eu ro pean spo r ts tourer, which provid es fun ctionali ty for a comfortable, safe and enjoyable rid ing experience," sai d X-Wing design er Kenji Tako. "The Gold Wing is a rath er differen t conce p t. The Gold Win g is a lon gdistan ce cru iser, a relaxing cru iser. The X-Wing is mor e sporty: You can en joy the spo rt of rid ing." The X-Wing's engine is mos t closely rela ted to the Gold Wing's, bu t on close inspection, one finds that the 1500cc sixcylinder is not "flat" like a Gold Wing, but actually a V-6 wit h an included ang le of 150 degrees . Like most good ideas, yo u reall y have to wonder w hy Honda, or BMW for that mat ter, didn't think of it earlier. "T his d esi g n lo w e rs the center of gravity in the corner," exp lained Tako. "In order to maximize the banking ang le in cornering, we set the engine to a"150degree V-shape." . Ho nda didn't state a projected power output for the X-Wing engine, but whatever it is, it surely m ust be enoug h, since Ho nda designed the X-Wing w ith one of the most aerodynamic fairings ever see n on a street-going motorcycle. Even modem Grand Prix bikes are not this slee k! The imp ro ved aerodynamics are the result of a novel clamshell apparatus that closes in on the front wheel at high speeds and opens ou t at low speeds. "We have an automatic air fla p," said Tako. "When the speed is low, it is a u tomatica lly opened, a nd w he n th e speed is enha nced to the hig h speed, it is automa tically closed." Simi lar thinking was applied on the upper half of the fairi ng, where wit h a push of a button the ride r can extend the fair in g ou twa rd to p rovide more wind protection for his hands, or upward to change the deflection of airflow aro und ' his head . The nose of the fai ring houses two pairs of headlam ps . The larger set contains a pair of oval near-field lamps, and above these is a pair of sma ll-diameter projection la m ps. The arra ngement is most d ist in ctive, and ev il-looking, saying to slowpo kes, "Get ou t of my way!" Poised in the cheeks of the fairi ng are rad ia tor gril les wi th horiz ontal fins, a la th e N R750 megabuck spor t bike fro m earlier in the decade. These vent airflow to the two side-mounted radiators, while a third rad iator is situated in front of the rig ht-hand ba nk of cylinders. The cylinder h e a d s are nicely exposed through openings in the side of the fairin g, ye t the ou termos t points of the fairing are ova l-sha ped subsections, replaceable in th e eve nt they are d amaged . Simi lar oval-shaped pieces a re also on the saddlebags. The exhaust and muffling system is totally enclosed within the lower bellypan of the fairing . Normally , the exhaust pipes are one of the central elemen ts in motorcycle styling, an d bikes