• Created at a staggering loss, the Rune was Honda flexing its inventive muscle.
• Utilizing the Valkyrie as its base, the Rune had a radical design and quite a few customized chrome components.
• This instance has roughly 6000 miles.
Honda is not recognized for flights of fancy, however the bike you see right here is one occasion the place Honda went fully berserk. A single-minded pursuit of design above all else meant that the large H misplaced an eye-watering quantity on the NRX1800 Rune. The event value was rumored to be $225 million, and but the manufacturing run was extraordinarily restricted.
This low-mileage 2004 Rune, resplendent in burgundy paint, is up for public sale on Convey a Trailer—which, like Automobile and Driver, is a part of the Hearst Autos Group. It is rolling sculpture, an idea bike dropped at life, but it is also as tractable and simple to trip as any Honda product.
In 2000, Honda confirmed off a trio of idea bikes on the Cycle World present in Lengthy Seaside, California. One idea, the T2, bought all the eye. Attending Honda workers had been greatly surprised by the adoring crowds, however there was a somewhat giant catch. T2 did not truly run, it was merely a design experiment.
But Honda determined to construct a manufacturing model anyway. For example simply how troublesome a process the engineers got, the silencers are forged utilizing a lost-wax methodology. The idea’s stunning radiator slits had been solely theoretically able to dealing with the cooling duties for a 20-30 hp engine, however the manufacturing Rune’s 1832cc flat-six makes 118 hp, so Honda had to make use of ultra-conductive alloy to make the radiator shed sufficient warmth.
Factoring in profitability and efficiency, constructing the Rune was an impossibility. So, Honda merely threw these issues away. As a halo bike, a manufacturing Rune would elevate each the associated Gold Wing and Valkyrie bikes. It is estimated that every Rune value Honda within the neighborhood of $150,000 to construct. When new every bike bought for $25,000.
This 2004 mannequin represents a possibility to personal a really cost-no-object machine, one with a splendidly eye-catching design. With all that chrome and ultra-low trip top, the Rune seems to be just like the hero car from an motion film. It is like a cross between Akira and Duke Nukem.
And, as a result of it is a Honda, it is also very rideable, with a torque-rich powerband sufficiently grunty to drag away from a cease in prime gear. The clutch is gentle, the trick trailing entrance suspension makes for a surprisingly small turning circle, and the low seat top makes it comfy in site visitors.
The Rune is insanity to have a look at, however marvelous to expertise—as the highest bidder will uncover. The public sale runs by Might 22.
Contributing Editor
Brendan McAleer is a contract author and photographer primarily based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British vehicles, got here of age within the golden period of Japanese sport-compact efficiency, and commenced writing about automobiles and folks in 2008. His specific curiosity is the intersection between humanity and equipment, whether or not it’s the racing profession of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught each of his younger daughters how one can shift a guide transmission and is grateful for the excuse they supply to be perpetually shopping for Scorching Wheels.