Honda rolled out its Fury model of motorcycles in 2010. The bike received a warm welcome chiefly because of its attractiveness to those preferring the chopper style. The quality of the ride depends on who you talk to. Church of Motorcycle offers a candid look back on the 2012 Honda Fury and lauds the most beautiful aesthetic that made it the envy of those who didn’t own one. It had a long wheelbase and tons of chrome which made it so “cool” and good looking that performance concerns generally took a backseat to the way you looked riding it down the road. Like any bike from the 2012 era, there was room for improvement, but it’s with fondness that many look back on this model that isn’t so far back in our past with only a decade between then and now. Automotive technologies have advanced but it’s perhaps the times and the appearance of the bike in that context that made it such a sensation.
2012 offered a stock chopper in a world where most riders had to go to a custom shop to have a conversion made. It came from the factory with enough embellishments to satisfy the cravings of most clientele. It’s a sexy and sporty bike with graceful low lines that the exhaust system flows easily, with a sculpted seat that seems to add to the curvaceousness of the design. The engine gets its due exposure thanks to the extent from the end. The fenders are stylish and the side covers are also eye-catching, along with the engine cases and covers. when you get down to the detail of the bike, you learn that many of the lovely chromed components are plastic underneath, including the fenders. You’ll find a lot of plastic on the bike. It’s durable and made of strong material, but one of the drawbacks to lowering cost is that sacrifices have to be made somewhere, and that’s the choice Honda made for the 2012 Fury. We must take our hats off and salute them for making the fenders look so much like metal.
Honda was proud to release the specifications of the 2012 Honda Fury a year in advance of its release. They knew they had a winner with its high level of stylishness and more than adequate performance specs. The bike came out in brand new condition off production lines as the VT 1300CX. You could add the ABS moniker to that. The new Fury came equipped with a 1312cc liquid-cooled 52-degree V-twin, 3-valve per cylinder engine with an 89.5 mm x 104.3 mm bore and stroke and a compression ratio of 9:2:1. They mated it with a five-speed shaft-driven transmission. The ignition is a digital type with 3-D mapping and two spark plugs per cylinder. and a PGM-FI with automatic enrichment circle, one 38 mm throttle body induction.
The rear suspension featured a single shock with adjustable rebound damping and adjustability through the spring preload of five positions with 3.7 inches of travel. The front suspension featured a 455 mm fork with 4 inches of travel. The wheelbase is 71.1 inches in length and it came with a single 336 mm disc with a twin-piston caliper brake in front and a 296 mm disc with a single-piston caliper brake on the rear with optional ABS with CBS in the Black color option. The 2012 Fury came stock with a 90/90-21 tire in front and a 200/50-18 in the rear. The seat came at 26.9 inches in height. The bike was also equipped with a fuel tank that held 3.4 gallons of fuel with a fuel economy of 45 mpg. The curb weight was 666 pounds dry or 681 pounds if you added the optional ABS feature. You could order the 2012 Honda Fury in your choice of colors including Matte Black and Red, Ultra Blue Metallic, or for the ABS with CBS, only in Black. The 2012 Honda Fury was manufactured for the US market and designed to comply with all of the established EPA exhaust emission standards. Changing rules for California CARB standards have been known to change and sometimes required tweaks to the equipment.
The 2012 Honda Fury was a beautiful bike and it still is as there are plenty of them still around. Like any dream machine, it had its pros and cons. Motor and Wheels points out a few of the most common complaints associated with the model. There were a few, but nothing earth-shaking for most riders. The most annoying issue was the issue with hard starting. The Fury became known for problems with the factory installation of the battery and with starters failing. The model has experienced its share of starter failures and stalls, but after a few tries, in most cases, the bikes would fire up. you just had to work with it when attempting the hard start. Another common complaint was seat comfort. You can dress it up any way you like, the factory seat installed in the 2012 Honda Fury was uncomfortable for most. It was made to be stylish but an uncomfortable seat becomes annoying after a few hours in the saddle. Again, nothing that became a deal-breaker for most, but why can’t we have it all? Another minor issue was the development of white crystals in the fuel tanks. It’s been an ongoing issue for years that nobody can figure out yet. Not all riders experienced the crystallization but those who have also had a few issues with clogged fuel filters. It’s still a mystery to this day.
Ride Apart gives us a final perspective on the 2012 Honda Fury. They assess it fair as a mid-range bike that doesn’t qualify for the hard-core chopper category, but it’s nice to look at. The comfort doesn’t wander far from any chopper as they mostly form over-function machines made for a certain aesthetic. It’s not as uncomfortable as some others or even custom choppers. It’s got the looks, and it handles well enough to give it a thumbs up for stylishness and performance in a sea of motorcycles. It’s a great entry-level chopper that would have been even better if Honda had replaced the plastic with metal components.
Benjamin Smith is one of the managing editors of Moneyinc. He has a strong interest in sports, video games, and above all, food.
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