Honda Fury

The Honda Fury was the first production chopper from a major motorcycle manufacturer (Honda).[7][9] In a break with tradition, the Fury was the first chopper to have an anti-lock braking system[10] The Fury's styling has been likened to custom-made choppers from Paul Teutul Sr. or Arlen Ness.[8][11] The Fury has been sold not only in North America, but internationally as well, although in some markets Honda eschewed the Fury name and offered the bike simply by its model ID: VT1300CX.[12]

Fury
2010 Fury at the 2009 Seattle International Motorcycle Show
ManufacturerHonda
Also calledVT1300CX
Production2009–present
AssemblyKumamoto Prefecture, Japan[1]
PredecessorVTX1300
ClassChopper
Engine1,312 cc (80.1 cu in) SOHC, three valves per cylinder, liquid-cooled 52° V-twin
Bore / stroke89.5 mm × 104.3 mm (3.52 in × 4.11 in)[2]
Compression ratio9.2 to 1
Power57.3 hp (42.7 kW) @ 4,300 rpm (rear wheel)[3]
Torque79 ft⋅lb (107 N⋅m) @ 2,250 rpm (claimed)[4]
72.9 ft⋅lb (98.8 N⋅m) @ 3,700 rpm (rear wheel)[3]
Ignition typeDigital electronic
TransmissionFive-speed manual
Frame typeDouble-cradle steel tube
SuspensionF: 45mm fork, 4.0 in (100 mm) travel
R: Aluminum swingarm, monoshock with adjustable damping and preload, 3.7 in (94 mm) travel[2]
BrakesF: Single 336mm disc with twin-piston calipers
R: Single 296mm disc with single-piston caliper, ABS & CBS optional[2]
TiresF: 90/90-21 R: 200/50-18
Rake, trail32°/92 mm (3.6 in)[2]
Wheelbase71.24 in (1,809 mm)[5]
Seat height26.70–26.90 in (678–683 mm)[2][5]
Weight663 lb (301 kg)[2](wet)
681 lb (309 kg) ABS[6] (wet)
Fuel capacity3.40 US gallons (12.9 L; 2.83 imp gal)
Fuel consumption40 mpg‑US (5.9 L/100 km; 48 mpg‑imp)[7][8]
RelatedVT1300CS, VT1300CR, VT1300CT

Development
Honda Fury engine at the 2009 Seattle International Motorcycle Show

The original concept for the Honda Fury was first conceptualized by Jesse James and crew at West Coast Choppers.[13][14] Although the final form of that concept is lost today, we know the production model Fury's distinctive frame, bodywork and components for its front and rear suspension were designed by a team of stylists from Honda R&D Americas (HRA) working with engineers from Honda's Asaka R&D Center (HGA) in Japan. Honda's design goal was to lift the chopper type of motorcycle from a niche market item to the quality, quantity and affordability of a mass-produced product. Archetypal chopper styling originated in the Fury's spidery, long wheelbase frame and faux-hardtail rear end. Its frame geometry raised the steering head, stretched the fork tubes, and gave the Fury a radical aspect and a longer, more raked out appearance, all while actually still using the same rake angle (32 degrees) as its forerunners, the Honda VTX series.[15]

Preliminary specifications showing that the Fury had a rake (caster angle) of 38 degrees[16] were later corrected to show the angle as 32 degrees.[2]

Some design elements of the Fury, such as its narrow 21 inch front wheel and very low seat height, are found not only on choppers but appear routinely on cruiser motorcycles as well. For instance, the contemporaneous 750 cc Honda Shadow, updated in 2007 as the Spirit C2 model, had the same front wheel dimensions as the Fury, and an even lower seat height.[17]

The Fury used an updated version of the VTX1300 powertrain and brakes, replacing the 38 mm CV carburetor of the VTX1300 engine with fuel injection (PGM-FI) using a single 38 mm throttle body. The Fury's undersquare engine also received modified cams and cylinder heads as well as a redesigned exhaust system.[8][6] The fuel injection system was part of the engine's exhaust emission controls, in addition to a secondary air injection system and two catalytic converters; Honda also produced a state-specific version of the Fury to meet the California Air Resources Board emissions standards.[18]

