Up Front

UP FRONT

The Burning Question

MARK HOYER

WHAT'S THE FUTURE HOLD? THAT would be one of the top burning questions. As it relates to our interests, motorcycle manufacturers spend large portions of their profits trying to predict the future. And sometimes they even get it right.

Prognostication is an unenviable position to be in, particularly because manufacturers are often trying to predict what we want before we even know we want it. But it's also quite exciting. The general trend for motorcycle designs in the U.S. over the last several decades has not been toward workaday utility and mega efficiency but rather increased performance and specialization. This month's cover bike, the Honda NC700X, indicates this is changing.

One of the things I find so interesting about this new-think machine is that the concept was hatched something like five years ago. Looking back at the general market trends in 2007, great celebrations were being made for the hot new 600cc supersports, the first Kawasaki ZX-14 was whacking its giant velvet fist on the heads of its big-bore competitors, and the all-new Ducati 1098 was up against two also-all-new Japanese literbikes: the Suzuki GSX-R1000 and Yamaha YZF-R1. Adventure bikes were already big, and truly giant cruisers were proliferating.

Times were good, money was easy, and gas was about $2.80 per gallon. The term "crossover" didn't apply to motorcycles. And then...

"We looked at the Lehman crash and the subprime crisis and said, 'Wow, the world's going to change for us,"' said Ray Blank, Senior VP of American Honda's motorcycle division. "Motorcycle demographics are changing, and we have to serve a number of new needs. We're going to need the creation of a market tool that doesn't fit the normal equations. We need to have character, versatility, convenience, strong appeal to enthusiasts and 'intenders' alike. We need style, performance and price at the knock-off-yoursocks level. We need very broad appeal.

"Fortuitously, HGA [Honda R&D in Japan] was already ahead of the game. Using the buzz-term 'VFM' (Value for Money), they had set about searching for concepts, designs, procurement and pricing that would fill the bill. And they came up with the 'NC' concept. Using the economies of scale, they set about designing a platform strategy, integrated Honda's proprietary Dual Clutch Transmission option, stirred in a dose of auto technology and priced these new units almost outrageously low."

So, in 2012, we are still celebrating performance and power. Okay, maybe there isn't a fresh crop of 600cc supersports, but the new ZX-14R is whacking its now-larger velvet fist on the heads of its big-bore competitors, and an allnew Ducati Panigale 1199 is going up against some pretty incredible lOOOcc sportbikes that have been introduced in the meantime. Adventure bikes have mostly gotten bigger and heavier, although the BMW F800GS and Triumph Tiger 800 XC, while not small, are not huge, either. The really giant cruisers have, ahem, largely vanished (aside from the Triumph Rocket III), and Honda even killed its VTX1800 line.

But the term "crossover" now applies to motorcycles, and it indicates a nascent shift in two-wheel consumer values. We have seen this on cycleworld.com with the NC700X and other low-priced economical bikes such as the CBR250R and Kawasaki Ninja 250, which consistently are some of the most-read stories.

In fact, when we posted the fuel receipt for the NC700X testbike's 73-mpg tank on the CW Facebook wall, there was a wellabove-average response. More than half the comments were positive (remember, this is the Internet...). Our readers are thrilled about the NC700X's gas mileage and its price. Lower-cost, fuel-efficient machines have been with us all along, but we mostly haven't paid attention to them, at least not in meaningful numbers. Now, economy has become a purchase-driver in the U.S. in what is essentially a new segment.

If I'm going to make predictions, I will say that the NC700X is just the first step in our market. We'll get the more standard-style NC700S (with shortertravel suspension and a lower, 33.1-inch seat height) soon, but probably not the Integra, which is styled more like a large-wheel scooter and crosses over into the wrong territory for the U.S. market's motorcycle-centric mindset.

Overall, though, I predict other manufacturers are going to have to produce bikes to compete with this new Honda. If they don't, the NCs will continue with what Blank described as a "worldwide sellout."

I have to admit, I did not see this one coming.