The Weird Motorcycle Designed like a Car

[Music] honda is the most productive motorcycle maker in the world pushing 20 million units a year honda world's biggest summer they've gone after people who ride bicycles people who ride triumphs people who ride ducatis people who ride bmws people who ride harleys but in 1989 the boldest directive swoops down honda orders its motorcycle division to build a bike for people who drive cars and here it is the pc-800 [Music] so faced with an awkward project from the boss our two-wheeled engineers do what anyone would do call up their co-workers at acura and say hey you do it this may be the best result we've ever had so acura designs mirrors and dash instruments and tail lights that suspiciously resemble those on a 1989 integra formula one technology then acura sets about hiding anything that might give away that this is not in fact a car [Music] the handlebar is shrouded in dashboard plastic the disc brakes suspension and much of the front tire are cloaked in cowling even the pillion footrests disappear behind the curtain [Music] the whole thing is as blank as a teenager's search history don't even try to glimpse something as barbaric as a carburetor or a radiator or a v-twin motor the motorcyclish bits are tucked so deeply inside this marshmallow paneling i can barely even hear him of course car like plastic creates car-like weather protection our pc800 is streamlined such the rider stays bone dry until he stops moving [Music] the trunk is watertight too and no i don't mean saddlebags i mean trunk ice your beer on the way out live tank your catch on the way back just drain and repeat wow they're having a good time in there acura did their part they replaced our image of an oil spattered wrench wielding biker with something different so they call honda's motorcycle engineers back and say here is your problem now problem being how the hell do you work on it i'm just servicing the battery requires the removal of seven panels for the average car driver the thing better be damn near maintenance free our engineers start with a remote idle adjuster no need to access the carbs not bad they follow that with a shaft drive no chain lubrication or adjustment either feels wonderful but honda's freshest engineering is saved naturally for the engine with an auto tensioning cam chain and auto adjusting hydraulic valves it's a revelation a motorcycle that requires no wrenching that's a damn good thing too now how does it ride [Music] well the power is civilized i know there's a psychotically vibrational 45 degree v-twin in here but honda imprisoned it in a padded cell of rubber mounts so i can't actually feel the motor and all that shrouding is paid for in pounds 640 of them float this weight on cushy springs and you get a motorcycle that handles like an old cadillac i could answer that it rides comfy or rides wallowy but the truest statement is that it doesn't ride at all it drives now you might think it dangerous to give a motorcycle the weight and wheelbase of a yacht with the suspension of a slinky and it would be if honda's engineers weren't so clever see this caliper is designed to pivot with the rotor as it breaks thereby pushing this valve closed preventing the flow of oil and stiffening the fork against brake dive that's how you engineer a motorcycle to drive like a car without being so unwieldy that it just drives off the road the only question left is why why build a motorcycle for car drivers well the old answer is just money remember that honda marketed their super cub to non-motorcycle riders and it's been in continuous production ever since to the tune of 60 years and 100 million units take two wheels 50 cubic centimeters drive chain cam type brakes three-speed transmission automatic clutch and top with the name the best motor vehicle of all time is a golden goose that honda wants to catch again that's why our pc 800 is a wholehearted attempt at winning over the four-wheeled masses though it failed and was quietly given the knife honda would try accessibility again with the dn01 squashed height automatic transmission no luck and again with the nm4 car style seat anime style appeal no luck but if profit isn't reason enough for honda to succeed maybe this bridge will be see vancouver's looking to spend several billion dollars to build another one of those hoping it'll alleviate traffic a smidge meanwhile research tells us we could drop congestion by 40 percent if just 10 percent of car drivers switched to lane filtering motorcycles and a 25 switch would eliminate congestion entirely so you tell me is building bikes for car drivers yesterday's whim or tomorrow's salvation introducing the pacific coast from honda it is the beginning of a new day [Music] you

Channel: FortNine

Views: 742,426

Rating: 4.9671659 out of 5

Keywords: honda pc800 pacific coast review, honda goldwing review, honda f6b review, touring motorcycle review, traffic congestion, electric cars, tesla, bike lanes, vancouver, british columbia, seattle, pacific northwest, california, filtering, co2, carbon tax, electric motorcycles, harley davidson, livewire, india, china, 80s, retro, vintage motorcycles, touring, europe, lions gate, congestion, london, carbon emissions, fortnine, motorcycle reviews, 2021, gear, reviews, tips, tricks, cinematic, vhs, 1980s

Id: UjvVF_ZGhrg

Length: 7min 35sec (455 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 13 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/V_varius]

6:42

See, Vancouver's looking to spend several billion dollars to build another [bridge], hoping it'll alleviate traffic a smidge. Meanwhile, research tells us we could drop congestion by 40% if just 10% of car drivers switched to lane-filtering motorcycles.

Keep going! I'm almost there!

And if 25% switched, it would eliminate congestion entirely.

Ooohhh that did it!

[u/eatmeatdrinkmilk]

I don’t get why more sport tourers take cues from this. An integrated storage approach would be a a lot more elegant and streamlined than just tons of bags. It would be appropriate for the sport tourers that sit between sport bikes and fully suited and booted touring barges.

[u/Goallie11]

I'm still struggling to understand how they thought this would get people to switch from driving a car. Covering it with plastic isn't going to make anyone suddenly think it's worth getting if they aren't interested in motorcycles in the first place.

[u/goingnowhere21]

More bikes need a trunk where I can put my fish in

[u/dv73272020]

I always felt that bike was somewhat influenced by Akira, with the whole, hide the motor and frame under bodywork thing. My buddy had a Ducatti Paso of that era, and it too was fully covered in bodywork.

[u/Roy_McDunno]

I just read the title and the Pacific Coast 800 immediately came to my mind.

I'm glad I was right, can't wait to get to know Ryan's take on it.

[u/wildwood9843]

The bike that we all secretly want to ride.

[u/monstersommelier]

In a world full of pretentious euro/cafe racers elitists, daredevil top tier sports bikers or those rough and tumble, bad-to-the-bone, devil-may-care Harley/big cruiser bike peeps, the sighting of a single human on a Honda Pacific Coast just working its way through city traffic in extreme comfort, is just such big dick energy.

[u/Temporary-Fisherman]

I had a Pacific Coast for about 10 years. The plastic wasn't as bad as it seemed, as long as you had a shop manual to guide you and did it methodically. There was rarely a reason to open it though, I didn't mind trading car like performance for car like reliability. I did very little to it over the 10 years and 40k miles I owned it.

And the trunk, amazing! I got stopped at the US/Canadian border, the guard asked me "If you're on a 2 week trip, where's your luggage?" Why, it's in my trunk sir!