Engineers paid particular attention to engine cooling, in order to make the radiator and its hoses as inconspicuous as possible, yet still function effectively. This was achieved by running the top radiator hose underneath a valve cover, and by situating a thin radiator between the downtubes of the double-cradle frame. The Fury was given a five-speed transmission and a shaft-drive system similar to its VTX predecessors, but the shaft was enclosed by an aluminum swingarm assembly unique to the Fury to make it less visible to the untrained eye.[1][6]

Launch

In January 2009 Honda introduced the Fury VT1300CX at the New York International Motorcycle Show, and first deliveries were in May 2009, for the 2010 model year.[19][20][21] The Fury was among the earliest to be manufactured at Honda's completely new motorcycle factory in Kumamoto, Japan, and exported to America.[1]

The Fury was generally well received; Motorcycle Cruiser magazine named the Honda Fury as their "2010 Cruiser of the Year,"[22] after editorializing that choppers cannot be mass-produced, and that the Fury was in actuality a cruiser.[23] The Visordown website included the Fury in their list of "Top 7 cruisers with huge engines," despite the fact that the Honda's displacement was relatively modest.[24] But some reviewers had difficulties reconciling the form-over-function chopper ethos with a motor company known for engineering excellence.[9] In The Telegraph, the late Kevin Ash wrote that "choppers exist outside the realm of motorcycles I understand."[7] Dexter Ford said in The New York Times that the one "thing wrong with the Fury is the same thing that is so right about it: it’s a Honda."[20]

Competition

Motorcycles such as the Honda Fury are sometimes categorized by the mutually exclusive terms factory custom, referring to a major manufacturer's attempt to follow the chopper fad. Harley-Davidson had taken the first steps in the 70s and 80s, but the motorcycle press generally acknowledged that Honda's effort was the most daring stylistically.[8][20] The Fury's competitors included the Harley-Davidson Rocker, Yamaha Star Raider and Victory Vegas.[3][25]

Brethren

In April of 2010, one year after the initial release of the Fury, Honda released three new models as sister bikes to the Fury.[26] These new models were the VT1300CS Sabre (no relation to older Honda Sabre models), VT1300CR Stateline and VT1300CT Interstate. The new Sabre sported a larger 4.4 gallon fuel tank, tank mounted speedometer, five spoke wheels and a longer, lower appearance when comapred the high-necked frame of the Fury. The Stateline further moved away from the Fury design by adding larger, more highway friendly front rubber, more pullback on the handle bars and classic, cruiser style fenders. The Interstate took the changes from both the Sabre and Stateline and added more pullback on narrower handle bars, floorboards in lieu of foot pegs, hard saddlebags and a large touring style windscreen.[27]

Model history

Honda has continued to produce the Fury essentially unchanged since the 2010 model, other than annual paintwork revamps.[28][29][30] The Fury remains in the lineup as of 2022.[31]

Model name

Honda has sold the VT1300CX worldwide, including Australia,[32][33] New Zealand,[10][34] India,[35][36] South Africa,[37][38] the UK[39][40] and Northern Ireland,[41] as well as the UAE and the GCC states.[42] The Fury name was not used in some of these markets.

The model name Fury had previously been used by Royal Enfield for a variety of motorcycle models produced at different times. The BSA Fury was a prototype motorcycle manufactured in 1970 but it never went into commercial production due to financial collapse of the BSA Group.

