Otherwise conservative Honda has taken its share of design risks over the years … not the least was the introduction of the NM4 back in 2014. When we first saw it, the NM4 reminded us of the innovative Gurney Alligator. The unique NM4 is powered by a 670 cc twin, and will be available in June at an MSRP of $11,299. Here is the press release from Honda making the announcement:
TORRANCE, Calif. – For its first on-road announcement of the 2018 model year, American Honda has selected the radical NM4. Ever since it debuted in concept form at the 2014 Osaka Motorcycle Show, Honda’s NM4 has been an attention-getter and conversation-starter, its provocative, futuristic design setting it apart as something completely different—to the point that a modified version is even featured in an upcoming major Hollywood science-fiction film! Though Japan-centric in conception, the NM4’s anime styling has developed somewhat of a cult following internationally, thanks in part to the fact that the outlandish looks are matched by solid performance.
“From time to time over the years, Honda has pushed the envelope with unconventionally styled models like the Pacific Coast, Rune, Big Ruckus and DN-01,” said Lee Edmunds, American Honda’s Manager of Motorcycle Marketing Communications. “The NM4 is very much in this tradition, and while it’s not for everyone, that’s really the point; the model has proven to be a hit with a dedicated segment of consumers from a surprisingly varied array of demographics, including tech-savvy millennials but also veteran tourers and women. Those that buy NM4s tend to put a lot of miles on them, so we’re pleased to welcome it as our first street bike for 2018.”
NM4
While it’s the NM4’s disruptive form that earns headlines and double takes, the model absolutely delivers in the function department as well. A low center of gravity, enabled in part by the forward-rotated mounting of the powerful, liquid-cooled 670cc parallel-twin engine, results in a comfortable, light-handling motorcycle with a low-slung, feet-forward cockpit from which it’s very easy to reach the ground at stops. The passenger seat converts into a flip-up, adjustable backrest, and the bodywork provides ample wind protection and four separate storage compartments. Gear changes are accomplished via a high-tech, smooth-shifting Dual Clutch Transmission, which has standard and sport automatic modes but can also be manually shifted via handlebar-mounted buttons. The innovative, customizable LED dash display features color-coding for the transmission modes and delivers a host of information, including fuel-mileage tracking. Competent for applications from commuting to cruising, the NM4 more than holds its own on the road. Just don’t expect to go incognito.
- Color: Matte Black Metallic
- Price: $11,299
- Availability: June 2017
- Info
Imagine the funding poured into this project and this pops out the other end, WTF?
This or the Burgman will beat most bikes off the line.
I dont care what it looks like!
occasionally, big giant companies will do something so stupid that it’s hard to figure out just what they were thinking. Honda tho has the distinction of doing it TWICE. If I were them, I’d get a new crystal ball because the one they have seems to be channeling an alternative universe.
Seriously? With all the great bikes Europe gets that we don’t…THIS is what they decide to send us???
If you squint your eyes a bit you see a pontiac aztec!
The bike of the future, circa 1981.
gross, in so many ways but mostly the foot forward nastiness. I would buy that africa twin enduro concept in a heartbeat though.
make it into a trike, it will sell.
The Honda dealers will really like this….considering there still are unsold 2015 units listed for sale on CycleTrader.
Too bad Honda can’t do something that makes sense, like give the Goldwing a serious freshening.
And an updated replacement for the ST1300
what the. . .?
It’s a smart move for sustaining the industry. We have to attract a new generation of riders. The Research, development and tooling has already been done.
Yes, in the interest of continuing the industry it may be necessary to bring in new riders. But does this do that? They’re toeing a line here between motorcycle and scooter and doing justice to neither.
What, it didn’t fail spectacularly enough the first time?
Isn’t Scarlet Johansson riding one in a movie now? That may whip up enough interest, and from a completely new and out of left field demographic, to warrant reintro.
Q: Isn’t Scarlet Johansson riding one in a movie now?
