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Honda, Hyundai and Kia get best word-of-mouth recommendations in US

Forget advertising, incentives and, yes, even our excellently crafted vehicle reviews, sometimes the best way for automakers to sell cars is still good ol' fashioned word of mouth. In an attempt to measure this "word of mouth" power, The Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm, has created a new study called the Brand Advocacy Index (BAI). The index takes a look at how various industries perform from person to person. Those industries include automotive, smartphones, grocery, mobile telecommunications and banking.
The study polled more than 32,000 individuals across Europe and in the US to come up with the top 55 brands in these various industries. On the automotive side of things, the top brands in the US were Honda, Hyundai and Kia, all tied at 63 percent. On a global scale, Volkswagen and Toyota scored the highest with a 65-percent BAI rating (both in France). The average BAI for auto industry players tallied 50 percent.
As for companies in other industries, Apple's iPhone was the index's top-rated smartphone, Trader Joe's was the highest recommended grocery store, Virgin was sat atop the mobile telecom industry and USAA was the top retail bank. Scroll down for the full press release on the new study.

Bisimoto 2014 Honda Odyssey packs 1,029 hp plus the kids

You know, the last time I drove a Honda Odyssey, I thought, "Man, this thing could really use another 781 horsepower." Thank goodness for the folks at Bisimoto, then, who have brought this "Power-Van" to the 2013 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. It's your standard seven-passenger Honda Odyssey with massive powertrain tuning to deliver a full 1,029 horsepower. Honda has not listed the torque output, but we imagine it's roughly eleventy billion foot-pounds.
That crazy power bump has been achieved through the use of - *deep breath* - an Infinity ECU, Arias pistons, ARP headstuds and bolts, Bisimoto's own 360-degree oil cap, a cat-back exhaust system, stainless mufflers, an improved fuel pump, new spark plugs, custom headwork, R&R custom steel rods, Turbonetics BTZ7265 twin turbochargers, a wastegate, blowoff valve, VP racing fuels and a whole lot more. Honda says the only chassis/suspension modifications come in the way of Fifteen52 wheels, 225/30-series Toyo T1 Sport tires and Young Guns performance exhaust coatings. So as far as we can tell, this thing still uses a front-wheel-drive setup. I bet it'll do somersaults.
Of course, this is SEMA, where we assume there's a four-modification minimum for any car that enters the Las Vegas Convention Center, so the Odyssey has been given added visual flair, as well. Outside, that means there's a Denmatic design theme, a whole mess of Honda accessories (check out that roof tub) and some new paint. Inside, upgraded upholstery has been fitted, as have Recaro seats.

eBay Find of the Day: Why this motorcycle's a deal at $135k

There can be no doubt that Soichiro Honda left a lasting legacy by lending his engineering talents to the company that bears his name. This can be said particularly of motorcycles, and the company outdid itself when it introduced the 1969 CB750. Widely considered the world's first superbike, it combined a then-powerful 67-horsepower, 736cc, inline four-cylinder engine and cutting edge tech for motorcycles at the time like an electric start and front disc brake. It is simply one of the most important motorcycles ever made, and now one of four handmade prototypes is up for auction on eBay Motors.
According to the seller, Honda had an idea that it had something special with the CB750 and built four preproduction models to be shown off to American media in 1968. Each one was hand-built by Honda technicians from bespoke components, and this blue/green model was photographed by magazines and for promotional material at the time. The seller believes that one of the four prototypes was destroyed, one is in Europe and one is unknown, which means this may be the only chance for collectors to get their hands on one.
The bike has prompted quite a bidding war with 97 bids registered as of this writing. With about seven hours left to go in the auction, the top big currently sits at $135,300. At this rate, things could get very exciting at the end. Although to own a prototype for the first super bike, it might be worth it.