The Iconic Honda Cruiser That Took The Market By Storm – SlashGear

Over the next decade, Honda would address most of the criticisms lobbed at the early Shadows by cruiser fans, gradually bringing its styling closer and closer to Harley-Davidson’s motorcycles, not to mention engine size, which would balloon up to 1100 cubic centimeters. This trend of aping Harley would culminate in 1995 with the Shadow ACE (American Classic Edition), the most Harley-like Honda yet. It was even made in America rather than Japan.

But possibly the biggest departure from the previous Shadows is that ACE’s engine used a single-pin crankshaft design compared to Honda’s traditional dual-pin crankshaft. This actually resulted in a loss of 10 horsepower, so why would Honda do it? The sound. That distinctive loping sound of a V-twin engine with a single-pin crank. In other words, just like a Harley.

Harley wasted no time in suing Honda over the Shadow ACE, alleging that the distinctive engine sound was a company trademark. We’ll never know who might’ve won because Harley-Davidson quietly dropped the lawsuit in the late-1990s. Around that same time, Honda stopped making the ACE anyway, choosing to concentrate on its Aero and Sabre version of the Shadow.  

In 2023, a full 40 years after it debuted, you can still buy a brand new 750cc Honda Shadow motorcycle which speaks to how firmly this bike has cemented itself in American motorcycle culture, even if certain moments in its history weren’t that proud.