A: yes.
and let’s be honest, NM4 association or not, just the PSYCHOLOGY of Scar-Jo “riding something” (anything) is itself a license to print money. just saying, i’ll buy that for a dollar.
I saw one for sale on Craigslist the other day. It was coated with a thick film of regret.
Get that line from a literate porn site?
No, but your comment has inspired me to quit my job and start writing for one.
That was deep Mr. Mike. Very deep.
The Honda model number/parts designation for the NM4 Vultus is NC700JD. Does the JD stand for Judge Dredd? Anyway, I don’t see how people can put down a bike they have never ridden. You ride a motorcycle and you really care how you look to other people riding that bike? Yeah, Harley-Davidson does sell a lot of clothing.
Why?
Those bags don’t actually hold anything largerr than gloves.
The gas tank is too small.
Aside from that it is just funny looking enough to be cute.
If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything.
Its a Victory Vision scooter…….lol
So we’ll try it again Honda ? Bring back that sweet 250 or 305 street scrambler again. What are you thinking?
yechhh
Are we living in the age of ugly angular motorcycles ? ( cars too)
The “Edge” Design Concept taken to the ultimate degree.
gotta minimize the cross-section on somethin’.
What is this bike/scooter/thing supposed to be used for? Are they putting LSD in the water at Honda? It won’t sell here and will be relegated to the dust heap of history; why bother?
Honda please stop the BS, stop being weird!
How about a new naked bike and light sport-tourer based on the new Fireblade!
How about a lighter and more technologically advanced VFR?
That’s the Honda we used to love!
I thought Honda’s mental health was doing better after seeing the Africa Twin and the new Fireblade but obviously there are still issues…
best looking dust-pan on two wheels
You could newer underestimate the bad taste of a American people…
Otherwise conservative Honda may not go out on a limb often.
But when they do, they prefer to take some really powerful hallucinogens and really give it a go.
It’s advertising the Honda brand, plain and simple. You’re getting two words subconsciously into people’s heads: HONDA and Motorcycle. “That’s cool. That’s ugly but…” I actually like it. I’d rather take this than my car to get milk, go to CVS, get coffee, visit the doctor (and maybe get my head examined), go to work, go get ice cream. Think of all the places we drive in the U.S. that are around the corner. So many places. They sold some. They are not lining up ten at every dealer. Very cool.
I seat tested this and also the DN-01. Both very comfortable. If I owned one of these, I’d have to garage it in a different state………OK, maybe two states over. On the plus side it is better looking than some of Yamaha’s latest releases.
I am apparently alone in thinking that is one of the ugliest motorcycles ever made. Holy god please put a tarp over that thing. Because the Pacific Coast and Rune were such huge sellers, we’re just going to make that mistake all over again said Honda. With that wheelbase and low ground clearance this thing will handle like a ocean liner.
Is it a motorcycle?
I appreciate Honda’s attempts at thinking outside the box, but this bike has one major design error that is very much inconsistent with it’s intended market; i.e. it is chain driven. Why would anyone want to adjust and lube a chain on this thing? It doesn’t even have a center stand to make the job any easier. Considering the cost, it should have at least a nice clean belt drive, or better yet a shaft. Call me crazy.
Yup. With such a low power output it would be perfect for belt drive.
I’m not a scooter rider , but if I was I would buy two of these things, it’s a bad machine! I saw one in person last summer, very cool (for a scooter, which I am not in the market for)
Since I’m clairvoyant;
“I see HUGE discounts in your future…”
+1
I’d buy one..
re: “Honda NM4 Coming Back to U.S. as 2018 Model”
oh God no…
but alas Big Red has finally brought some cool products back to market as of late so (sigh) i’m forced to allow some elements of WONKY to filter their way back in.
