Tokyo-A-Go-Go

TOKYO-A-GO-GO

ROUNDUP

WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN? Moto Guzzi meets George Jetson? Mister Spock’s starship superbike? Nope. This here is, and we quote from Honda’s hormonally charged press brochure, a “modern form injected with a pure, wild, naked sportiness.” Could be Jenny McCarthy, actually...but no, it’s the Effin’ One—oops, make that the FN-1—a concept bike that stole all the oohs and ahhs at the 32nd-annual Tokyo Motor Show, every effin’ one of ’em.

Taking center stage is the FN’s mutha of a motor, a liquid-cooled, 1500cc V-Four mounted longitudinally in the chassis-except that, unless we miss our guess, the engine is the chassis, with the various cycle parts hung from or bolted to it. Not a lot of other details on the Vee motor (which is probably more balsa than metal at this stage), except that its cylinder spread is 52 degrees and each bank gets a single overhead cam. Capping off the effort is The Exhaust System That Ate Pittsburgh, four drainpipe-sized ducts that gallop down and away before hightailing it up to a pair of cool slash-cut canisters that flank what might have been the passenger perch-still could be, we suppose, if your concept girlfriend happens to have an asbestos arse. Joining rear wheel to powerplant is a single-sided swingarm that serves as conduit for the shaft final drive and the rear brake’s hydraulic lines, routed to a ménage à trois of calipers that put the snatch on an inboard rotor. These are joined by a convincing quad-array of calipers up front, the whole system presumably linked by an advanced version of Honda’s LBS setup. Front suspension also is single-sided, and appears to be nosegear purloined from an F/A-18 Hornet. With all this swoopy suspension/ stopping apparatus mounted to the left, the wheels’ appearance from the right side is particularly striking-all you see are polished spokes.

FAZERS SET TO STUN

Big news from Yamaha at the Tokyo Show, as it had been at Milan and Paris, was the allnew YZF-R1 supersport, but there were other tasty tidbits lurking in the R-bike’s shadow. Chief among these was the Fazer Racer (right), a concept bike intended for spec-class roadracing. The Racer is based on the just-released Fazer 600 (below), a Euro-market budget blaster a /a Suzuki’s Bandit 600. The Fazer streetbike uses the YZF600’s inline-Four, canted 25 degrees forward in a steel-tube frame. Top speed is said to be 135 mph.

The Racer should be good for 15 or so mph more, courtesy of intake/exhaust tuning. A huge, bay-shaped radiator sheds heat build-up, augmented by an oil-cooler in the redone half-fairing. Gone is the Stocker’s 41mm conventional fork, replaced by a robust upsideunit mated to outsized brakes.

RAGIN' RETROS

Yesterbikes inspired by both sides of the Atlantic were on display in Honda’s show booth. The prototype CL400S scrambler (above), powered by an air-cooled ohc Single, might just as well have been brought to you by the blokes at Birmingham Small Arms, right down to the polished fenders, two-tone gas tank and sausage-style mufflers. The CL, in brochure-speak, is a “neo-classical iron horse that transmits the single-cylinder engine pulsation to the rider in a very positive manner.” No clue from Honda on when or if the bogus-Beezer will make it to production. Already on its way to Japanese showrooms, though, is the Steed Springer (below). This is the 400cc version of our Shadow 600, made up like an American chopper by way of a springer fork, 21inch front wheel and peanut gas tank. U.S. Honda officials are considering the look for the Shadow.

More forward-think is evident in the integration of an onboard satellite-tracking Global Positioning System. Info is routed to the FN-l’s spacey, color-matched helmet, where a heads-up display in the visor shows bike location, as well as road speed, rpm, ambient temperature, engine status, etc. No word on the possibility of linking up in transit with your favorite internet chat room. By the way, expect GPS to soon become standard fare on motorcycles. In Japan, two 1998 trail bikes, Suzuki’s Djebel 250GPS and Yamaha’s Serow GPS, are so-equipped. Can luxury touring bikes and sporttourers be far behind?

LET'S GET NAKED!

If Honda’s now-defunct CB1000 sport-standard was nicknamed the “Big 1,” then meet the “Bigger 1” (right), a new-for-’98 CB1300. A further improvement of the Universal Japanese Motorcycle concept, the bike is powered by a CBR-based 1284cc inline-Four, stopped by sixpiston Nissin brakes up front and suspended out back by a novel “Double Prolink” arrangement. This mates the twin shocks to the swingarm via rocker arms to give a true rising-rate rear suspension. Sadly, the big CB1300 won’t be coming to the U.S., at least not in its current form-despite ail that added displacement, the motor apparently is still something of an underachiever. Too bad. At the opposite end of the nakedbike scale is Honda’s VTR250 (left), a 305-pound, Japanonly model that probably should pay royalties to Ducati for its styling. A mini-Monster, anyone? 1 tf

Anyway, at this point Honda’s cyber superbike is a blue-sky prototype and may never see production. But there is significance here: Among the requisite rabble of retrocruisers, retro-scramblers and retro-superbikes, the FN-1 was one of the few Tokyo showbikes (maybe the only one?) that looked forward to the future, not back into the past, for its inspiration.

SMALL STREETFIGHTERS

Supermotard strikes again, this time in the 250cc class. Both the Yamaha Street Attacker (above) and the Kawasaki D-Tracker (below) started out as trail bikes before being rigged for roadrunning. While the Kawasaki is basically a street-ized KLX250 in black-n-blue paint, the Street Attacker is a Lanza dual-purpose bike made meaner by the addition of a wavy-gravy expansion chamber, cut-down fenders, high-grip rubber, monster front brake and that sharp-looking, asymmetric headlight/numberplate setup. For now, the Yamaha is an exhibition model in prototype form, while the D-Tracker is already on sale in Japan. Could we see something similar in a 650, please?

SCOOTER WARS

Gold Wing meets Helix in Honda’s FB-S 400 (above). Currently in prototype stage, the super-scooter is powered by a liquid-cooled boxer-Twin said to give “performance comparable to a 400cc sport motorcycle.” Creature comforts include a wide, full-coverage fairing, sumptuous saddle and cavernous tail trunk. “The model will appeal to conventional scooter riders as well as motorcycle enthusiasts,” promises Honda. Suzuki jumped into the scooter fray with its Sky Wave 250 (below), featuring an underseat storage compartment big enough to swallow a small suitcase.

Live long and prosper.

David Edwards