Honda DN-01 - 2009 |
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 If you want a glimpse of what the future of motorcycling could look like take a good long hard look at the Honda Dream New Concept 01, or DN-01 for short. If you don’t look hard, believe me everybody else does when you are riding it, in fact few bikes I have ever ridden, including some real exotica, have ever attracted so much attention!
 Despite its title, it is a reality, a production motorcycle that has progressed beyond the concept stage and appeared in the dealer’s showrooms with a very high price tag – £9,321.00. The only problem is that despite its futuristic looks and some clever technology, it is not special enough to warrant such a large figure.
Honda themselves make better bikes that fit into accepted categories that the motorcyclist and the general public recognise. Yes it is a motorcycle, not a scooter, thanks to its seventeen-inch wheels. Although Honda bill it as a tourer, it has no luggage carrying capacity as standard or even any approved accessory to save you strapping things across the seat. Large scooters, which is the category most would say it fits in, have more luggage carrying capacity than this – no room on this even for Blackberry!
The Cruiser rider would also scoff if you turned up at a meet on one of these, so buy one and you’re on your own as far as joining specific groups is concerned!
 Certainly it is not a sports bike, because despite its physical size, it is only powered by the four-stroke liquid cooled 680cc V-twin that does such sterling service in the Honda Deauville and Transalp. But, the DN-01 is down on power (61bhp) compared to those excellent tried and tested machines, neither of which are regarded as having a startling turn of speed, even when wound up.
 It does have the ability to handle quite well when it is hustled along, the tubular steel cradle frame being supported by useful 41mm conventional telescopic forks at the front with a seven position pre-load mono-shock at the rear. Keeping things rolling along are a pair of seventeen inch cast wheels shod with a 130/70 front and 190/50 tyre at the rear.
 Handling at all times is very neutral and takes little effort to ride and the bike is easy to do U-turns on feet up. What lets it down is that the floorboards that give it the feet forward riding position just ground out far too early unless the bike is set up perfectly for every corner, not always possible on a busy congested road.
Thanks to the long (1605mm) wheelbase the bike is very stable, but of course the inevitable trade-off for this is that it is not the fastest machine when it comes to changing direction through your favourite series of bends.
  The feet-forward riding position is quite comfortable though as a result of these footboards coupled with the pulled back handlebar. Those short on inside leg inches will love the 690mm seat height that enables even the most vertically challenged to get both feet flat on the road. This helps keep the centre of gravity low as well, adding to the overall stability. And, to this end the petrol tank is just a dummy and the fuel itself is carried
further down in the bike, Honda calls it, mass centralisation!  Thankfully they still call brakes by the same name and this has the superb Combined Antilock Braking System taken from other models. The three-disc linked system is more than up to the task of hauling the 270kg’s of bike plus rider to a standstill in very controlled, unflustered manner.
  But, all of the aforementioned is pretty conventional and can be found on other Honda bikes, including the excellent mono-arm shaft-drive dominating the rear view on the left of the bike. So what, apart from looks, makes this bike trick?
The answer lies primarily in the drive system between the engine and drive shaft. Honda call it ‘Human Friendly Transmission’ or HFT for short and is basically their version of a constantly variable transmission (CVT), normally found on ‘twist and go’ type scooters.
 Unlike the latter it does not use a system of belts working on a series of pulleys. Instead it uses a swash plate to drive hydraulic pumps and motors to
vary the speed and transfer the drive from the engine to the shaft.  This is a clutchless system and is controlled by electrical buttons mounted on the left bar.
The options are drive and sport, or you can have a six –speed push button manual similar to that used on the large Suzuki Burgman scooter. So in practice it is case of turning the bike on, selecting your choice of drive, releasing the handbrake lever(Yes its not a typo!) and twisting the throttle as on any ‘twist and go’ scooter. The bikes pulls smoothly away and continues to work in an automatic manner unless you alter the switch and start changing gear yourself. The only real benefit I found by doing this was to get extra engine braking when descending a hill or keeping it bang on the nail in the lower speed limits, so preventing it changing up. There is some electrical wizardry though that prevents you doing what you want in case you do not match engine revs and road speed, so you are never totally in control as you would be on a conventional motorcycle! However, after a while you do end up treating it as a scooter and just leaving it in auto-mode for most riding, unless you come to a series of bends or need to pop off some quick overtakes, when ‘sport’ is more suitable. One thing that is good is the high overdrive style gear it drops into when cruising that lowers revs and increases petrol consumption from the 15 litre tank. There are a few other buttons on the padded bars to make up for the lack of clutch lever and the dashboard is on a par with a car or Honda Goldwing in its complexity!
