“They still make those?”

In a last-minute rush to secure a loaner motorcycle for a cross-country trip, I found myself standing inside Honda’s East Coast warehouse. It was my first time there and I felt like a kid in a candy store. The place was enormous — rows upon rows of motorcycles, UTVs, generators, multiples of every model. This is where Honda stores its press and demo fleets, the ones used for shows, test rides, and magazine loans.

I was in a hurry. The day before I had arranged to pick up a 2025 Gold Wing 50th Anniversary Edition. I planned to put 6,000 miles on it that month, starting that same afternoon. While signing paperwork, something in the corner of my eye caught my attention: low, long, green, and slightly menacing. It gleamed under the warehouse lights — exaggerated curves and chrome in all the right places. ”Is… is that a Honda Fury?” I thought. It was. “They still make those?” They sure do.

I didn’t have time to stare, as I was on a mission, but the seed was planted.

2025 Honda Fury. Yes please.

Six Months Later

Fast-forward half a year and I’m sitting across from Rob Brooks over coffee. We share a love for writing, riding motorcycles, and writing about riding motorcycles. Somewhere in conversation the Fury came up. “Remember the Honda Fury? Can you believe they still make that thing? Who’s buying them? I never see them. I wanna do a story on one of those!”

So here we are.

I returned to the Honda warehouse, grinning ear to ear. There it was: a brand new 2025 Fury with just 100 miles on it. Photos don’t do this bike justice; it’s more impressionable in person and up close. It was long and low, shiny, just floating there. The Honda dudes were stoked that I was interested in it. Loren and Bradley at the warehouse were eager to have me try it out. They were excited that I was excited.

“You know, they don’t get much attention anymore,” they said. “Who’s buying them?” I asked. They shrugged. “Enough people. We saw a surprising number down at Daytona.”

Ready to log some Fury miles. Oh yeah.

I fired it up and instantly giggled. The Fury is a pure V-twin experience — big, torquey, and surprisingly refined. It’s smooth, powerful, and sounds great. The forward controls and relaxed riding position suit the look perfectly. The styling? Straight out of the early-2000s American chopper boom.

The Fury first hit dealers in 2010. This was nearly a decade after that trend had peaked. Leave it to Honda to take a pop-culture idea and engineer it to perfection long after everyone else moved on. It’s seven feet long, almost 700 pounds, rolls on a slim 21-inch front wheel and a fat 200/50-18 out back and yet somehow, it turns on a dime. It rides straight and balanced, even comes with ABS.

It strikes a menacing profile.

But Why?

The answer seems obvious: it was Honda’s take on the custom chopper craze that dominated TV in the early 2000s — American Chopper, Jesse James, the works. The Fury styling is dead-on for a “custom chopper starter kit”. I remember watching those shows as a kid. I didn’t realize it then, but that was probably my introduction to motorcycles. And while I don’t immediately love the styling or type of bike that the Fury is, that might explain the soft spot I have for it.

A press release from Honda regarding the development of the Fury had this to say:

“One key factor that cannot be quantified in empirical terms always comes into play: a passion for the machine. And at Honda, our designers and engineers carry a passion for motorcycles to the extreme. So when they get the green light to give full force to such passions, some pretty wild things can happen.”

Still, the Fury has always felt like an anomaly for Honda. Though it wasn’t their first oddball cruiser. Remember the Rune? That bike debuted in 2003 with existing platforms (Gold Wing / Valkyrie), yet still aimed to capture the “custom scene” at the time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Rune on the road, I would definitely love to try one, but I agree that a V-twin makes more sense for the style. Honda released a quote with the Rune: ”We can design and build anything better than anyone else.” I have yet to think anyone has fought them on that claim.

The chopper scene peaked around 2002–2005. I have a theory that an executive at Honda was secretly a “chopper guy”. Nothing like that existed in Japan, so he formulated the “long-con” to just produce it himself. By the time Honda finished R&D, the trend was over; the recession had hit, and the Fury was nearly a forgotten fad. Fifteen years later however, the Fury lives on.

Its a chopper, so naturally we have to ride it on the Tail of the Dragon. Of course.

Who’s Buying Them?

Even Honda’s own staff weren’t sure — just that they sell enough to keep production going. Maybe they’re popular overseas? Maybe. Germans or Japanese riders cosplaying as “American bikers”? Whoever they are, they’re buying them.

So I went to the one place where everyone has everything and they love telling you about it: Facebook. I joined the Fury Owners Group and introduced myself. “Tell me everything,” I wrote. “I’ve got a 2025 model on loan and want to do some storytelling with it.” Responses flooded in with photos, travel stories, and mod lists.

Of the hundreds of positive comments, a few were skeptical. “Oh great, another wannabe moto-journalist,” one wrote. Technically, he wasn’t wrong, I do want to be that. But hey, if you’re reading this, I guess that means I am one.

Peg feelers adequately ground down. Check.

While the negativity was clearly an outlier, I did find it odd as I had never encountered a rude Honda owner before. Those two things don’t go together. You can’t be mean-spirited and sit on a Honda at the same time. I was curious, maybe it was model specific. I responded to the “haters” and asked if the ill-manners were a “Fury thing”? That seemed to upset them more.

Back to my research. The #1 reason people bought the Fury? The looks. Obviously. It’s long, shiny, exaggerated, and — to its fans — tough and custom-looking. There is a person who unironically enjoys this styling. There is a person who looks at the Fury and says “hell yeah, gimme that one”. The Fury’s assignment was to mimic a trend. It earned an easy A+ on that. The lines are right, the “chrome” is right, it is a bit… sexy. It’s long, low, and curvy.

Personally, the looks aren’t really my cup of tea. I don’t even drink tea.

The view behind the bars. Unobstructed, save that tall tank.

