#Honda

It’s always interesting when manufacturers introduce concept models. While concept models can provide a good indication at a company’s design or technological direction, we’re resigned to the fact that most won’t see serial production, no matter how many Futurama “Shut up and take my money!” memes people post on Facebook.

It’s the moment of reckoning for the motorcyclist-in-training. The time when clutch plates come together, and balance and forward motion begins. The fear of rocketing out of control and crashing horrendously is palpable. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Cedergrens has removed all the monster-under-the-bed scariness of learning to operate a motorcycle and replaced it with a Skidbike security blanket.

When last we left the CB500F, we were all not exactly amazed but at least pleasantly surprised at what a very nice little inexpensive motorcycle Honda had sprung from its new Thailand factory. When it was new in 2013, the 471cc parallel-Twin CB won MO’s coveted Best Value Motorcycle for that year.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Honda should feel pretty special. According to Kawasaki’s sales data, collected from data provided by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), the Grom is number two on the list of best-selling motorcycles in the category Kawasaki calls “Small Street,” which includes dual-purpose motorcycles up to 350cc, scooters between 50cc – 400cc, and street motorcycles below 400cc. Number one is Kawasaki’s own Ninja 300, but there’s no ignoring the meteoric success the Honda Grom has become, which has spurred the creation of this: the 2017 Kawasaki Z125 Pro.

Just when we thought we knew what to expect from the 2016 MotoGP season, today happened. The practice sessions leading up to the (first of four) Spanish Grand Prix found the factory Yamaha team consistently at or near the top of the charts. Repsol Honda wonderkid Marc Marquez was competitive while struggling with rear grip. Valentino Rossi waited until the last lap of Q2 to lay down the fastest lap of the weekend, for his first Jerez pole since 2005. Today, The Doctor made a house call on Jorge Lorenzo, “administering a dose of his own medicine” in winning at Jerez for the first time since 2009.

So Jorge Lorenzo’s move from the factory Yamaha team to the factory Ducati team is now old news. Maverick Vinales appears set to abandon the Suzuki team to take Lorenzo’s place. We don’t know which of the current Andreas laboring for Ducati will be dislodged next year, but Sam Lowes has been tagged to move up from Moto2 to unseat either Alvaro Bautista or Stefan Bradl on the Gresini Aprilia. Dani Pedrosa’s seat with Repsol Honda appears to be in play; Suzuki is said to covet him or Andrea Dovizioso for 2017-18. With several up-and-comers expected to graduate from Moto2 along with Lowes – Alex Rins and Johann Zarco first and foremost – the silly season is becoming more interesting than the 2016 championship season itself.

On a nice spring afternoon outside Austin, Texas, Repsol Honda supernova Marc Marquez, looking much the way he did in 2013 and 2014, put on another clinic, winning the Grand Prix of the Americas from pole for the fourth consecutive year. The win makes Captain America 10 for 10 in premier class tilts run in the United States.

When we read about people riding motorcycles around the world, the vision that often comes to mind is of big adventure touring bikes, packed to the gunnels with necessary supplies. This image has been fed to us by Long Way Round and other well-heeled and well-documented travels.

Here’s another rare old beast that never made it to America, not officially anyway. Produced from 1981 to ’83, the CB1100R was Honda’s first “homologation” special, meaning a bike that had to be made available for sale to the public to qualify for racing. According to various sources, 1050 were produced in 1981 (CB1100RB), followed by 1500 in 1982 (RC), and a final 1500 more in ’83 (RD). The bike pictured above, owned by our friend and top geezer Grant Hellinger, is CB1100RC number 1500 – the last one to roll off the line in ’82.

The Honda NSR250R and Suzuki RGV250 changed the sportbike landscape all over the world – except in the USA where they sadly weren’t available due to emissions regulations. Hugely popular in Australia, Asia, Europe and the UK, these powerful two-strokes were the last of the original racer-replica era. While the rest of the world spent Sunday mornings screaming up and down local hills in two-stroke bliss, American guys and girls enjoyed four-stroke sensibility. What a shame.

After an exhausting, confusing and ultimately revelatory weekend in Argentina, MotoGP boogies 4500 miles north to Austin, deep in the heart of Texas, for Round 3 of the 2016 season. Since its inception in 2013, the pretentiously-named Circuit of the Americas has hosted an annual Honda clambake, the other teams invited mostly to fill the grid and add to the festival atmosphere. Repsol Honda pretty boy Marc Marquez has started and won from pole all three years, and looks ready to do the same on Sunday.

After a convincing performance in the Qatari desert two weeks ago, defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo confronts one of his demons this week. The Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina, running as usual at the shiny new-ish Termas de Río Hondo, operates outside of Lorenzo’s Land. One of five venues on the 2016 calendar where Lorenzo has yet to taste victory in the premier class (quick – name the other four*), Lorenzo will have his work cut out for him this weekend. *COTA, The Sachsenring, Red Bull Ring and Sepang.

It’s a question we’re asked all the time: “What’s the best motorcycle for a new rider?” It’d be great if we could give the same answer every time, but in reality the answer depends on many factors – rider size, competency, wants, needs, and desires among them. Small displacement bikes are generally a good place to start, but read enough forum commenters and before long you’ll find someone who shares their tale of how they started on a literbike and lived to tell the tale.

At the Osaka Motorcycle Show this weekend, Honda showed this prototype of the CRF250 Rally. We first reported about the CRF250 Rally a year ago, when Honda unveiled the concept, also at the Osaka Motorcycle Show.

Honda revealed a new concept model based on the CB1100 at the Osaka Motorcycle Show. The new concept, dubbed the Concept CB Type II, is described as “a new direction in air-cooled CB models.”