Photo: Oberdan Bezzi
Honda bringing back full-on, credible middleweight adventure machines is one of the greatest news we got this spring. Still a rumor backed solely by some patent drawings, the new true dual-sport motorcycle is, however, most likely to stir up the markets quite a bit.
Such bikes have been missing from the manufacturers' line-ups for years, with only a handful of machines that could do off-road and almost decent on-road performance available in the last decade.
On the other hand, Honda's middleweight dual-sport bikes have gathered a loyal following over the years, whether we're talking about the NX650 Dominator, the XL600V Transalp, or the XR750 Africa Twin. The lack of such bikes caused a lot of guys to refrain from selling their old machines because they could not find the right new ones, but this might just change.
Even though the rumors indicate a successor of the Dominator, there is still plenty of guessing left as to what solution will Honda choose. Three options seem likely to be considered, with a thumper in either air/oil-cooled or liquid-cooled version and a liquid-cooled twin, perhaps a nimble parallel one.
It will be exciting to see how much the new machine will resemble Oberdan Bezzi's rendering of the Dominator... in case Honda goes for the NX and not another bike. Obiboi's Dominator shows a tightly-packed liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine, and to spice things up, he added a kick-starter as well.
The digital version of the Dominator shows new, upside-down forks, dual-pot front calipers for the twin rotors, and ABS. This particular rendering is, however, a bit old, and we should expect to see radial-mount calipers in the final product.
Another thing that we're eager to find out is how much Honda will take long hauls into consideration. That is, among the middleweight dual-sport bikes, the Transalp was the one more travel-friendly, whereas the Dominator was the more off-road-prone model.
Where the new Honda will slot between traveling and off-road fun is still a thing of mystery. If you ask us, we guess that Tokyo already has a lot of bikes that can do much better on tarmac than in the dirt, and the Honda range might need a bit of compensation.
Looking at Oberdan Bezzi's Dominator, this machine is surely a looker and we guess it could provide quite a lot of fun. And this goes both hauling a tent and other camping gear plus a passenger during the summer vacations and scrambling along muddy forest trails.
Any other ideas about the upcoming middleweight Honda?
On the other hand, Honda's middleweight dual-sport bikes have gathered a loyal following over the years, whether we're talking about the NX650 Dominator, the XL600V Transalp, or the XR750 Africa Twin. The lack of such bikes caused a lot of guys to refrain from selling their old machines because they could not find the right new ones, but this might just change.
Even though the rumors indicate a successor of the Dominator, there is still plenty of guessing left as to what solution will Honda choose. Three options seem likely to be considered, with a thumper in either air/oil-cooled or liquid-cooled version and a liquid-cooled twin, perhaps a nimble parallel one.
It will be exciting to see how much the new machine will resemble Oberdan Bezzi's rendering of the Dominator... in case Honda goes for the NX and not another bike. Obiboi's Dominator shows a tightly-packed liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine, and to spice things up, he added a kick-starter as well.
The digital version of the Dominator shows new, upside-down forks, dual-pot front calipers for the twin rotors, and ABS. This particular rendering is, however, a bit old, and we should expect to see radial-mount calipers in the final product.
Another thing that we're eager to find out is how much Honda will take long hauls into consideration. That is, among the middleweight dual-sport bikes, the Transalp was the one more travel-friendly, whereas the Dominator was the more off-road-prone model.
Where the new Honda will slot between traveling and off-road fun is still a thing of mystery. If you ask us, we guess that Tokyo already has a lot of bikes that can do much better on tarmac than in the dirt, and the Honda range might need a bit of compensation.
Looking at Oberdan Bezzi's Dominator, this machine is surely a looker and we guess it could provide quite a lot of fun. And this goes both hauling a tent and other camping gear plus a passenger during the summer vacations and scrambling along muddy forest trails.
Any other ideas about the upcoming middleweight Honda?
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