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Honda NM4 Vultus Receives Automotive Color Options

Honda Vultus will be available in more color options from now on, at least in Japan. The house of Tokyo adds special colors as an option for the NM4 model, and it looks like the trim of these motorcycles will not be unlike that of cars.
A golden Honda NM4 Vultus? 6 photos
Photo: Honda
New colors for Honda NM4 VultusNew colors for Honda NM4 VultusNew colors for Honda NM4 VultusNew colors for Honda NM4 VultusNew colors for Honda NM4 Vultus
However, the model remains almost unchanged from the version Honda launched in the first place. The only aesthetic improvement is that Honda appears to have replaced the butt-ugly cylindrical silencer of the Vultus with one that is more coherent with the bike's overall design cues.

The original exhaust can of the NM4 was simply appalling, and it even made the bike look much uglier. The Vultus was a matter of love or hate straight from the get-go, and judging by the sales figures, the ones that loved it enough as to actually buy it were rather few.

Even more, the price of this would-be exquisite piece of machinery was in no way helpful in convincing people to fork out money and take a Vultus home. With a debut price tag reading north of €11,000 in Europe and rather modest performance specs, it's no wonder that the boat didn't float.

54 hp for a 245 kg bike is nothing to write home about

One of the key problems of the Honda NM4 Vultus is that its engine was not making it exactly thrilling. With a kerb weight of 245 kg (540 lb), the Vultus' 54 horsepower were way short of what this bike needed to become a real sensation. The figures were somehow sweetened by the 68 Nm (50 lb-ft) of torque, but still, the NM4 failed to impress.

Perhaps the Japanese OEM feels that adding special order colors at a small extra price of ~$190 or €175 could represent an incentive for the customers. We could speculate that these colors are an echo of the changing color dashboard of the bike, a trick feature, yet a totally useless one when it comes to road worthiness.

The Japanese market will see both the basic NM4-01 version and the NM4-02 model equipped with panniers. No word on the availability of the new Vultus (and its colors) in Europe or worldwide.
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