Several years ago, our friends at Honda brought into their motorcycle dealer showrooms a futuristic, uncategorizable, hyper-expensive motorcycle that left everyone from the dealers themselves to those customers walking through scratching their heads, wondering, "What were they thinking of?"
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgur...4LRAhUDNiYKHaJcBlwQMwhdKCEwIQ&iact=mrc&uact=8
For a little under $15 Large, you could buy a new Honda DN-01. For about the same money, you could buy a Harley Electra Glide Standard. This price was a LOT more than the typical price for a large scooter or a 700cc sportbike.
The DN-01 mainly featured futuristic styling, but was striking in several other ways. It had a motor-scooter drivetrain, albeit a very large one: a 680cc V-twin with an automatic transmission - a Honda version of the CVT which they called a human-friendly-transmission. For many motorcyclists, an automatic transmission itself removes the vehicle from the category of "motorcycle," regardless of anything else that the vehicle might have.
The DN-01 had a low seat, and a very pronounced "cruiser" riding position, with the rider's feet placed well forward of his butt (center of mass). Honda chose the cruiser riding position, they said, in order to make the bike as comfortable as possible for "touring" (long rides in the country). But it's not a cruiser, by any stretch of the imagination. And parenthetically the cruiser riding position REQUIRES a soft suspension, since the rider cannot support his weight with his legs when going over a bump or a pot-hole.
The DN-01 did not have the step-through frame of a scooter, and in fact, at first glance it looks like a sportbike - which is decidedly is not. A Ninja 500 would blow it into the weeds.
The windshield was shaped purely for aesthetic considerations, and actually directed the flow of air at the rider's face. Because of this, one could almost say that the bike was not ridable on the highway without a full-face helmet.
The engine is sophisticated and relatively large for a scooter, but with 700 pounds plus the rider to push around, performance is very modest - not at all what you would expect from the appearance of the bike. And the sound, like basically all Honda's, is similar to that of an angry sewing machine.
Finally, there is no provision for "stuff." No hard bags or trunk, and unlike a large scooter, there is essentially no storage space under the seat. If Honda made this for long-distance riding, I guess the rider was supposed to keep his stuff in a backpack?
Quite predictably, Honda dealers sold very few of these DN-01's, and those that were sold were heavily discounted. They stopped making them in 2010, and two things are very conspicuous in the used market for them. First (of course), the prices are less than half of the original MSRP, regardless of miles or condition, and second, most of the ones on the market have minimal miles on them. Less than a thousand miles per year, on average.
Now that many years have passed, any shrewd purchaser who is willing to expand his (or her) search geographically can find several virtually new DN-01's at Dollar Store prices, and many of them have been fitted with aftermarket bags and windshields, and other accessories that make them fulfill the promise of the original concept. It's a beautiful, comfortable, efficient bike.
If anyone ever buys my (fucking) Goldwing, I might buy one myself.
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgur...4LRAhUDNiYKHaJcBlwQMwhdKCEwIQ&iact=mrc&uact=8
For a little under $15 Large, you could buy a new Honda DN-01. For about the same money, you could buy a Harley Electra Glide Standard. This price was a LOT more than the typical price for a large scooter or a 700cc sportbike.
The DN-01 mainly featured futuristic styling, but was striking in several other ways. It had a motor-scooter drivetrain, albeit a very large one: a 680cc V-twin with an automatic transmission - a Honda version of the CVT which they called a human-friendly-transmission. For many motorcyclists, an automatic transmission itself removes the vehicle from the category of "motorcycle," regardless of anything else that the vehicle might have.
The DN-01 had a low seat, and a very pronounced "cruiser" riding position, with the rider's feet placed well forward of his butt (center of mass). Honda chose the cruiser riding position, they said, in order to make the bike as comfortable as possible for "touring" (long rides in the country). But it's not a cruiser, by any stretch of the imagination. And parenthetically the cruiser riding position REQUIRES a soft suspension, since the rider cannot support his weight with his legs when going over a bump or a pot-hole.
The DN-01 did not have the step-through frame of a scooter, and in fact, at first glance it looks like a sportbike - which is decidedly is not. A Ninja 500 would blow it into the weeds.
The windshield was shaped purely for aesthetic considerations, and actually directed the flow of air at the rider's face. Because of this, one could almost say that the bike was not ridable on the highway without a full-face helmet.
The engine is sophisticated and relatively large for a scooter, but with 700 pounds plus the rider to push around, performance is very modest - not at all what you would expect from the appearance of the bike. And the sound, like basically all Honda's, is similar to that of an angry sewing machine.
Finally, there is no provision for "stuff." No hard bags or trunk, and unlike a large scooter, there is essentially no storage space under the seat. If Honda made this for long-distance riding, I guess the rider was supposed to keep his stuff in a backpack?
Quite predictably, Honda dealers sold very few of these DN-01's, and those that were sold were heavily discounted. They stopped making them in 2010, and two things are very conspicuous in the used market for them. First (of course), the prices are less than half of the original MSRP, regardless of miles or condition, and second, most of the ones on the market have minimal miles on them. Less than a thousand miles per year, on average.
Now that many years have passed, any shrewd purchaser who is willing to expand his (or her) search geographically can find several virtually new DN-01's at Dollar Store prices, and many of them have been fitted with aftermarket bags and windshields, and other accessories that make them fulfill the promise of the original concept. It's a beautiful, comfortable, efficient bike.
If anyone ever buys my (fucking) Goldwing, I might buy one myself.
