Something something Akira bike, something something NM-4 Vultus. I suspect that’s the reaction that at least a few people will have to this stylish and – in my opinion, at least – very cool EV Outlier Concept from Honda.
This feet-forward electric motorcycle was introduced at this year’s Japan Mobility Show, toward the end of October, but it was almost immediately overshadowed by all the amazing stuff that happened at EICMA a week later. Like the actually-available-to-purchase WN7 electric motorcycle, or the ‘finally fulfilling the CB4X promise made six years ago’ CB1000GT.
So, it’s only now, at the time of year when Japanese families are putting in their annual orders for KFC bucket meals, that Honda’s gotten around to giving us more detail about the bike.
Honda describes the EV Outlier Concept as “[a]” machine that promises not just electrification, but an entirely new riding experience.”
In addition to sharing (very slightly) similar styling cues to Honda’s NM-4 Vultus (as well as Victory Motorcycles’ never-sold Vision 800), I’d argue that the EV Outlier Concept is similar in spirit.
When the NM-4 Vultus was first launched back in 2014, its project leader, Keita Mikura said: “Sometimes we make a certain machine simply because we can and because we want to.”
You can see that here. This is giving Big Honda Energy.
According to Yuya Tsutsumi, the Large Project Leader who has been steering the EV Outlier Concept since it was just a sketch, one of the goals of the bike is to change people’s thinking about what an electric motorcycle is and can be.
“We wanted to show that Honda’s vision for electric motorcycles isn’t about replacing internal combustion engines with electric power. It’s about evolution into a completely new category,” he says. “We asked ourselves: what value can only be realized through electrification? That question guided everything.”
I like that. Though, admittedly, Honda isn’t entirely clear about what the answers to that question are. Instead, it says that Tsutsumi and his team honed in on “three new core elements: Gliding, Ecstasy, and Low.”
Uhm, OK.
“Gliding represents the smooth, silent ride unique to EVs,” says Tsutsumi (who, it has to be said, is rocking an excellent take on the ‘drapes’ hair style of 1990s boy bands). “Acceleration, deceleration, turning – all flow seamlessly, creating a sensation like gliding over the ground.”
‘Ecstasy,’ meanwhile, alludes in part to the instant torque that an electric motor offers, as well as that feeling of ‘think it and it happens’ connection that comes from riding a bike that produces no sound.
That latter connection is something I particularly remember experiencing on the Harley-Davidson LiveWire many years ago. Because I couldn’t hear/feel the motor working, it was as if it wasn’t working – as if the whole thing was happening by magic.
“The coexistence of these two contrasting sensations (insta-torque and woo-woo connection) is only possible with electric motor drive,” Tsutsumi says.
Low, lastly, speaks mostly to the riding position. It’s cruiser-esque. Honda says it enables “hip-driven cornering,” which is a phrase it doesn’t explain and which I’m not sure I understand. If you’ve got any guesses, throw ‘em in the comments below.
As you would expect, the bike is loaded with stuff that will almost certainly break fancy technowhizzbangery, including the use of cameras instead of mirrors. The dash’s “Graphical User Interface” offers up all kinds of information, including lean angles and real-time motor output.
“We wanted to create new forms of interaction – fresh discoveries that inspire new experiences,” Tsutsumi says. “Motorcycle electrification is still in its infancy. There are no benchmarks. That uncertainty is where Honda’s strengths shine.”
When or if we’ll see this concept turned into a production model is anyone’s guess. I suppose it depends on the sales success of the WN7.
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