References
  1. Duke, Kevin (16 January 2009). "2010 Honda Fury Unveiled". Motorcycle.com. VerticalScope Inc. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  2. "2010 Honda Fury Specifications". Honda Media Newsroom. American Honda Motor Co. 15 October 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  3. Gingerelli, Dain (19 May 2011). "2012 Honda Fury vs. 2011 Yamaha Star Stryker". Motorcycle.com. VerticalScope Inc. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  4. "VT1300CX 2010 Press Information" (PDF). Honda Motor Europe Ltd. 20 October 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  5. "2013 Honda Fury Specifications". Honda Media Newsroom. American Honda Motor Co. 4 September 2012. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  6. "2010 Honda Fury Test Ride: Hot Design, Easy Riding—Best Chopper Ever?". Popular Mechanics. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  7. Ash, Kevin (13 August 2010). "Honda Fury VT1300CX review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 March 2014. When is a custom bike not a custom bike? When it's made by a conservative mainstream manufacturer from Japan.
  8. Abrahams, Dave (11 April 2011). "Honda VT1300CX: Art you can ride". Independent Online. Independent Newspapers (Pty) Limited. Retrieved 20 February 2014. The VT1300CX is not the first factory cruiser – that honour belongs to Willie G Davidson's 1971 Super Glide – but it is the first true factory custom. Unlike so many home-built creations, however, it's also a rideable real-world motorcycle, and therein lies its strength. It's a work of art you can go to work on.
  9. Woodyard, Chris (8 September 2010). "Honda goes after the chopper market with the Fury". USA Today. Retrieved 17 March 2014. Chopper purists may have wanted something more radical, but credit the typically conservative manufacturer with taking real design chances and marrying it to Honda reliability.
  10. Owen, Paul (19 May 2010). "Wheels of Fury". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 March 2014. Apart from its outrageous take on custom-bike style, its biggest claim to fame is it is the first chopper fitted with ABS anti-lock brakes.
  11. "Eerste Test Honda VT1300CX Fury". MotoPlus (Nederland) (in Dutch). April 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  12. Watson, Tim (6 June 2013). "RideApart Review: Honda Fury VT1300CX". RideApart. Retrieved 17 March 2014. To our mind there is nothing else that looks like the Fury. You could have considered the Harley-Davidson Rocket, which was HD's interpretation of a chopper, but it quietly dropped that from its line-up in 2012.
  13. "My Fury Arrived Today!". Honda Fury Forums. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  14. "WCC helped design the Honda Fury? - Club Chopper Forums". www.clubchopper.com. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  15. "2010 Honda Fury Development". Honda Media Newsroom. American Honda Motor Co. 16 January 2009. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  16. "2010 Fury Specifications" (PDF). Honda Powersports. American Honda Motor Co. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  17. "2007 Shadow Spirit 750 C2-Honda's Next-Generation Hot-Rod Cruiser". Honda Media Newsroom. American Honda Motor Co. 13 December 2006. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  18. "2010 Honda VT1300CX Fury Owners' Manual" (PDF). Honda Motor co. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  19. Wasef, Basem (16 January 2009). "2010 Honda Fury—Production-Ready Honda Chopper by Spring: 2009 New York Motorcycle Show". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  20. Ford, Dexter (21 August 2009). "A Chopper in Looks but a Honda Inside". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  21. "2010 Honda Fury Makes World Debut at New York International Motorcycle Show". Honda Media Newsroom. American Honda Motor Co. 16 January 2009. Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  22. "2010 Cruiser of the Year". Motorcycle Cruiser. Bonnier Corp. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2014. With everyone else still cranking out big-bore V-twins, Honda seems to be focusing on middleweights that defy old categories. The Fury is the standout, and kudos to Honda for having the cojones to crank out an off-the rack, $12,999 chopper-just when everyone thought the mainstream motorcycle industry was going into hibernation mode.
  23. Bartels, Billy (28 May 2009). "Choppers and Cruisers". Motorcycle Cruiser. Retrieved 27 March 2014. Choppers are supposed to be daring, handbuilt, innovative machines built to test the limits of geometry, engineering, art and good taste.
  24. Cope, Ben (25 July 2011). "Top 7 cruisers with huge engines – Honda Fury". Visordown. Immediate Media Company Ltd. Retrieved 8 March 2014. It's not quick, but it's built to pose on.
