미국 모토데일리의 '룬' 시승기(1)

MD Preview: 2004 Honda Rune

By Dirck Edge (내가 가장많은 정보를 얻곤하는 Motor Daily의 룬에 대한 기사)

모토바이크에 대한 많은 유용한 정보를 얻곤하는 미국잡지 모토데일리(Motor Daily)의 룬에 대한 리뷰및 시승기 입니다. 시간날때 마다 번역하겠습니다.

The other evening, my wife and I attended perhaps the strangest product introduction yet in the motorcycle industry. No speeches by engineers, no extensive discussion of technical aspects of the new motorcycle, and no performance numbers. Instead, we listened to a speech by a designer about the Honda Rune, a pure design that has been turned into a production motorcycle by the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer.

 

When I say "pure design", I mean it. The Rune was born as a style concept, which was shown to several motorcycle enthusiasts at motorcycle shows, along with competing style concepts. The Rune design was the overwhelming favorite of these enthusiasts, and then Honda set about building the Rune. The final, production version of the Rune is, perhaps, the most faithful reproduction of a design concept (either motorcycle or automobile) I have ever seen. All of the radical concepts initially put forth by the designers have been retained in the production Rune.

 

Essentially, Honda set out prove that it could build a "custom" motorcycle, incorporating designs as wild and creative as those used in one-off specials emerging from the custom chopper houses with their tiny hammers and English wheels. Honda wanted to do it its way, which meant the machine would be built on a production line in Ohio along side the Honda Gold Wing (from which its engine is derived -- an 1832cc flat six-cylinder).

 

The Honda design team involved with the Rune was told something it had never heard before. According to Project Director, Martin Manchester, "We were told the price of the Rune would not be a consideration -- that's never happened before!" So the design team was free to dream up something outrageous and totally custom-looking. "The Power of Dreams" is the corporate motto, and the Rune evolved from the purity of a designer's dream.

 

Even the engineers were, at first, baffled by this Rune project. Large Project Leader, Masanori Aoki (also LPL of the Honda Gold Wing, and involved in prior sport bike engineering projects) found the prospect of turning this pure dream into a production motorcycle daunting. Indeed, his first thoughts were that "It would be impossible to mass-produce the [Rune] without changing the styling design. It was just too radical of a design."]

 

So the Rune is now a reality. I got to sit on it, and hear its motor roar in the courtyard adjacent to the Honda R&D center. I will be able to ride the machine within a week or so (and provide a full report to you, of course).

 

The Rune in the flesh does incorporate some significant engineering -- it is not simply about style. That 1832cc flat six motor, for instance, has six, separate 32mm throttle bodies feeding its cylinders, a massive 6.9 liter airbox, a unique, high-volume exhaust (that is pretty loud -- hard to believe this thing is meeting legal dba limits), a very functional bottom-link front suspension system, a rear suspension system utilizing the unit pro-link design developed for Honda's MotoGP bike (and also incorporated in the new 2003 CBR600RR), LED tail lights flush-mounted in the rear fender, a remote steering lock (that automatically unlocks when the key is turned to the on" position), and other interesting engineering solutions (that I will go into in greater detail after I ride the Rune, and report back to you). For now, however, focus on the Rune styling -- I'll get back to you with a report on the performance part.

 

Oh, one other thing. When Ray Blank, Vice President of the motorcycle division of American Honda, spoke to us the other evening, he said the Rune was built because "We can" build it. Sort of like the things those guys say when you ask them why they climb Mt. Everest . . . "Because it's there". So, the bike that started as a pure design, was commissioned by the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer without cost constraints, and was engineered to fit the design parameters (rather backwards from the normal process) will go on sale at a price that begins at $25,499 ($26,999 for chromed wheels).

I should have said two more things, because I want to point out the most interesting part of the Rune press kit. It is a statement by Honda Senior Designer Tony Schroeder that goes like this: "For me personally, working on the Rune has given me a lot of inspiration -- I'm really looking forward to the next project I work on because the Rune is proof positive that my company backs me up. Who knows what will come out next?" In other words, the Rune may be most significant because of what it says about Honda, as a whole. A company that has been criticized for being too conservative, and occasionally following product trends, when it should have been leading, may be reinventing itself. Honda product introductions over the next few years will tell us if this is really the case, but the Rune is a pretty solid, 769.6 pound indication that it is.