“I got a FEVER…and the ONLY CURE, is MORE WHEELBASE!” (Christopher Walken voice)
Seriously: won’t this thing have the shortest stopping distance in all motorcycling? The longer the wheelbase the more weight transfer to the front tire, no? It looks to have a low to moderate ratio of weight to wheelbase unit. IOW, most bikes w/wheelbase this long appear to be far heavier. I mean, it’s a 670cc parallel twin. Most bikes this long have motor w/almost 3x the displacement.
Doesn’t it look like you’re supposed to sleep on this bike?
Just say it. It looks like a dachshund (weiner dog) dressed like Darth Vader. All 562 pounds of it.
Pffft!
Q: Seriously: won’t this thing have the shortest stopping distance in all motorcycling?
A: yes.
Q: The longer the wheelbase the more weight transfer to the front tire, no?
A: yes.
Q: The longer the wheelbase the more weight transfer to the front tire, no?
A: No.
Think about it. If the bike was 100 feel long or 1 foot long. Which one would be more likely to do a stoppie?
Long vehicles stop well because the rear brake stays effective.
“Q: The longer the wheelbase the more weight transfer to the front tire, no?
A: No.”
Wrong. When braking, weight transfers to the front tire where the brakes slow forward progress. Easily visible front suspension compression proves this fact. The longer the wheelbase the higher the ratio of weight transfers forward. Depending on front tire coefficient of friction, the rear tire lifts when forward weight transfer exceeds threshold X.
“Think about it. If the bike was 100 feel long or 1 foot long. Which one would be more likely to do a stoppie?”
The latter.
“Long vehicles stop well because the rear brake stays effective.”
Negative. Freddie Spencer simultaneously won both the 250 and open class GP on bikes lacking rear brake (I saw images of at least one of the bikes w/rear brake lever cut or removed). Circa early 00s, the bike with the shortest stopping distance (beating even R1 and every other race replica) in USA MC Consumer News actual pro road test was a cruiser well over 700 lb. Would not be surprised if a cruiser still owns the record.
Provologna, you are incorrect. This is primarily about the CG and its proximity to the front tire. A long bike will have the center of gravity farther behind the front wheel where it is more effective as a lever working against momentum trying to raise the rear wheel during a stop. This is the exact reason (inversely) why a drag racer has such a long wheelbase to keep the front from lifting under acceleration – without just sticking a huge weight over the front wheels.
Freddie Spencer did not win races because his rear brake was disconnected but because… he’s Freddie Spencer.
A 700 pound cruiser has a longer wheelbase and more weight over both wheels. Also, its CG is lower and farther back than a sport bike. These are the very reasons why the front and rear brakes are more effective. A sport bike’s braking is limited to the point at which the rear wheel starts to lift – long before the front tire skids. A heavy, low, rear-weight biased cruiser will not lift its rear wheel under braking, instead it can use both front and rear brakes to stop and is only limited by traction. Yes, it is not surprising that a cruiser holds the braking record.
Q: If the bike was 100 feel long or 1 foot long. Which one would be more likely to do a stoppie?
A: the 1-footer.
it’s only a stunter-for-life’s “wet dream”.
Just say it. It looks like a dachshund (weiner dog) dressed like Darth Vader.
I would like to rent one just for a day or two to see the looks on peoples faces…but I’m old and easily humored.
Fuhreekin’ precious! Best quote here of many great ones!
Won’t be buying one, but there are possibility’s that a paint scheme could help the looks and certainly to make it more visible. It’s low and flat black, perfect to blend in with blacktop and shadows, and one of the safety facets of motorcycles is a higher view of traffic is missing here too. Add in that some (most?) of the buyers will not be experienced riders does not bode well. At all. Whatever happened to the Honda DN-01? Come back Sochiro, we miss you!
I would never buy one, but I think it is a really cool looking machine.
Honda brings this back to the USA but won’t bring the Integra scooter here? What a mistake.
oh, yeah, that integra is awesome. i’d probably buy one in a heartbeat.
Batman will be pleased.
