Since we found a patent for Honda's e-blower, which is essentially an electric supercharger attached to a V3 powerplant, and then saw it unveiled as a raw concept at EICMA last year, I don't think a week has gone by that I haven't thought about it. Thank God, EICMA is around the corner, and the concept will be getting revealed because the brand's latest teaser video has set my mind into overdrive once more.
The video shows a bike that retains the single-sided swingarm, derived from the CB1000R, which we first saw at EICMA last year. Against its direct competition, the CB1000R was usually found to be underwhelming, which made a lot of people look past just how beautiful its swingarm is. I'm delighted to see it live on in some form on whatever unit will use this powerplant.
The other thing we can take from the teaser video is that it's a trellis frame housing the V3 and e-blower. This isn't the norm for Honda, which usually opts for twin-spar and high-beam frames.
From what's shown in the video, which isn't a lot to be fair, you'd be forgiven for thinking this is definitely only going to be a standard naked bike. And it still might be. But, it's possible the bike is either partially faired, à la Yamaha XSR900 GP, or comes with the option of a full fairing, like the XSR900 GP does, albeit in Europe.
The teaser does an excellent job of not giving us anything and only reaffirming what was already highly suspected from the concept's reveal last year. It does exactly what it's supposed to and teases us. We still don't even know what it'll be called, although Honda filed a trademark for the V3R last year, so we'll stick with that for now.
For those of you who want the news as soon as it's out, check the news at 10 am CET next Tuesday, November 4, and all will be revealed.
