Post by motherruckas on Nov 16, 2005 12:33:12 GMT -5
The Honda PS250 is not a novelty, but we never mentioned it here on Nihon Car & Bike, and since the manufacturer is releasing a new colour version, "Harvest Beige", for the Tokyo Motor Show, we thought it was a good occasion to write about this unusual scooter.
It's part of the same family as the Zoomer that is available in Europe (for an exhuberant price for a 50cc, but anyway...), but then bigger, and we can't really call it a scooter, it looks like a crossing between a scooter, a stepper of the future and a Caterpillar®... so it's very difficult to categorize this vehicle, which is not necessarily a bad thing, because it stands out from the masses. Honda itself calls it a Pick-Up scooter.
It seems that its success in Japan is quite limited, could it be too extravagant for the Japanese? Or too expensive? Or just too much, over the top? We don't really think so, but this scooter has an undeniable styling, you like or you don't, but it does not offer what you would expect from a big-engined scooter (comfort, protection, storage capacity, ...). Despite the interesting ideas like the seat for 2 people that transforms into a real throne, it will be impossible to take it for a ride on the highway and exploit the engine completely.
This did not stop Honda to present at the TMS 2 more evolved and designed 125 versions. The NP6-D and NP6-S came straight out of the heads of the young design team from Honda Japan.
It's part of the same family as the Zoomer that is available in Europe (for an exhuberant price for a 50cc, but anyway...), but then bigger, and we can't really call it a scooter, it looks like a crossing between a scooter, a stepper of the future and a Caterpillar®... so it's very difficult to categorize this vehicle, which is not necessarily a bad thing, because it stands out from the masses. Honda itself calls it a Pick-Up scooter.
It seems that its success in Japan is quite limited, could it be too extravagant for the Japanese? Or too expensive? Or just too much, over the top? We don't really think so, but this scooter has an undeniable styling, you like or you don't, but it does not offer what you would expect from a big-engined scooter (comfort, protection, storage capacity, ...). Despite the interesting ideas like the seat for 2 people that transforms into a real throne, it will be impossible to take it for a ride on the highway and exploit the engine completely.
This did not stop Honda to present at the TMS 2 more evolved and designed 125 versions. The NP6-D and NP6-S came straight out of the heads of the young design team from Honda Japan.
