Honda may or may not be doing it on purpose, but all the breadcrumbs it’s dotting the trails with about its V3R engine concept are utterly tantalizing. First, there was the EICMA reveal, which people (including us, of course) oohed and aahed over for weeks. And then we had a couple of arguably less exciting developments: A brief anecdote about a ridable test bike unit during a Honda Motors Q&A here; a trademark filing there.
So what do we have today?
Another trademark filing, but this time, with the US Patent and Trademark Office. And this time, it makes it clear that Honda’s doubling down on that controversial “E-Compressor” designation for the V3R. How do we know? Because that’s the full text of the trademark filing: “V3R E-Compressor.” Honda can’t really say it more plainly than that.
To be completely clear, it’s just an application at this point; it has not yet been assigned to an examiner, and has not yet been approved. Regardless of that fact, the intentions behind it are crystal clear. Furthermore, the International Class designation for this filing states that it is intended to be applied to “Motorcycles and their parts, fittings.”
So far, this is a trademark application for those specific letters and numbers in that specific configuration; not a logo design. In fact, it even specifies that “the mark consists of standard characters, without claim to any particular font style, size, or color.” It’s too early to know any other details about what the V3R E-Compressor might involve, even down to a logo.
Still, forward movement is forward movement, and seeing such steady progression out in the open makes it feel more likely that there’s just as much (if not more) going on behind the scenes. Could we see a more complete version of the V3R E-Compressor appear in a little over six months at EICMA 2025? Maybe, but that’s pure speculation at this point. Honda hasn’t made any official statements about what it’s bringing, so about the only safe bet we can make right now is that it’ll be at the show in the first place.
Are you excited about the V3R E-Compressor? It’ll probably be a little easier to get excited about it when we get to finally hear it, I’m guessing. Do you want to ride one when you have the chance? Do you think Honda will outfit it with an E-Clutch (and should it)? Let us know in the comments.
