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Consumer Reports' first motorcycle reliability report finds Japanese brands ahead

Consumer Reports has released its first ever study of motorcycle reliability, and students of its ratings on cars might notice a suspicious similarity - Japanese brands require fewer repairs than the leading American or German brands.
The study analyzed the reliability of 4,680 bikes owned by CR subscribers and found that Yamaha had the best ratings, with just one in ten bikes built between 2009 and 2012 requiring a repair over a four-year period. The makers of the R1 and R6 sport bikes were closely followed by Kawasaki and Honda, while one out of every four of the rumbling bikes from Harley-Davidson experienced an issue. BMW had the worst rating of the brands represented, with one in three bikes having problems.
According to CR, neither Suzuki nor Triumph owners provided enough information for a reliable rating. Based on the responses received, though, Suzuki would have finished with the other Japanese brands and Triumph, being English, would have been one of the less reliable makes.

Honda Civic Wagon Concept to debut at Geneva

Honda is getting warmed up for the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, with a sketch of some very Euro-flavored forbidden fruit. Seen above (click on the image to see an expanded view) is the Honda Civic Wagon Concept Model - a rather tentative name for a car that Honda claims "provides strong cues for the exterior design of the final mass produced version."
The sketch seen here is obviously very stylized, but we think that if Honda can stay true to its sleek rounded forms and aggressive silhouette, the final product could be quite fetching. Note that this is an image handed out by Honda of Europe, for a European auto show - we have every expectation that that any production-ready Civic wagon will be a Europe-only deal. Sorry, guys.
Find Honda's brief press release below, which also includes news of the European debut of the updated NSX Concept we saw at January's Detroit Auto Show, along with a diesel-powered CR-V.

Honda's first production jet takes off from North Carolina

Plenty of automakers have backgrounds in aircraft manufacturing. BMW, Bristol, Mitsubishi, Saab and Spyker all started out in the airplane business. But Honda is going the opposite direction, expanding its automotive (not to mention motorcycle, ATV, marine engine and power equipment) business with the launch of the HondaJet. And that project has just taken a big step forward.
After starting production a year and a half ago, the Japanese industrial giant recently completed its first customer HondaJet, and has now taken that initial production aircraft to the skies for its landmark first flight. The aircraft left the production facility in Greensboro and took off on Friday morning from Piedmont Triad International Airport in North Carolina - the same state where the Wright Brothers undertook their first flight over a century ago.
The HondaJet undertook an 84-minute test flight, climbing to 15,500 feet and reaching a speed of 348 knots. That works out to 400 miles per hour - assuredly faster than any Honda (save for maybe a prototype for the same aircraft) has traveled before. The aircraft is designed to cruise at a maximum of 420 knots (483 mph) and reach a maximum altitude of 43,000 feet.