Honda @ Auto Expo 2008

You meet the nicest people on a Honda they say and perhaps that was exactly what i did experience at the Honda pavilion. The sales people at the stands were really very kind to lead me to the senior most official there Mr Gupta who actually was heading the design department. A lot of companies were actually putting a lot of emphasis on design aspect in the field of motorcycling trying to put the message across that it takes a lot to make any motorcycle look like what the rider wants or feels it to look like. The basic shape may perhaps be the same but the versatility of accessories and graphics play an important role, more so on the mind of the Indian rider whose knowledge of ergonomics is pretty poor and whose body can actually somehow mould itself to any shape the contraption that vehicle takes over. From personal experience i can say that i would rather endure the "once in a blue moon" pain in the shoulder than notice that my handle is slightly bent by a few degrees and opt for a perfectly straight handle.

The STAR of the show however was the newly launched AVIATOR scooter, a poor excuse for a revolutionary design, it just looked like a Karolbagh version of the activa. There were definitely some advancements but somehow not very evident to my visually observant but technically ignorant Indian mind. It did have unique headlamp assembly, perhaps a brighter bulb. Indicators had moved form the handlebars to the side aprons and a dual tone colour scheme created a classique appeal. It had a different front suspension set up and a front disc brake along with a stylish integrated grab rail at the rear as innovations but over all had the same Scooter like look and feel.

As soon as we entered the Honda stall, we noticed the Honda Rider Trainer, a computer simulated riding platform which helped increase rider response on roads by understanding how random traffic moved and predicting the moves accordingly. basically a unique device to teach plain riding. I would love to see the complex algorithm which would go into creation of such a simulation for the average Indian traffic situation. Millions and millions of complex mathematical permutations and combinations which i doubt the processor shall ever be able to comprehend and accordingly re-produce.

The most obvious ATTRACTION of the show however pretty much down played was the RC 212V, the MOTO GP legend. IT featured an 800 cc liquid cooled DOHC engine. The model for 2008 had the all new chassis built with mass centralization thus improving race dynamics to a large extent. This bike was in the livery of Ace Rider No1 Nicky Hayden.

The other 2 beauties from the the CBRrrrrrrrrr Family were the 1000 RR and the 600 RR. The 1 litre power plant as well as some other structural parts were basically race derived and added to the overall enhancements featured for the 2008 model. It was also done up in a fine wine red - black and beige livery. Looked real classy. It looked more Julia Roberts than Britney spears..Guys..those who cant relate to the comparison..please forgive. The 600 CC beauty was in classic BLACK. somehow Black is the only colour which is EVERGREEN. The Yamaha had a black bike, Suzuki's had a black bike, TVS too and now Honda also.

The only Bike which actually was a sight from a Touring and motorcycling perspective was the Hornet CB 600F Hornet. Shining in Gold livery this lean mean machine seemed poised for newer conquests. Its however a sad truth that most of the naked bikes somehow are never considered as Superbikes despite them delivering quite impressive performance figures.

Besides these there were two concepts based on the Honda Shine. The first one was a repsol Honda coloured CBF Sports concept which looked quite close to a Karizma and had conventional twin shocks at the rear. This was a true blue 2 seater with an integrated headlamp assembly.

The other Shine derivative was the CBF racing concept painted in Honda racing red colours and striking graphics this had disc brakes both front and rear and was a single seater. The CBF sports concept could be a sporty upgrade and with Yamaha also coming into the 150 segment seriously, this could already have a lucrative competitive market to launch itself.

Besides this the standard Unicorn, Shine and the new graphically jazzed up Dio dlx were there along with the veterans Activa and Eterno.

At the extreme end of the pavilion was the Honda Design Corner where in people could interact with the Honda designers and conjure up the dream bike of their choice by providing inputs while the designers would immediately just add small touches to the concept as it took shape. Kudos to Honda for this. We would now like to see this translate into the actual bikes that are expected from Honda in the coming months.

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