But that is, I believe, the idea. I am not sure who Honda is marketing this thing to. Other than a toughie dressed head to toe in bad biker black, pictured riding the bike in the DN-01's press materials, there isn't a clue. Is it entry-level riders; older riders with diminished skills; the growing female segment; young riders with undeveloped skills; the gadget collector, weird guys who just want easy operation, or the physically challenged?
The hefty $15, 599 (and up) price tag will send many into sticker shock, reducing Honda's muddled target audience. I get the impression, however, that Honda just doesn't care. The DN-01 is an experiment, a show, a notice to the industry. Will the factory expand the platform, offering bigger displacement DN-02s and -03s in cruiser, tourer or sportbike models? Can the DN-01 cross back?
It's hard to be badass on what mostly feels like a hulky scooter, even if it can cruise at 90 per all damn day without breaking a sweat. The DN-01 has a feathery light feel, even though the bike weighs in at a non-petite 595 lbs., topped off. Its offset dual-crankpin crankshaft has been built for perfect harmonic balance, and its hushed, continuously variable, hydromechanical, maintenance-free Human Friendly Transmission doesn't flinch or lag, insatiably swallowing up drive speeds as it shifts up and down.
The handsome Honda does have some chic features, such as beefy 41mm forks, 17-inch Z-rated radials front and rear, a racy 28.5-degree rake, a two-into-one stainless steel exhaust system with chrome-plated triangular tailpipe, which the factory designed to centralize mass for improved handling. It appears to be born of an alternative Honda design school; the same one that briefly gave us the Rune.
The mirrors double as turn-signals and are cleanly mounted on the forward bodywork rather than the handlebar. They provide a nice rear view, but are not so safely adjusted on the fly. The unobtrusive floorboards are long haul comfy, but the broad footbrake pad looks like it came off a truck.
The LED backlit speedo contains a tach, dual-trip calculator, fuel gauge, clock and a thoughtful, Baby Boomer-friendly digital mph readout in the biggest numbers I've ever seen on a bike or automobile. By the way, that emergency brake is for parking. This is a very un-bike thing, but good to have when your bike slips out of "gear" when turned off, making parking on steep hills an unexpected adventure.