First my thanks to Singhg5 and the other person who replied in answer to my questions. Then, to the peculiar twist this thread has taken,
"i came not to bury Cesar but to praise him" quoth Cicero before he set about his gradually building character assinaition of the dead emperor to seize the power of the senate in the wake of the power vacuum left by the death of the great man.
Not sure how we got to high revving oversquare 250 cc displacement budget Hondas. Great machines, no doubt, and another interesting footnote to the potential evolution of the single cyclinder motorcycle engine, BUT definitely not in the same genre as the Bullet (or even the long winded KLR for that matter). I comes down to torque. The essential and defining characteristic of the UCE is low revving tall torque, which would make riding it much like riding a Sportster with lots of low end unhrurried pull and acceleration at most speeds without the need to downshift plus holding power on hills UP TO a maximum RPM, then curtains--hence the absolute limit on top speed. Whereas the Honda would be a much higher revving engine with most of its pull in the upper rev range (torque less than 1/2 of the RE) and overall behaviour, I would think more like the early high revving 2 stoke Kawasaki and suzuki bikes. ("Ring,dingding ding ding ding") as you shift through the (necessary ) 6 gears. Not saying the technicals of the engine aren't amazing on the new Honda aren't amazing----they are: And the price can't be beat for sure, but to my taste, the esthetic is of no appeal , and since , in terms of practicality, lets face it , for many of us a motorcycle is a style statement or extension of our personality, I would ante up the extra bucks for the bike that suits my image, and would not likely pay for the lower priced honda, just becasue a bike is a bit of a luxury anyway. No question that the introduction of this machine will attract a certain segment of the market,, but I wouldn't be interested in even a hundred horspower sport bike at that price with a keel like a can-opener. Chaque a son gout: Call me nostalgic, but it doesn't look like a motorcycle. The Bullet does. If there is a bike that WOULD compete , to me it would be the Kawasaki W 800: Bigger bucks. A better Bonneville than Triumph's Bonneville . Looks like a motorcycle.
When I see Honda CB 250Rs loaded like camels ascending the Himalayas 2 up and fjording rocky streams, I will revise my opnion. Meantime, I still like the UCE. Nigel (By the Way I have owned two Hondas , both 250s actually, and great bikes one twin in the 70's and an XL Enduro single in the 80s: Rode them hard. Loved them both. ) Now love the Bullet. Go figure.
Topic: UCE Performance Perspecitve (Read 10635 times)