  25. Bartels, Billy (24 June 2009). "The Corporate Chopper Challenge". Motorcycle Cruiser. Retrieved 27 March 2014. Really, what more can be said about the Fury? It not only broke the mold for what was possible or impossible from a corporate chopper, it also competes on an even footing with bikes both more expensive and more conventional than it is.
  26. Williams, Don (29 April 2010). "2010 Honda VT1300 Stateline | Review". Ultimate Motorcycling. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  27. Bond, Steve (14 April 2010). "Honda VT1300s". Canada Moto Guide. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  28. "American Honda Announces More 2011 Models". Motorcycle Cruiser. 3 September 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2014. It's no surprise that the eye-catching Fury will be making a return appearance for 2011…
  29. Cherney, Andy (26 September 2011). "2012 Honda Cruiser Preview". Motorcycle Cruiser. Retrieved 26 March 2014. Two years after it shook the mainstream, the Fury continues to look like something straight out of a boutique chop shop.
  30. Cherney, Andy (12 September 2012). "Honda Announces 2013 Model Year Bikes". Motorcycle Cruiser. Retrieved 26 March 2014. It's still sometimes hard to believe that the Fury is a full-release production model from a large manufacturer.
  31. "2014 Fury Specifications" (PDF). Honda Powersports. American Honda Motor Co. 28 August 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  32. Chapman, Rod (24 May 2010). "Honda VT1300CR". motoring.com.au. carsales.com Limited. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014. Also on offer are two other Honda 'middleweight' cruisers, the VT1300CX and VT1300CS. The CX is the chopper-esque machine, known as the Fury in other markets, with a long, raked-out front end and wild styling.
  33. Hinchliffe, Mark (2 June 2011). "Bikes lag on ABS brakes". carsguide.com.au. Retrieved 3 March 2014. Honda Australia motorcycles marketing manager Glyn Griffiths says they will have ABS available on 'as many models as the factory fit it to that we are importing into Australia'. Currently Honda offers ABS on the GL1800 Gold Wing, ST1300, and VFR1200F and FD tourers; VT1300CX, VT1300CR and VT1300CS cruisers; and CBR1000RR, CBR600RR, CB400 and CBR250R sports bikes.
  34. Madelin, Jacqui (7 November 2010). "Honda: Sound and the Fury". The New Zealand Herald. APN Holdings NZ Limited. Retrieved 26 March 2014. The Fury may not be the bugger-the-money, strip-a-Harley cruiser we're used to. But it costs less and it goes, stops and handles straight out of the box while sounding every bit as bad and rad as it looks.
  35. "2012 Fireblade and VT1300CX Launched at the 2012 Auto Expo!". Business Standard Motoring. Business Standard Ltd. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2014. This is the textbook definition of a 'massive onslaught'. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Ltd (HMSI) has launched the VT1300CX chopper in the country!
  36. "Honda VT1300CX Fury review, test ride". Autocar India. Haymarket Publishing. 4 January 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2014. It's not all style with no substance however, the Fury outputs adequate power, with reasonable comfort on offer. The good news is that Honda is likely to bring this bike to India and will be unveiling the VT1300CX at the 2012 Auto Expo in Delhi.
  37. Witbooi, Mzo (16 August 2011). "Top 3 cruiser bikes". Destiny Man. Retrieved 3 March 2014. Honda claims that the VT1300CX is the only chopper in its class to feature the combined ABS system, providing safe and confident braking abilities. It certainly doesn't turn heads like the Harley, but will definitely have you noticed.
  38. "Cruiser (brochure)" (PDF). Honda South Africa (Pty) Ltd. 23 June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  39. Ovidiu, Capra (14 July 2009). "Honda VT1300CX in UK". ZerCustoms.com. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  40. Franklin, Trevor (5 February 2010). "Honda Fury price revealed". Motorcycle News. Bauer Media. Retrieved 3 March 2014. The one problem that comes with the Fury is it isn't a Harley; it isn't air-cooled; it will always carry the (unjustified) tag of look-a-likey; and it won't have the soul of the great American V-twin...
  41. Neely, David (4 February 2010). "The fast show". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  42. Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury (22 June 2010). "Honda launches VT1300CX & VFR1200F bikes in UAE". Drive Arabia. Retrieved 3 March 2014. Alongside the stunningly popular Honda Accord Crosstour, Honda also revealed a pair of motorcycles at a UAE press event in Dubai. One would be the VT1300CX and the other is the VFR1200F. Both are niche products for Honda, considering they are better known for their superbikes.
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