KIWI RIDERKIWI RIDER 27

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Custom-style cruisers don’t come any cleaner than Honda’s all-new Fury.But how does such a single-minded style statement handle the humdrum of everyday riding? Very well says Big Dave.

WORDS & PICS: Big Dave

28 KIWI RIDER

What’s in a name?

I picked up the Honda Fury from distributor Blue Wing and was

immediately taken by the appearance of the machine. Pleasantly surprised in fact. For an off-the-shelf Japanese ‘Custom bike’ this is a great looking unit.

The spaced out tube frame, wild rake and chrome engine make for a feel-good ride.

Fortunately, however, the wild styling doesn’t compromise its road manners too much and it delivers real world, middle-weight ‘metric cruiser’ performance.

That’s the fi rst question just about eve-ryone who met the machine asked. ‘What does it ride like?’

Answer!

It rides like a modern 1300cc cruiser.

Twenty years ago, riding a bike with the Fury’s wild rake and slammed rear end would require some ‘allowances.’ The

Fury still does require some concessions to be made for its cornering clearance as that raked-out front end and slammed rear combine for a 1809.5mm wheelbase.

GETTING THOSE PEGS DOWN!

It’s pretty easy to get a foot peg on the tarmac, particularly at low speed, but that said, it is equally easy to negotiate open road corners at the posted advisory speeds, or better.

It tracks beautifully and holds a line very nicely, unlike the old days and when a wild front end meant riding was like steering a Bedford truck with a busted spring.

Whenever I talked about the bike it always came back to how ‘real-worldly’ the Fury is.

‘Yeah, it rides like a modern bike’ was the standard patter.

The seat height is 685mm. Yep, the saddle is just over two feet off the ground. This will serve the shorter of leg well.

Although some might be tested by the far-forwardness of the controls, I found the riding position very comfortable. The machine is narrow and feels quite lithe when aboard.

FIRM RIDE

The ultra-low saddle height and slammed rear end means that there is about 100mm of rear suspension travel and subsequently it’s quite a fi rm ride, but the seat is well padded and you become versed in riding around the worst of the potholes.

The rake and 21 inch front wheel do make the steering slower than a sports-bike, but it’s also not hard to give it a shimmy to avoid the man-hole cover that appears unexpectedly in your path. The 18 inch rear, with 200 section tyre looks the part too.

Actually, the whole rear end is nicely in-tegrated and stylishly sparse, with the array of LED lights integrated into the bodywork.

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Stance & style make sure Honda’s new Fury stands

out from the crowd

Cyclespot HondaCyclespot Honda63 Barrys Point Rd, Takapuna. Ph (09) 486 113663 Barrys Point Rd, Takapuna. Ph (09) 486 1136sales@cyclespot.co.nz www.cyclespot.co.nzsales@cyclespot.co.nz www.cyclespot.co.nz

Ride the NEW Furyor any of our full range of current demo Hondas at Cyclespot Honda $25995

KIWI RIDER 29

New-from-the-ground-up-model combines trend-setting look with rock-solid feel and all the technological mod-cons(PGM-F1 fuel injection/ ABS brakes etc) Honda has be-come famous for. Bike is bigger and brawnier in the fl eshthan it appears in photos, offering an authentic cruiserexperience without the compromises you’d have to put upwith a limited edition model from a custom builder.

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SPECIFICATIONSHONDA FURY

ENGINEType: Liquid-cooled fuel-injected SOHC52° V-twinDisplacement: 1312ccCompression ratio: 9.2:1Bore x stroke: 89.5 x 104.3mmStarting system: ElectricEngine management system: ElectronicFuel system: Honda PGM-F1 fuelinjection w/ 38mm throttle bodiesClutch: Wet mltiplateTransmission: 5-speedFinal drive: Shaft

FRAMEType: Tubular steelSwingarm: SteelFront suspension: Telescopic forksRear suspension: Single shockBrakes: Disc front & rearWheels: Cast aluminium alloy 21 in. dia.front & 18 in. dia. rearTyres: Dunlop Elite 90/90-21 front &20/50-18 rear

DIMENSIONSWheelbase: 1805mmRake: 32°Trail: 92mmLxWxH: 2575 x 900 x 1150mmSeat height: 685mmCurb weight: 303kgFuel tank capacity: 12.8LRRP: $25,999Test bike: Blue Wing Honda

GEARHelmet, jacket & boots: RJaysPants: Draggin Jeans(Gear courtesy MotoMail)

The 52º V-twin engine is dressed in anassortment of covers and plates to givea more traditional appearance to its liquidcooled, SOHC engine, which featuresthree valves and two spark plugs percylinder.

PERFORMANCE & CHARACTER

At 1312cc, with an over-square 89.5mmbore and 104.3mm stroke, it doesn’t havethe same stump-pulling torque as theheavyweights in the Honda range, but ithas performance and character in propor-tion to its cornering clearances and roadmanners.

Brakes are single disc with twin-pistoncalipers front and rear and do a pretty goodjob of hauling the ‘ready to ride’ mass of303kg to a halt. They aren’t the one fi ngeraffair of the VFR1200, but they are com-mensurate with the rest of the machine’sdemeanour.

The multi-plate wet clutch is cableoperated and light and one-fi nger-easy touse. The 5-speed gearbox (all it needs) isprecise and clicks easily into gear – evenneutral when stationary.

The shaft drive is rather neatly inte-grated into the swing arm and is typical ofmodern shaft units. If you create an artifi -cial set of circumstances they can be madeto develop a tiny bit of slop, but in normalriding it’s un-noticeable.

The instrument pod is also somewhatspartan, in keeping with the whole frontend of the bike. Speedometer, LCD odom-eter and an array of warning lights give youthe basics.

VERY PLEASANT

The outlook from the rider’s seat is verypleasant. The headlight enclosure refl ectsthe passing world in lustrous chrome andthe handlebars pull back and are quite fl at,which all adds to the presentation.

The paintwork and finish is standardHonda quality and I had trouble fi nding ablemish.

The exhaust system is quiet, in linewith current regs and the standard note isquite subdued. The guys at Blue Wing tell

us that the inventory of aftermarket acces-sories will be extensive.

The first thing that most couples willwant to address is the pillion seat.

Co-pilot looked at it when I asked forher evaluation and said ‘no thanks’, butthere are backrest and other comfort op-tions available when ordering – otherwiseI found it pretty comfortable. You do feelsome heat from the engine; ‘the tackle’is only a frame rail away from the action,but it’s not uncomfortable – just slightlynoticeable.

OFF-THE-SHELF

I think that’s a good word for the Fury.Comfortable. It’s a comfortable, off theshelf custom bike that feels great, goesnicely and looks as pretty as a picture.

Demos are at your Honda Dealer now.

Nothing to be Furious about at all. KR