Honda ST: История, проблемы и «Pan Weave»

the minibike series
The Honda ST series, also known as the Pan European in Europe, is a duo of Sport Touring motorcycles comprising the ST1100 and the later ST1300. Following the launch of the Gold Wing, which was very successful in the US, Honda's marketing team perceived that the European market (hence the "Pan European" moniker) would appreciate a lighter, sportier, and more manoeuvrable motorcycle. Introduced in 1990, the ST1100 was given a water cooled 90 degree V4 engine mounted inline, instead of a flat four engine (as in the Gold Wing). The ST1100 gained most of the Gold Wing's other characteristic engineering elements, such as shaft drive, a full fairing and integral panniers. Introduced to the European market a year before it was available in the United States, the ST1100 supplied within a sportier package the features required by touring riders, thereby filling a niche between the Honda VFR750F sports tourer and the larger Gold Wing. Its successor, the ST1300, (also called the "Pan European" in Europe), was introduced in 2002, becoming available in the US in 2003. Production continued through the 2012 model year. In November 2013, following deletion of the ST1300 from the model line, Honda announced the CTX1300, a cruiser motorcycle powered by a version of the ST1300's engine modified for better fuel economy and increased torque at low RPMs.

Evidence indicates the ST1300 can exhibit a weave instability mode at high speed – known in the case of the ST1300 as Pan Weave. In April 2007, subsequent to the death of a police motorcyclist riding a single seat ST1300, the emergency service version of the ST1300, a British coroner announced he would warn all Chief Constables in England and Wales of the "serious threat" to riders' lives posed by the ST1300 and the "catastrophic result" of the high speed weave. Later safety checks resulted in one examiner sustaining several broken bones in a similar incident. UK police forces subsequently withdrew the ST1300 from police service; London Ambulance Service continue to operate the ST1300. RiDE Magazine reported in October 2007 that a team replicated weave instability mode with a civilian Honda ST1300 – reproducing the instability at a speed of under certain loading conditions. The rider noticed a rear wheel maximum yaw of 11 degrees per second, described as "a consistent and alarming sideways movement." The editors named the behavior "Pan weave". The intent of the testing was not to determine the cause of the weave, but to confirm its existence. Also, the article reported that 43% of surveyed ST1300 owners had experienced the weave.