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"Radical new styling that grabs attention from every angle. Form-fitting comfort that invites one to both sit on and to ride. Smooth response to every rider input, reacting with exhilarating performance at every twist of its throttle, and… no clutch! Not only that, no gear changer! Is this really a motorcycle? Or is it some strange kind of scooter?"  from the Honda N.Z. website.

A 700cc twist'n'go beastie

 

 

Read more here

 

I have been going on about this bike for the last few days.  Went to see it in person today at Peter Stevens in Melbourne too.  What a special bike it is!  It isn't a scooter, simply because it just doesn't have the storage space that you expect of a scooter.  You can change gears too if you want.  There is a button for you to do so.  And here is a proper ride review instead of just reprinting the marketing material.  I think this guy likes it.

http://www.bikepoint.com.au/portal/alias__bikepointau/tabID__5760/ArticleID__120937/DesktopDefault.aspx

 the impression i get is that this bike is one you could get on and ride for mile after mile. Again like the aprilia 850 mana its all about an automatic alternative to a geared motorcycle.

Did you sit on the DN01 "Way" was it heavy in a stationary position? Did you move it around? My guess is the weight would be all low down and you wouldn't really notice it due to the low low seat height....

This is certainly moving into new territory as you know Australian motorcyclists are very much about gears and cc's, the mana got an absolute bagging in AMCN where as in two wheels it was up for bike of the year for its innovation. 

I reckon the DN01 will be ripping a few sales off maybe something like the burger but with that said you would surely miss all that protection,storage and touring capability that the suzuki gives you. The DN01 is a niche product and for some the styling, the ease of the auto box and of course the honda brand name will be the winner. 

Allen, I did sit on it and moved it around a bit. It was fine. It did feel a bit on the heavy side, but not as if you can't move it.  I would say it feels more like a 200kg bike, not 270kg.  I love the idea, design and execution of this bike.  Did I say that already?

 Definitely a motorcycle. Large wheels, open bodywork, not step through. An automatic transmission has nothing to do whether it's a scooter or not.

 

I don't see how anyone possibly could consider it to be a scooter. There's nothing "scootery" about it. It's an automatic motorcycle!

Sharon's prediction: we'll be seeing more of these sort of things in the future - I reckon they'll be very popular with Ulysseans for starters.

allen:

The DN01 is a niche product and for some the styling, the ease of the auto box and of course the honda brand name will be the winner. 

I hope this model doesnt go the same way as the Honda PC800 went. I was one of the very few owners of a PC800 and to this day I still rate it as one of my best ever motorcycles that I've owned. Unfortunatly the styling was something that people just couldnt get their heads around being a mix of scooter looks with motorcycle performance and the bike was one of Honda's biggest sales flops to date. Please dont let the DN01 go the same way.

http://pc800.co.uk/

SharonVespaGirl:

I don't see how anyone possibly could consider it to be a scooter. There's nothing "scootery" about it. It's an automatic motorcycle!

Sharon's prediction: we'll be seeing more of these sort of things in the future - I reckon they'll be very popular with Ulysseans for starters.

 

The line between a scooter and motorcycle seems to be very blurred these days.

Once you could say that a scooter had:

• small wheels
• flat floor
• small engine
• fully covered engine
  

Some might think older scooters always had manual shift transmissions mounted on the handlebars,  but there were floor operated shifts in some european scooters.

These days, we have large wheel scooters, scooters without a flat floor, scooters with large engines, scooters and motorcycles with twist & go (auto) etc.

In the case of the DN-01 I'd agree and say it is not a scooter,  but then what about the Derbi GP1,  to me it's more like a motorcycle than a traditional scooter....  (I'm not knocking the Derbi GP1, I like them a lot).

It looks like something out of Star Wars. Which could be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on what planet you live on.

Automatic motorcycle (for rent):

 

And the man responsible (2005 TMS):

 

To answer some of the questions posed, when Fukui-san gleefully showed us his prototype, he spoke of the reasons behind Honda's development of this interesting machine:

• Japanese regulations had changed to allow automatic licenses to be obtained with less training hours than manual licenses. When a motorcycle license at an approved school costs about AUD1700, this makes a big difference.
• The transport department also relaxed the restriction on two-up touring on Japan's expressways, allowing pillion passengers. Previously, if you wanted to tour Japan via expressway, you needed two machines.
• He also mentioned more people's interest in motorcycles in general, and this machine was designed to appeal to older, younger, non-motorcyclists, scooterists, and women. Its upright driving position, right foot brake, handbrake, autotrans (with six-speed manual override), and low seat height were all designed to make it as appealing to non-crouched over, high seat, sport-bike as possible.
  

A few years earlier too the regulations requiring a license application to be able to pick up your machine from a laying down position - the bike, not you - were also relaxed. This has resulted in a lot more smaller (non-gaijin sized) Japanese riders on bigger bikes. Add the price of gas, and you're now lucky enough to have the choice on another machine in Oz. Enjoy! Neko.

E2W:

I hope this model doesnt go the same way as the Honda PC800 went. I was one of the very few owners of a PC800 and to this day I still rate it as one of my best ever motorcycles that I've owned. Unfortunatly the styling was something that people just couldnt get their heads around being a mix of scooter looks with motorcycle performance and the bike was one of Honda's biggest sales flops to date. Please dont let the DN01 go the same way.

http://pc800.co.uk/

 

I've had an image of the DN-01 central on my screen realestate (wallpaper) for the last year so you might grasp that I "had" some interest in this model . . .

Bringing up the PC800, you illustrate two aspects of Honda's execution of their DN-01 as a rider's motorcycle that have been shamefully neglected:

I didn't own a Pacific Coast but I understand that they had good weather protection for the rider, and superb luggage stowing capability.  The DN fails in BOTH of these attributes!

 
 
                                                                                            The 1955 Vincent Black Prince had good weather protection for the rider. Panniers could be mounted to hold the rider's luggage.

 

 The 1997 Honda Pacific Coast had superb weather protection, and impressive luggage capacity in a "trunk" under the pillion seat.

 

My evaluation of Honda's DN-01 is that it is . . . . . a big disappointment!

 

 

It's more of a motorcycle than a scooter since as pointed out, auto transmission does not a scooter make. I also think the lines between scooters and bikes will blur more and more so the distinction will become less important.

However, DN-01 is above all a failure, as a scooter or as a motorcycle. Too underpowered for a sport bike, lacking protection and storage to be a long-distance runner, too heavy, too expensive and lacking in practicalities to make a useful commuter... what is it good for then?!? Absolutely nothing, as far as I can see. 

 

 But undoubtably it will be extremely popular in Japan where form is at least, if not more, important than function - particularly when most of the function provided in most motorbikes is very rarely utilised.

I notice the Bike Point site says that the DN-01 is shaft drive & wet clutch, & I wonder if it's neither?  I used to techie work on industrial hydraulics which included hydraulic CVT's.

& linked brakes....how do those things work out during hard & tricky cornering, possibly on loose surfaces?

Were there any fuel consumption figures anywhere?

I could imagine Derbi owners with a lazy spare $17K going for something like that.

 

I like that PC800.  Geez, slap that styling on a DN-01: it'd be a winning maxi scoot.

 

Rob 

rpmorrell:

linked brakes....how do those things work out during hard & tricky cornering, possibly on loose surfaces

This is a whole other subject, topical just like the ATGATT & 50cc debate.

 I like the Honda (but wouldn't buy one), there seems to be a bike or scooter for everyone now. How cool is that.