Test: 2009 Honda DN-01

Honda makes a case for the automatic motorcycle.

By Mark Hoyer | Photos by Brian Blades

May 2009

Photos: 2009 Honda DN-01 >>

The longtime dedicated motorcyclist approaches the scooter with some suspicion. Full bodywork, little wheels, little engines, all designed for ease and economy rather than speed and adventure.

But despite its low, plastic profile and automatic transmission, the Honda DN-01 is not a scooter. Start by looking at its 680cc V-Twin engine, 17-inch wheels and sport rubber. Realize that it has a gas tank between your legs, not the air of a step-through. Realize that you can't call something that costs $14,599 a scooter. What to call it? Honda offers the word "crossover" and describes the DN-01 as a "comfortable sports cruiser."

Okay, we accept that. With some suspicion, of course...

Says Ray Blank, VP at American Honda, "It's not something that came out of market research. It's kind of a hunch. It's dreaming. It's something different; nobody's got it, so let's give it a try. As a new-think kind of vehicle, we hope it will be intriguing."

It is that. Never more so than when you push the Drive button to engage the hydromechanical continuously variable "Human Friendly Transmission." The smooth idle of the four-valve-per-cylinder, 52-degree V-Twin is drawn down ever so slightly, which you hear audibly and see on the LCD bar-graph tachometer. Now, just roll on the power and glide smoothly away. The centrifugal hydraulic clutch action is predictable and easy to modulate through throttle application.

There are Drive and Sport modes for full-auto operation and a pushbutton manual option for six "gears." Even in the latter, it's not fully manual; HFT won't go up or down in ratio unless the road-vs.-engine speed is appropriate. And while I "ran gears" on a winding road and in town, it seemed sort of ridiculous. The automatic settings give the best street performance and the quickest roll-on times, although the quickest quarter-mile time came in Manual.

On the road, Drive holds lower rpm and gives you fewer revs when you snap the throttle open to yield the best balance of efficiency and performance, says Honda. Sport gives you 500 rpm more at steady state (unless the tallest "direct" ratio is obtained) and usually hands you 1000 more when you snap open the throttle. The DN-01 is usefully more vigorous in Sport. Even so, it isn't a particularly quick vehicle. It will blow doors on most cars, and all you have to do to jet off the line is whack it wide-open. Under launch circumstances, the engine sounds like it gets its spark timing retarded a bit to control power output until the hydro clutch is fully engaged, and then you are runnin'.

At a stop, Neutral can be selected to disengage the drive from the rear wheel if you desire, but it will idle all day in Drive. Neutral engages automatically when the key is turned off so the motorcycle may be pushed. Because there is no "gear" when in the off position, a cable-actuated parking brake is provided, operated by a lever under the right side of the fuel tank.

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