You are able to make paint a mental picture of the popular Yamaha V-Max - a name given to a motorcycle that wouldn't look out of place on the poster of a Mad Max movie
It took more than fifteen years for Honda to get over the knock of Yamaha's V-Max and come up with an answer.
That answer was called the Honda X4, and that X4 could not put a scratch on the success of the V-Max.
That's why we completely forgot about the Honda X4. A forgotten model of exceptional category.
Take a fairly elongated naked with cruiser-like lines, a closed rear wheel, a lazy angle for the headset and a straight drag race handlebar.
A much too large block had to be installed for the drive, with torque numbers matching cement-trucks.
That is how they will have interpreted Yamaha's V-Max at Honda. The Honda X4 ticks off all those necessities without hesitation, yet it never really caught on.
The question is whether that is strange, because let's face it; we all know the V-Max, but there are really not many driving around. But more than the big red X4 model - with reason.
Honda did what Honda does best with the X4, build an engine that immediately feels right, just by eye.
Finishing is done, the engine exudes a certain tranquility and everything seems made as if it should last until the end of the day.
In driving, the X4 was also praised for the ever-present torque, excellent driving characteristics and sophisticated braking.
Leave it to Honda to distil the formula of a competitor's maniacal power cruiser.
The Honda X4 has almost as much power and even more torque than the V-Max and the X4 is lighter too.
So the rational approach, as we are used to from Honda but totally ignoring the totally irrational that made the Yamaha V-Max a desirable motorcycle.
Fortunately, all was not lost for the Honda X4.
The year after its introduction, the block also returned in the Honda CB1300 Super Four – which, by the way, like the X4, was never intended for the European market.
We officially got the Super Four nameless CB1300 that came after that.
The X4 came this way through the gray import and enough enthusiasts saw the diamond polished to a high-gloss for what it was worth.
In Germany, the X4 still has an immense number of cult followers, but in Belgium you will rarely find, and if found in bad condition.