By: Rob Beintema

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show was about more than just cars and trucks with nine motorcycle manufacturers displaying more than 130 bikes including the unveiling of 26 world premieres.

Suzuki’s show-stopper, the Biplane concept, fully enclosed and wrapped in a gorgeous golden yellow supposedly blends the spirit of early aviation and open road motorcycling. Nobody seems to understand the name inspiration but I’ll put it down to the bent handlebars and art deco styling. There’s already some flag-waving, internet-based whining about similarities with Confederate’s B120 Wraith but the Biplane is infinitely better finished. Power is supplied by a water-cooled, horizontally laid out V4 engine with CVT transmission.

Taking its performance cue from the other end of the spectrum, the crosscage concept features a sturdy steel X(cross)-shaped frame protecting a hydrogen tank, lithium ion battery and quiet fuel cell operation.

The Suzuki Gemma scooter offers low-riding security in a sleek urban design powered by a 249cc liquid-cooled DOHC 1-cylinder engine.

For bigger power, Suzuki also featured two new-for-2008 products – the Hayabusa 1300, an ultimate sportbike and the powerful B-King, a not-so-naked, all purpose street bruiser.

Yamaha rocked the house with the Tesseract, a four-wheeled motorcycle (huh?) and the XS-V1 Sakura, a retro-styled bike based on the 1970 XS-1 650.

Honda’s ten world premieres included two automatic transmission concepts – the EVO6  cruiser concept powered by the Goldwing-derived Flat Six engine and the wind-swept DN-01 automatic sport cruiser, maybe an answer for aging riders. A Modern Café Sports CB concept – the CB1100F – follows the retro trend and the new Forza Z scooter, along with Honda’s long list of new production bikes, filled out the rest of their display.

Kawasaki debuted its D-Tracker X, Triumph showed the new Rocket III and even Harley-Davidson was in Japan with their new Rockers and limited-edition CVO machines.

© Copyright 2008