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Honda NM4 concept motorcycles channel Akira

Honda has rolled out a pair of new motorcycle concepts at the Osaka Motorcycle Show in its home market of Japan, and they're our first glimpse at the company's "neo-futuristic" NM4. Shown in both stealthy black and an eye-catching white, the NM4s are sharp creations that feature interesting riding positions.
Honda calls the concepts' seating "the cockpit position," claiming that it unifies bike with rider. We don't know about that, but we will admit that compared to most sportbike seats - which are more or less just bits of padding to squeeze between your legs - these bikes' saddles look more or less like conventional seats. Honda says that their backrests are adjustable, which should provide a comfortable riding experience. Still, with these bikes' sporting looks, we can't imagine their low seats are going to be great for dipping knees through the bends (although the should lower the center of gravity, so perhaps it's a wash).
Both show bikes, NM4-01 and NM4-02, are powered by 745-cc, two-cylinder engines, while dual-clutch transmissions are employed to dispatch unspecified amounts of power to their wide rear tires. The bikes are nearly identical save for different colors, but the NM4-02 features an integral set of hard panniers for increased utility. We've got a gallery of both, so hop up above and take a look. You can also scroll down for a brief press release from Honda.

Honda squeezes in 9 Fit customs at SEMA

Honda is displaying a heap of customized Fit hatchbacks at this week's SEMA in Las Vegas. Nine of the modded little econoboxes are on the floor showing off wildly divergent takes on the Japanese automaker's most affordable offering. The company has reason to celebrate the new vehicle, too, because it's been dubbed this year's "Hottest Sport Compact" award at the event.
Six of the custom Fits come from a contest that Honda ran online challenging various tuners to come up with their own take on the new model. People could then follow along online as Tjin Edition, Bisimoto Engineering, Kontrabrands, MAD Industries, Spoon Sports USA and Kenny Vinces worked on the cars. In the end, the version from Tjin (pictured above) with its subdued green paint, huge fender flares and ground-hugging stance was named the fan favorite.
In addition to those cars, Honda also has three other modded Fits on display. Honda Performance Development is showing off one in full B-spec racer trim, Honda Genuine Accessories has an example displaying all of its dealer-installed parts, and there's another model tuned by Bisimoto, as well.

Ford F-150 bumps Camry from top of Cars.com American Made Index

With July 4th just around the corner, what better time could there be for Cars.com to announce that the Ford F-150 is the Most American car of 2013? This may be especially true since it was the Toyota Camry, a car produced by a company based in Japan, that had held the top spot from 2009 to 2012.
Cars.com compiles its Most American list by considering the amount of parts each vehicle uses that come from America, where it's final assembly takes place and how many units per year are sold. "While the assembly point and domestic parts content of the F-150 didn't change from 2012-2013, vehicle sales are responsible for bumping the F-150 to the top spot," according to Patrick Olsen, Editor-in-Chief of Cars.com.
As far as automakers go (as opposed to individual models), Toyota retains the top spot it held in 2012, with General Motors, Chrysler, Ford and Honda (in that order) rounding out the list. The motivation behind this list each year, according to Olsen, is "to help car shoppers understand that 'American-Made' extends beyond just the Detroit three" and because "a study we conducted in 2012 indicated that 25 percent of shoppers surveyed preferred to buy American."