The 2016 Honda NM4 Vultus, the “feet-forward” super-scooter, shocklingly styled after character Tetsuo Shima’s motorcycle in Katsuhiro Otomo’s manga and anime “Akira“, has been up-dated for this year for the Japan market, andnow comes with two base colours, and 11 special-order paint schemes, ranging from red, gold and green, amongst others. The NM4 Vultus also receives some minor updates for 2016.
New is a re-designed exhaust can, but little else. The original NM4 Vultus came out in 2014, brought to the market in a rather staid matte black that didn’t flatter its polarising looks. There were two versions in Japan, the NM4-01 and 02, with the 02 coming with hard panniers that somewhat improved the scooter’s looks, while the rest of the world made do with the MN4-01.
The funky LCD instrument panel could also change colour to suit rider preference, cycling through a range of 25 shades, thus allowing the screen to match the paint-job. The adjustable rider back-rest allows for the rider to customise the seating position.
The 2016 NM4 uses the 670 cc parallel-twin, eight-valve, liquid-cooled PGM-FI engine derived from the rest of Honda’s range of super-sccoters such as the Integra and CT series, and an automatic six-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT). A wet weight of 255 kg makes this a heavyweight as far as scooters go, and the 11-litre fuel tank is not going to go give a lot of range between fuel stops. ABS and Honda’s Combined Braking system come standard on the NM4.
Never being a popular seller in the rest of the world, excluding Japan, perhaps this is the impetus the NM4 Vultus needs to boost sales for 2016, coming with a selection of colours, much the same way car manufacturers do it. The 2016 NM4 has a listed price of USD10,994 (RM46,000) and comes with optional accessories such as a taller windscreen and passenger backrest. The special colours adds approximately USD185 (RM781) to the retail price.
GALLERY: 2014 Honda NM4-01 Vultus
