Honda has come late to the party with a large-capacity Adventure Tourer, Maxi-Enduro, call it what you will – or as the Japanese firm does very aptly, Crosstourer, as its new VFR1200X is called. Even later if you’re in the U.S. and you still aren’t getting it.
After appearing as a concept bike at Milan’s EICMA show in 2010, Honda’s apparent answer to the BMW R1200GS has reached production, powered by a re-tuned version of the same 1237cc single-cam V-four engine found in the VFR1200F sports tourer (same cast aluminum chassis and shaft drive) But this one is dressed in a go-anywhere styling package, blending touring bike with off-roader. But its arrival on European shores is better late than never, as the BMW’s dominance of such hardcore sportbike markets as Italy and Great Britain amply underlines. You only have to look at the fact that the best-selling motorcycle of any kind in Italy, Europe’s largest market, was again the R1200GS with 5134 of those delivered to new customers, three times more than the second-placed Honda Hornet 600 with just 1746 examples sold. Those are numbers that even Honda can’t ignore.
“We were busy for a long time producing sportbikes, because that’s what customers wanted,” says Dave Hancock, Honda Europe’s Head of Product Development. “Now we recognize that tastes have changed, so Honda is developing alternative models to address those tastes. The Crosstourer is the first of a bigger family of such bikes appearing in the next two to three years.”
For the complete story on the Crosstourer, see this week’s Cycle News at the following link:
