If there's one thing Honda tends to do, it's finish what it starts. At EICMA 2024, arguably the single most exciting thing that Team Red brought to Milan was its V3R engine prototype. Relying on what it calls "an electronically-controlled compressor" developed specifically for this application, it showed that Honda wasn't ready to give up the ghost on combustion engines in motorbikes just yet.
And now, for EICMA 2025, the company has brought an entire prototype motorcycle to the floor, showing off the homework it's been doing since last year. This is the Honda V3R 900 E-Compressor Prototype, and there's also a little bit more information to go along with it this time around. While we still don't have any type of power figures, Honda states that it's a 900cc engine with "performance comparable to that of a 1200cc engine." And of course, we already knew that it's a water-cooled 75-degree V3 we're talking about here.
The plan, Honda says, is to offer a balance between fun and performance while maintaining peace and harmony with environmental concerns. Thanks to the compressor, the torque should be incredibly responsive throughout the rev range, says Honda. It's both more efficient and more fun at the same time; or it should be, assuming that Honda accomplishes what it sets out to do.
And, I mean, there's the sound, which we get the biggest earful of yet in the accompanying video that Honda released to celebrate EICMA 2025. Hook up your headphones and feast your eardrums.
While this is a prototype machine, Honda also states that it intends to continue developing this project further with an eye toward eventual mass production. How close will any production model look to what they're showing so far with this prototype?
Also, what other bikes will Honda use this engine (or derivatives) in down the line? Because if you're Honda, you don't just develop something like this and then not use it in multiple models. Could we possibly see it in use in other machines in the Honda lineup, such as side-by-sides? Right now, this is, of course, all speculation, but let us know what you think in the comments.