 I must say when you get used to it and stop trying to analyse it, the machine is quite good fun to ride. Setting it up for a rapid session through some twists and turns to ensure you do not scrape anything is a challenge and satisfying having achieved a scrape free pass at speed. In town and traffic it behaves impeccably and you can just sit back and enjoy the admiring looks. A stereo would be nice though to save answering the endless questions or quips about ‘Dan Dare’ from the cabbies when you can’t make the gap or are stuck at the lights! So the only real problem with it is the price and deciding exactly who it is aimed at, certainly it is not the conventional existing rider . Honda claim it will be bought by “techno early adaptors who aren’t motorcyclists”. Personally I think that breed of ‘rider’ will go and just buy a big super-sized scooter from any manufacturer and spend the money saved on lots more gadgets to plug into the various accessory sockets! Having said that, I still think Honda is to be congratulated on continuing to push the boundaries in an effort to advance motorcycling. You have to have bikes like the NR750 and the DN-01 if only to realise what works and what does not. It would be easy for Honda always to take the safe sales option; thankfully they don’t because the world would be a poorer place without the DN-01! Review by Ian Kerr
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
ENGINE
Type Liquid-cooled 4-stroke 8-valve SOHC 52° V-twin
Displacement 680cm3
Bore ´ Stroke 81 x 66mm
Compression Ratio 10 : 1
Max. Power Output 45kW/7,500min-1 (95/1/EC)
Max. Torque 64Nm/6,000min-1 (95/1/EC)
Idling Speed 1,200min-1
Oil Capacity 4 litres
FUEL SYSTEM
Carburetion PGM-FI electronic fuel injection
Throttle Bore 40mm
Aircleaner Viscous, cartridge-type mesh net filter
Fuel Tank Capacity 15.1 litres (including 3-litre LCD-indicated reserve)
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Ignition System Fully transistorised electronic
Ignition Timing 12° BTDC (idle) ~ 60° BTDC (5,500min-1)
Sparkplug Type SIMR8A9 (NGK)
Starter Electric
Battery Capacity 12V/12AH
ACG Output 450W
Headlight 12V; 55W ´ 2 (low) / 55W ´ 1 (high)
DRIVETRAIN
Clutch HFT with internal hydraulic control
Clutch Operation Automatic
Transmission Type HFT (Continuously Variable Transmission)
Primary Reduction 1.136 (75/66)
Variable Transmission Ratios 3.000 ~ 1.000
Final Reduction 1.400
Final Drive Enclosed shaft
FRAME
Type Double-cradle; steel tube
CHASSIS
Dimensions (L´W´H) 2,315 ´ 820 ´ 1,115mm
Wheelbase 1,605mm
Caster Angle 28° 30'
Trail 114mm
Turning Radius 3.2m
Seat Height 690mm
Ground Clearance 135mm
Kerb Weight 270kg (F: 131kg; R: 139kg)
Max. Carrying Capacity 186kg
Loaded Weight 434kg (F: 165kg; R: 269kg)
SUSPENSION
Type Front 41mm telescopic fork, 106mm axle travel
Rear Single conventional dampers with 7-step adjustable spring preload, 120mm axle travel WHEELS
Type Front U-section twin 5-spoke cast aluminium
Rear U-section twin 5-spoke cast aluminium
Rim Size Front 17M/C ´ MT3.50
Rear 17M/C ´ MT6.00
Tyre Size Front 130/70ZR17M/C (62W)
Rear 190/50ZR17M/C (73W)
Tyre Pressure Front 225kPa
Rear 250kPa
BRAKES
Type Front 296 ´ 4mm dual hydraulic disc with Combined 3-piston calipers, ABS and sintered metal pads Rear 276 ´ 6mm hydraulic disc with Combined dual-piston caliper, ABS and sintered metal pads
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As far as weather protection is concerned this is minimal and it might seem a strange thing to say, but a lot of sports bikes will keep you drier and warmer than this, despite its fully faired look. So the tourer tag is perhaps misplaced.
