Super Six

SUPER SIX

MAKING NEW FROM old is not always easy. It’s important to retain the soul of the bike, to preserve its cultural legacy and still leave the door open for current thinking. Working on a Honda CBX more than two decades after it was launched, Dais Nagao, a designer at American Honda, retained only the most magnificent element of the original: its monstrous aircooled six-cylinder engine. The rest of the bike is pure eye-candy: tiny bug-eye headlights, meat-cleaver joysticks in place of a conventional handlebar, single-sided swingarm, swoopy rims, a massive single front brake disc and ornately shaped exhaust headers capped with old-style SuperTrapp slip-ons. Before joining Honda, Dais earned his diploma at the Art Center College of Design, and then worked for Ford and Hot Wheels. Playboy published his article on the future of the motorcycle. He’s worked as an auto mechanic, played rugby and designed guitars. He rides motocross and speaks Japanese as well as English.

When Dais speaks of the future, his eyes shine. While his concept CBX may never be produced, the effort that went into it won’t go unnoticed.

—Claude de La Chapelle