Honda Project

These are my final renders for the Honda 125 Project.

To explain briefly, my final deign is the embodiment of my three words on a modern and unique frame.

My three words are:

SIMPLE

APPROACHABLE

SAFE

I really wanted to design something that would not only be simple, but also as un-intimidating as possible. I feel like that is the main thing stopping young people of today from jumping on a bike and riding it.

For this reason, I designed the bike with as much mechanical details as possible completely hidden. Out of sight, out of mind, or so they say!

Sticking to the simple and approachable theme, I decided to make the transmission of the bike fully automatic. The transmission on current bikes and slightly unintuitive controls really intimidate new riders and it showed in the research I did.

The bike I have created has no foot pedals and I guess in a way it is a lot like a scooter in the way it works, but the style and power are not of a scooter. They are of a new 125cc motorcycle. I feel that an automatic transmission will help attract even teenage girls to motorcycles.

Other features designed for approachability are the easy access oil and water caps. They are bright and they’re right there making maintenance of the bike as simple as possible. Riders need to know nothing about the mechanicals, they just need to know where to put the liquids and this makes it easy. This is much like the Audi A2 which has an entirely sealed front bonnet. I don’t know why that idea was not continued with.

Another feature that I am quite proud of is the removable fuel tank. This is designed for three reasons:

1. It is a simple anti-theft device. You can take the fuel tank with you and this means nobody can steal your bike. When you return to your bike, simply put the tank back in and off you go.

2. If you run out of fuel, you can easily take the tank to the petrol station instead of wheeling the whole bike there.

3. You can keep a spare tank handy in case you ever need more than a tank full. The tank is not so large that one would not fit in a backpack.

I think the removable tank is a huge idea and could be extremely useful on a motorbike.

Another feature of my bike are the large indicator lights. These are primarily for safety. When not on, they are practically invisible, but when they are on, they are super bright so that everyone can see you coming. This reduces the chance of a crash with another vehicle and I think parents would love to know their child is safe.

Design-wise, my bike is meant to be really unique. I tried to give it a really lightweight feeling and a look that is entirely unique to the bike world. The bike is made from durable metal and unpainted plastic parts which are both cheap to replace and difficult to damage.  I think this suits a generation who are more likely to be a bit careless with their bike.

The front of the bike has minimal fairings around the handle bars for a reason. This is to give maximum vision of the road ahead and what the bike is doing. This was a major complaint about the fully faired CBR 125 that I wanted to really combat.

I think that about describes my design. I am really quite pleased with it, and the fact that it looks a lot different to everyone else’s. I hope that Honda will at least take some of my ideas into consideration.