The #2 reason? Reliability. Owners boasted of 100,000 trouble-free miles. It’s a Honda, after all. Many even owned two. And they’re affordable, especially used. Compared to boutique customs like Big Dog’s K9 (which costs $30,000 more), the Fury nails the aesthetic for a fraction of the price. And the two could pass for fraternal twins.

Owners also praised its engineering. Compared to the choppers of the ’60s and ’70s, or even more recent home-built customs, the Fury is remarkably well-made. Of course, the purists remind you: a real chopper is “built, not bought.” But this one is bought, from one of the best engineering names in powersports. And that counts for something.

The Fury press-release also touched upon all of these same factors:

“The first such machines were cobbled-up home-builts with a reputation for being crudely wrought and uncomfortable to ride. Since then choppers have evolved into rolling art, with true customs commanding a very high price. That’s the beauty of the Fury. Even though it looks like rolling art from the two-wheeled world, it is backed up with the same functionality, fit and finish, quality and reliability built into every Honda.

In truth, creation of the Fury posed a considerable challenge. This ground-breaking concept had to strike a delicate balance. The extended chopper look with its stretched wheelbase and exaggerated steering rake combines with the stellar levels of function that are part of every Honda. The design focus began with the high steering head/pronounced steering rake/open look in the front end and then radiated outward from there.”

Smoky Mountain High, Appalachia.

I was curious about the people behind the handlebars. What do they do for work? What cars do they drive? What kind of music do they like? I asked around and only got a few answers… probably because everyone was too busy actually riding. A couple of owners turned out to be mechanics and automotive techs, which makes sense: if you make your living fixing unreliable machines, you probably want a reliable one to ride. Their car choices were all over the map, but in garage photos I noticed multiple Corvettes parked behind their Fury.

If you’re into specific custom scenes like baggers, air rides, and show bikes, the Fury makes a great base for those. But for everyone else, it’s just another flavor in Honda’s endlessly diverse menu of motorcycles.

Been there, done that, got the sticker.

New Sensations

My flavor of motorcycle is usually vintage. Topped with carburetors, kickstarters, and knobby tires. So the Fury was a big departure. But I loved every second. I also loved that I couldn’t see what I looked like on it. (Though I’m sure I made the bike look cool.)

Over the next few days, I rode it through the city, stopped at coffee shops, hit bike nights, even car meets, searching for reactions. My friends were split. Half loved it, half were appalled. “Didn’t see that coming,” was a common line. So was, “They still make those??” Which is what I said. And how we ended up here.

My non-motorcycles friends, on the other hand, found it beautiful, even sexy. The young twenty somethings who serve me coffee loved it. They wanted a ride, but the Fury only comes with a solo seat and no passenger pegs. It’s designed for lone wolves. To an untrained eye it is definitely the cliché of a motorcycle, exaggerated some. Friends who know nothing of motorcycle manufacturers were surprised to learn that Honda produced it stock.

The color was a polarizing spec; folks loved it or hated it. The green grew on me, like the grass it resembles, but I do think a bike this shape deserves a candy-sparkle paint job. Regardless, it drew attention everywhere. Car enthusiasts recognized it immediately and nodded approvingly at Honda’s effort to capture a bygone era.

So what do you do with a bike like this? “Ride it to the bar,” my friends joked. Instead, I took it to The Tail of the Dragon. It’s called the FURY, for Honda’s sake.

Rolling art, indeed.

I equate the Fury to riding a longboard, surfing or skateboarding. It’s an entirely different ride; the length of the bike through the curves felt like carving a wave. It was fun learning how this bike handles turns, quickly meeting the peg feelers to the pavement. They were gone soon, and sparks began to fly around every corner. I almost believe that Honda made the feelers extra long, just for added effect.

The Fury was surprisingly at home in the mountains. I think I had finally found a place where it fit in. Specifically with the crowd surrounding the Dragon. Besides the newbies, the road attracts a lot of enthusiasts with general vehicular knowledge. Some folks knew exactly what this bike was. The same way I can identify a Nissan Skyline or Porsche 916, the Fury was recognized.

People whispered under their helmets at stop signs, folks walking out of McDonald’s paid it compliments. It’s an impressionable bike, and whether you love it or hate it, the Honda Fury does have itself a quirky spot within the context of motorcycle culture. Admirers were shocked to learn it was a brand new 2025 model. “They still make those?” Every time. And I’d respond “that’s what I said!” every time.

Seemed to fit in well among the “mountain folk”. Made for several interesting conversations, at least.

I Felt The Fury

I did thoroughly enjoy the riding experience. As someone who doesn’t ride V-twins often, I really found this motor to be fun. It’s big, torquey, powerful, visceral, with a loud enough yet tasteful exhaust note. I definitely understand the appeal of bikes like this; it’s a bit more raw and edgy. It’s a look. It’s a vibe, as the kids would say.

Some folks look at this motorcycle and see a “custom bike” or something with “sex appeal”. Some look and see old dudes without a shirt on their way to Sturgis. I look and see two wheels and the best way to travel. And it is a Honda, so every component has been expertly crafted and engineered.

The Fury might not make sense in Honda’s lineup, but maybe that’s the point. Fifteen years on, it’s still here. It’s a cult classic with a devoted, if niche, following. It was an unexpected release from the last manufacturer you’d expect, and 15 years later it’s still selling.

The only complaint I could find among users, was the lack of a 6th gear. I too found 5th gear to be limiting, but that was only when going faster than 90mph, which I rarely did. That, and the seat could be better. But who buys a chopper for comfort anyway?

Drew P.

So, what are your thoughts on Honda’s factory chopper, the Fury? Let’s chat in the comments below!

For more on the 2025 Honda Fury, click here: HONDA FURY

*Video review coming soon…