Honda Helix

HONDA HELIX

CYCLE WORLD TEST

IT'S FUN AND IT'S FAST BUT WHAT DO YOU CALL IT?

NEVER MIND WHAT WEBSTER says. Don't pay any attention to the Department of Transportation, the instructor at the high school Driver's Ed class, or what it says on the registration, either; scooters aren't motorcycles. A machine has to have more than just two wheels and an engine before it truly can be called a motorcycle.

No doubt, the difference between a scooter and a motorcycle is plain to all of us enthusiasts. But it’s getting harder and harder to define that difference to someone who doesn’t already know. And scooters like the Helix don't help matters much.

The Honda Helix, in case you haven’t seen one cruising the local malt shops, looks like a cross between a Jet Ski and something George Jetson might use for commuting to work at Spacely’s Sprockets. But in actuality, the Helix is of a stretched version of Honda’s conventional Elite scooter, even using essentially the same 248cc four-stroke singlecylinder engine

That engine is another reason why the Helix makes explaining the scooter/motorcycle difference to the uninitiated so difficult. A quarter-liter engine is monstrous by scooter standards, and its power allows this scooter’s performance to equal or exceed that offered by many inhabitants of the motorcycle world. The Helix is at least in the same league as a 250 Honda Rebel in terms of speed and acceleration, and it far surpasses most dual-purpose bikes of the Seventies. Compared to the traditional Vespa-variety scooter, the Helix is a veritable V-Max. It is freeway legal in all 50 states, and is quite comfortable cruising at interstate speeds.

Neither does the Helix’s automatic transmission help make any definitions clear. Numerous motorcycles of years past have been of the shiftless

variety, but the Helix’s torque converter operates more smoothly than most of them.

Still, the Helix does have design features that would be considered unusual on a motorcycle. One is that the entire engine, including the torque converter and the rest of the drive train, is unsuspended and moves up and down with the rear wheel. You might think that design makes for an awful lot of unsprung weight—and you’d be right—but the effects are not noticeable. The Helix’s twin-shock rear suspension works well for the machine’s intended purpose, providing a smooth, comfortable ride. And the floating engine design does make for a very low center of gravity.

That engine location also contributes to the machine’s excellent cornering manners. The Helix won’t shame any RZ350s in box-stock roadraces, but you can bet your clipons that it will out-corner a lot of cruisers. The amount of cornering clearance is surprising—after all, you can’t drag the pegs on something that doesn’t have pegs. But if you suddenly have an attack of Laguna Seca mania while riding the Helix and absolutely must find its limits of lean, the sideand centerstands will be the first things to make sparks. But when the world gets that tilted, you’re pushing the limits of traction provided by the 12-inch front and 10inch rear tires. Small wheels make for quick and responsive steering, but the contact patch they provide isn’t so large.

Small wheels also make for increased instabilty—although the Helix’s long wheelbase compensates for this characteristic enough that stability isn’t a problem. Keeping the machine going in a straight line at speed isn’t hard, but it does require more concentration than on the average motorcycle, especially in cross-

winds. After all, the Helix is more or less the Aspencade of the scooter crowd, so it has a lot of front and side area for the wind to act upon. The windshield is nearly as large as that of some touring bikes, and is tall enough to keep the airflow aimed over your head. It’s also just low enough so that you can see over it, a trick that most touring bikes can’t manage.

There are. to be sure, some features on the Helix that are distinctly i//?motorcycle-like. For example, it has a trunk. Not a bolt-on tail-trunk like on a touring bike, but a built-in trunk under the passenger seat, one big enough for a full bag of groceries. Then there's the gas-filler location. If you don't know where it is before your first gas stop, be prepared for an embarrassing search that will go on forever—or until you think to look under the floorboard. A lot of gasstation attendants might already know where the filler is located, but they’ll probably play dumb just for the sake of amusement.

Then, of course, the Helix is a fullblooded step-through, which probably is the easiest way to define the difference between it and a motorcycle, even if there are a few stepthrough motorcycles around. The advantages in that design are a perceived feeling of safety for beginners who feel their legs aren’t as vulnerable as they would be on a motorcycle, and the fact that the Helix can be ridden by someone wearing a dress or a skirt.

If that sounds like a flimsy way to define the difference between a motorcycle and a scooter, well, maybe it is. But maybe the difference isn’t really all that important. Maybe it's best to look at scooters and motorcycles as two deliciously different ways to have fun on two wheels. Besides, when a scooter is as thoroughly enjoyable as the Helix is, the differences don’t matter much at all. B3