Few motorcycle manufacturers have been so successful at sensing consumer desires so well Honda has. In 1958 Honda caught lightning in a bottle by selling the Super Cub to non-drivers and cyclists alike. In a subsequent attempt to attract more riders, Honda sought to attract new riders to the two-wheeler lifestyle.
How? A common belief is that Honda’s automotive design team created a motorcycle to get motorists excited about motorcycling. But the reality is a little different.
This is the Honda Pacific Coast 800. Launched in 1989, this futuristic looking motorcycle had some ideas that are still good today, over 30 years later.
One of the most striking features of the PC800 design is the fully enclosed motor. Not even the track sportbikes hide their engines as completely as the PC800.
The entire bike is covered in plastic feet from top to bottom, hiding all sorts of bike parts. Deliberately hiding motorcycle parts might make you wonder, who is the motorcycle for? Why hide the parts that make it a motorcycle?
I had the same question while researching the PC800. I came across a number of articles from various outlets stating that the bike was developed in a Honda automotive division. Supposedly, the bike was designed to get motorists onto a bike. Then I found a funny video by fortnine Youtube channel.
I love Fortnine’s videos and this was no exception. However, it deepened the mystery for me as the bike wasn’t just supposedly designed by Honda’s car designers, it was specifically Acuras designers. Perhaps. I mean, it definitely looks car-inspired. Check out this instrument cluster:
It even has a trunk that looks straight out of a car.
Forget side pockets, forget suitcases, throw your belongings in an integrated trunk! Best of all, it can be drained so it’s easy to clean.
Despite the bike’s car-like design, I haven’t found anything from Honda to back that up. The earliest mentions of it were in the personal blogs of Pacific Coast owners.
I decided to contact Honda’s powersports department. The Honda representative was present at the launch of the PC800 and had also heard the same rumours. Unfortunately, it was confirmed by one of the motorcycle designers that the Pacific Coast was designed entirely by Honda’s motorcycle division:
I was able to confirm that all the motorcycle staff were design in Japan. Not an Acura or Honda car. This rumor probably arose because they initially built the clay model with one of the car studios. But it was all design on the side of the bike – sketch, sound to production.
That’s certainly the end of it. The Pacific Coast wasn’t designed by Acura or even any automotive designers. The theory of how the rumor originated actually makes sense. A good two decades have passed since the rumor originated and morphed like a bad phone game. It’s a good example of how people can believe something they read on the internet, only to find it to be untrue.
But that still leaves the question: who was it made for? The PC800 looks and drives like a car. But if it’s not designed to attract motorists, then who was it made for? The representative had an answer for that, too.
What I can tell you is that the PC800 was originally aimed at introducing new riders to motorcycling. People who wouldn’t consider a motorcycle because of the “inconveniences”… maintenance, storage, wind protection… hence the design is more car-like. Plastic encased everything so easy to clean, and it was thought at the time that this target customer wasn’t mechanical, so seeing the engine could be intimidating. Had a large trunk to make carrying things easier. You don’t have to strap anything, just throw it in the trunk. Large windshield/fairing for protection from the elements. Everything was developed with this potential customer in mind.
That actually explains a lot. Honda wanted this bike to be all about the riding experience without the downsides. The motor is encased in plastic and rubber mounts not to hide it from a motorist, but to attract someone who might not want to tinker with their own bike. Because of this, Honda has gone to great lengths to make it as maintenance-free as possible. This is a big bike for a non-rider and non-wrench.
The bike itself wasn’t bad. Motorbike.com found the Pacific Coast 800 tame but reasonable. The engine propels the roughly 640-pound bike with just 57 horses on tap, so performance is predictable.
To perform major engine work, you must remove several pieces of plastic. There is so much to remove to work on the carburetors that Honda placed the idle adjustment screw next to the gas cap.
The Pacific Coast 800 didn’t stay long in America. The quirky bike was not offered between 1991 and 1993 and Honda stopped selling the model in 1998.
Honda tried a few more times to invite non-riders to their bikes with the DN-01 and NM4. These even had automatic transmissions but were sold in small numbers just like the PC800. The DN-01 may be known as the to Grand Theft Auto V players thrust.
I dig the PC800. It looks straight out of a 1980s sci-fi movie set in 2020 or so. I could picture myself filling the trunk with drinks and heading to the beach for a day under the sun. These are cheap too. You can get one for $1,500 to $2,000 all day long. Oh crap, I’m watching one Now.
Fortnite’s video is still a good watch – this bike is really weird!