I showed the picture to my 11 year old grandson and he liked it. You may wonder who are the customers that many of the manufacturers are aiming at for many of their new models and that I do not know, but clearly, it is not a lot of the folks who comment on this site.
The responses to the “Best Retro” bike article tells you all you need to know about the MD demographic.
Let’s see. Honda has developed a bike that won’t fall over and we have honest to God self driving vehicles now. I think I see an opportunity for Uber and Lift and the Millennials. Either that, or paint it to look like Optimus Prime for teenagers. Beyond that, it’s unlikely I will ever see one in my life. That said, Coca-Cola tastes ENTIRELY different in China than it does here and I don’t knock the Chinese for have different taste buds than we do. If it sells around the world, great. But if Honda really thinks any one here will buy one, they have lost something they used to be experts at. I don’t care how big a company is, you don’t waste this much money unless someone genuinely doesn’t know what they are doing.
Motorcycle design that encases the engine and general working parts with panelling ignores the basic elemental nature of motorcycles. On top of this “two wheel contrivance of unknown propulsion etc” comes the feet / control forward rider stance which is least comfortable, rider control deficient way to match rider to bike.
Honda has produced a product here that has minimal appeal from an aesthetic, functional and ergonomic assessment – please take it away and put the Honda design team on the revision of the weight of the latest Honda adventure bike.
Sorry but I rather walk. Please Honda upgrade the ST1300 and do not make it this ugly.
C’mon Honda! Ditch the NM4 and give us an updated NT700V! We sport touring folks need some lovin’ too. Don’t try to pass off the CT700 or CT1300 either.
It looks good in person but are they stoned with the pricing. Why are scooter buyers paying thousand more than a similar displacement motorcycle? Honda’s nc700x is 7K. Is that 4 thousand worth of plastic on the nm4. I’ve seen replacement kits for tuono’s online for 500 bucks. So , it can’t be.
Look if you ride a scooter because you’re not a ballerina and can’t get your leg over the rooster tail on a typical bike put both hands on the handlebars your left foot on the kick stand and climb aboard. Now if Honda brought the nc750s here you wouldn’t have to shift either.
I’m sure scooter fans wonder why we pay so much for motorcycles.
Really? I just don’t get it.
After seeing this I can honestly say that I am ashamed to own a Honda (CBR1000RR). Never again.
This bike has nothing to do with your bike.
I don’t think the matte black paint is doing it any favors.
Personally, I think it’s interesting. It’s a whole different approach to riding. Apparently not sized for full-size north American adults, though (I’m 6’3″), or I might be interested in trying it. It does seem rather pricey for what are essentially Honda NC750 mechanicals, if I’m not mistaken.
That would be like if you set your friend up on a date, and you tell him, “She’s really… interesting-looking. Oh, and she really likes jewelry and steak dinners.”
If people on this page aren’t in 100% agreement of the ugliness of this bike, there is no hope of ever getting agreement on anything.
I’m pretty sure 100% of the readers agree that boobs are awesome.
I can think of a couple who probably don’t.
re: “boobs”
FISTPUMP…!!! (you may go with the podium ceremony kind or the other kind as both are applicable on this one, your choice)
The bike is butt ugly, boobs are awesome!
Coming back? I never knew it was ever here. Just what is it?
A resurrected PC800 would get a far better reception.
I’ve seen one in person. Thought it was quit interesting. Neat storage options. Would make a good commuter. If you like feet forward riding position, it seems worlds better than a typical 900cc cruiser. Its something I would not be interested in owning though. If I had unlimited funds, it would be an interesting 4th or 5th bike to mess around on.
I have to wonder what Honda believes changed in just a few short years that makes it worthwhile to import again? Maybe the NOS sitting in warehouses finally sold and they will fill the warehouse with them again?
Even millennials are scratching their heads over this one.
I hope I never see one.
Wow, The NM4 is coming back. That’s the best news I’ve heard all day!
