American car web site, Edmunds Line (the same site that sprung the first real VFR1200F photos) has published two sets of spy shots this morning, both concerning upcoming Honda models. Firstly, the CrossTourer, Honda’s hope-to-be competitor for the adventure market. (Note that these photos ARE copyright, but, unlike most sites who will copy them and use them, I am acknowledging the source)
Thinly disguised, the bike looks smaller and leaner than the drawings originally suggested and it’s hard to see from this angle whether there is a clutch lever or not, but insiders are suggesting that the bike will be available with DCT.
Wire wheels are nice to see and it’s a pity that Honda couldn’t fit this much neater muffler to the VFR as well. Whether the world is yet ready for another electronically controlled motorcycle in the middle of the Bolivian Alps is another matter, but it will probably sell well anyway.
Speaking of the VFR1200F, now that the “newness” has worn off, word from O/S is that it is selling very poorly with dealers already slashing thousands of dollars off RRP just to move them out of the showrooms. I don’t know what the situation is here, but I have yet to see one on the road and my local Honda dealer doesn’t even have one on the floor.
From the same web site and the cameras of Brenda Priddy & Company, another spy shot of a new “entry level” Honda for 2012.
This to me looks a lot like the Euro-Hornet machine, except for the single disk and conventional forks. What is REALLY interesting is that, if you look closely, there is no clutch lever or gear lever, indicating that the “trickle down” effect that we expected to see is starting to happen. This machine is obviously fitted with the DCT.
In racing news, Dani Pedrosa is still under doctor’s orders and is resting up following his surgery. Whether he will be fit for Catalunya is still up in the air, but Dani is taking it philosophically, “The priority now is to recover as much as possible from the injury and get back into shape to ride the bike. Logically, if it’s Barcelona, the better, but there are limits.”
In other injury news, this just in. CV to miss the WSBK round at MMP as he continues to recover from his knee injury and the elbow tear sustained at Monza.
I’ve updated some more news and pictures of the Shadowfax restoration today as well.
