Platforms, as the car folks say, families, as seen at Harley-Davidson and Triumph, are Honda's newest smart move, the corporate version of knowing how to take yes for an answer.
One year ago, Honda knocked 'em dead with theVT1300 Fury, a shaft-drive, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected 1312cc V-Twin that went as far as a production custom cruiser has ever gone. The Fury was both surprisingly popular and surprisingly fun to ride, so for 2010, Honda introduced three new models based on the Fury platform—the engine, frame, drivetrain and so forth, but less extreme in general and clearly focused on variations within the class.
Roughly speaking, Honda sees the new siblings as aimed at 1) the motorcycling vacation group, 2) overnight riders and 3) those who want to go for a ride, by hour, day or whatever.
Starting with the top, the most expensive, optioned and heaviest, is the Interstate. As mentioned, this is the 1312cc V-Twin, with a 70.3-inch wheelbase. It comes standard with a full windscreen, leather-wrapped bags, floorboards for operator and occupant, rocker shift, fat tires (17-inch front and 15-inch rear) wrapped in fully valanced fenders, with a claimed curb weight of 712 pounds and an MSRP of $12,749, followed by a catalog of options too large to be detailed here.
Styling and design pull no punches. When Harley-Davidson unveiled the FXR line years ago, the old-line Harley guys objected to the frame rails being covered. Too Japanese, they said. So here's the VT1300, and the designer admitted a touch sheepishly that Honda emphasized the frame members, just as it moved the mass aft and put the key on a panel below the sculpted tank and put a V-shaped object between the engine's Vee. The buying public may not know where the cruiser profile came from—Open-class TT bikes from the 1930s and '40s, glad you asked—but they watch TV and know what hardcore motorcycles look like.
On the road, there are good reasons for the bags and boards and screen, but on a short hop in good weather, this is one heavy machine. Suffice it that none of the journos on the photo shoot risked feet-up U-turns on a two-lane country road. And the average-size rider must look through the screen, bugs and all.
The Stateline is sort of a stripper Interstate, with bags, sissybar and smaller windscreen optional, but it keeps the fat tires and full fenders. The Stateline is also lighter, claimed curb of 672 pounds and MSRP of $11,699, with slightly higher options of ABS or SBS, Honda's linked-brake system.
More checks and balances here: Because the Stateline is lighter, it handles easier, although the fat front tire can slow down response. The riding posture is leaned back, so the small screen deflects some oncoming air while buffeting one's head. Minus screen, it's smoother and quieter, but at 70-plus, hanging onto the grips is tiring.
Risking the ire of both sides of this divide, the Sabre is the sportster (no initial cap) of the family. The Sabre has the 21-inch front tire and cropped fenders of the Fury, but the steering-head rake is 33 degrees instead of 38 degrees and that makes the wheelbase 70 inches, against 71.5 for the kick-out Fury. In turn, that makes the Sabre shorter and more agile. Claimed curb weight is 640 pounds, 679 with ABS. We're not talking light, but we are talking lighter.
Better still, the pullback bars are pulled back less and the forward-mount pegs and levers aren't as far forward. Throw a leg over the Sabre, heave it off the stand and your heart picks up the pace. As the English hooligans chant: Here We Go.
Back in general comments, these new models are Hondas, which means everything works the way it's supposed to work, all the controls do their jobs and you won't know drive is by shaft until you look.
For a final little note, and no one can say how it happened, one of the space-age EFI units coughed back on start and one of the flawless five-speeds had a false neutral between fourth and fifth. Don't know how they did it, but back in the day, we called such flaws character.