We got jealous when Harley's XR1200 was a Europe-only offering, and gawked when Honda's DN-01 wasn't available in the U.S. But now that both bikes can be bought stateside, they don't ooze desirability in quite the same way, do they?
That said, try not to get excited by the new Honda Twister, a sharply styled, 238 lb thumper equipped with a 110cc powerplant that yields 164 miles per gallon. A four-speed manual gearbox drives scooter-like levels of power (9 hp, to be exact) to the rear wheel, and this Lilliputian locomotion device will sell in India-- the market VW is so desperate to penetrate-- for the U.S. equivalent of $900.
A little perspective: if you doubled its price, the CB Twister would still run $2,500 less than a 2010 Kawasaki Ninja 250R. Wow. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that Honda expects to sell 220,000 of these bikes every year-- yep, nearly a quarter million units.
But don't pine for the CB Twister, since it will probably never make it to our shores. Besides, if it did, your fascination would probably fade, wouldn't it?
Source: Honda
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Photos © Honda; Click to enlarge
Don’t be too quick to discount the appeal of a bike like this.
Other markets have had the CBR125R for a while now, and Yes, it has essentially zero appeal to an experienced rider…But, it put a LOT of people on a bike who had never considered riding because everything else was too big, too fast. An entry level, ‘1st bike’ like this has huge potential, especially for women.
Pete,
Totally agree; we need this type of motorcycle here in the States.
There’s a serious lack of small displacement starter bikes, which forces newbies onto bikes that are too big and too powerful– especially when riders are hesitant to get started on scooters.
Basem
How about a street legal supermoto CRF150R ??