Honda City Adventure scooped - it's coming!

Author: Ben Purvis Posted: 21 May 2016

Is it a scooter? Is it a tourer? Is it an adventure bike? Actually Honda’s City Adventure concept revealed at last year’s EICMA show was a bit of all three. Of all the concept bikes on display it wasn’t one you’d have pegged to be heading for a showroom near you – but it turns out that it is.

These pictures show the production version of the concept, and reveal that it’s changed surprisingly little.

Honda was clearly having one its wacky moments when it signed-off on the City Adventure. The last time that happened, the result was the similarly genre-defying NM4 cruiser-scooter-tourer. And despite looking completely different, the mechanical bits underneath the City Adventure are the same as the NM4’s. In other words, under all that bodywork there lays the heart of a Honda NC750.

That means you get a 54bhp, 745cc parallel twin mated to a DCT semi-auto transmission, all mounted in a steel tubular chassis. Where most NC750s make do with right-way-up forks and steel swingarms, the City Adventure gets a cast aluminium arm and beefy USD forks. Far from being toned down, the production version’s running gear is actually higher-spec than the concept version – the wheels are tubeless wires and there are radial calipers instead of the concept’s conventionally-mounted four-pots.

Other changes compared to the concept include a smaller, redesigned exhaust can and new hand guards. The design of the glovebox locker behind the bars is also different. It keeps the electrically-adjustable screen and crazy, angular styling, though.

Heavily disguised prototypes of the bike have been spotted testing in Italy, where customer clinics for the machine have also been held, confirming its production future.

Just as the Africa Twin originated in a concept bike called ‘True Adventure’ we’re expecting the City Adventure to be retitled before it reaches showrooms. The letters ‘ADV’ were boldly emblazoned on the concept’s side panels and licence plate and Honda filed a trademark application for the same title – but that application was refused in Europe as being ‘devoid of any distinctive character’. Honda has also got trademark applications in place for the name ‘X-ADV’ which are currently unopposed and are likely to be granted next week – it seems likely that this will be the title for the new bike.

One thing seems certain, and that is that while it might be seen as a ‘scooter’ thanks to its twist-and-go transmission and slightly step-thru styling, the City Adventure will be priced very much like a ‘real’ bike. The existing Vultus – which has fewer toys and lower-spec suspension and brakes – is already £9999 in the UK, so the City Adventure will inevitably come with a five-figure price tag.