But seriously, it is interesting to note that while most motorcyclists find the styling an abomination, a lot of non-motorcyclists think it is quite attractive…go figure.
Thanks Honda.Always looking out for the american consumer.Maybe next you can go way out and update the XR650L or give us the CB1300.
No kidding. Or a CRF300L. Or, heck, a CRF500L. If some dude on the internet can build one, you oughta be able to.
It would seem that a larger displacement CRF250L would be a no-brainer for Honda. I’m in the market for a dual-sport and there is nothing available in the 350-500cc range (sorry Suzuki, that DRZ is in dire need of an upgrade) for a reasonable price. I wonder what keeps them from producing such a bike?
How is the DRZ lacking in any way as a dual sport?
I guess KTMs are out of the question.
There are SO many mildly used options out there that will give you so much more for your money than a brand new “CRF350L” ever would. It’ll either be priced low and need $1000+ worth of suspension, seat, and maybe FI upgrades, or it’ll be priced the same as all the other new and used Euro bikes that will be better anyway.
Another answer to a question that nobody asked.
Ha! that is EXACTLY what I’ve said about Honda for years…
WOW a restyled scooter disguised as a motorcycle, probably an excuse to overprice the scotter…ugly anyway.
Holy absurdity Honda!!! The price. It’s $11K for this rather small machine. If you have seen one in person and sat on it you quickly realize its sized for Asian demographic as well. I have no idea why the force US dealers to look at these on the order sheet.
Hey Honda, April Fool’s was 4 days ago……….
I am more convinced than ever that Honda has no interest in remaining a player in the US motorcycle market.
Why, because of this one bike? What, in your estimation, would should Honda do to show their commitment to the (small) US market?
Not just this bike Dave but Honda’s seeming disinterest in promoting their products. I am a Honda fan and own a 2013 CB1100, a bike Honda released with little fanfare and a pitiful accessory line. I’ve owned scores of Honda bikes starting in the late 1960’s and it’s sad the way their bikes have declined in prestige. Of course there are some new models which are fantastic such as the Africa Twin but that seems an exception. As far as what Honda could do for the small US market, they could follow Triumph’s lead.
I think Triumph succeeds by going where the others aren’t. I think Honda has always done that too. I don’t care for this bike, either, but it’s an example of Honda attempting to find new consumers. If they sell, great. If not, I still appreciate what they’re doing at 300 & 500cc and I hope those more important bikes lure more younger riders into the fray, since they’re who’s missing these days.
come on, are you kidding me?
Some things I just don’t understand
Yet they won’t bring a sub 500cc retro standard. Good luck with this one.
Rebel 300 & 500?
Those are cruisers not standards.
It’d be interesting to know how many Yamaha SR400’s are sold. I’m betting Honda knows the cruiser type is a safer bet, and while not retro, the chance 300 & 500 standards are doing well.
Even at it’s high buy in I’m betting that Yamaha sells more SR’s than Honda sells of this thing. I like the new Rebels and I think Honda will sell a ton of them but I think a modern cb350 would sell more in the USA than this Bat Mobile.
I can tell you that my local Hon/Yam dealer has sold several of these and only 1 SR 400 and he had a devil of a time selling that. If the Yam had elect start he would have sold several of the 400s he said.
I sat on one, it was comfortable but way to far out of my comfort zone on styling and about 500-600 cc and 2 cylinders short of my favorite engine layouts.
I bet this thing is a blast to ride. Too bad it’s so weird looking.
It is not. If you’ve ridden the NC700X, imagine that except with very limited cornering clearance. It is a life-sucking riding experience.
Wow, Matte Black!!
(eye-roll)
As ugly as this bike is, would you really want it in a color? At least in black it can hide like a Ninja.
Yeah, nobody will notice you riding this bike.
Hi Viz black, just like all of the costumes the poseurs wear.
I like this bike, I’m an old dog but I’m not afraid to go out of the box.
Honda is seriously messed up!
good luck