Based on a concept bike designed by Bruno Conte, Senior Designer at Honda R & D Americas Inc, the Honda Fury projects everything synonymous with chopper styling: The raked-out fork, the elongated teardrop tank, the languid drape of the seat, the convincing hardtail look of the back end. These all echo the most recognizable aspects of the current chopper-building art.

But unlike many of the hand-built creations we see rumbling around on Main Street, there’s a diligently engineered vehicle under the makeup that meets all of Honda’s rigorous engineering standards. Still, Honda’s Fury probably seems to hardcore chopper fans to be a kind of copycat motorcycle likely to end up in the garages of poseurs.

Some may not be able to get away from the idea that choppers are motorcycles cobbled together in small workshops by a dedicated group of off-beat fabricators. But whether or not lifelong chopper freaks accept the Fury, it’s very likely that this slick new motorcycle from Honda will attract new fan into the domain.

It’s really that good. When the first pictures of it appeared in the media, little light bulbs undoubtedly lit up above the heads of viewers who might not ordinarily have considered buying a bike with such an extreme presence.

Power is supplied by an adapted version of the six-valve, 1312cc, 52-degree V-twin we know from the VTX1300, but with a new programmed fuel-injection system utilizing one 38mm throttle body. This engine pedals through a five-speed transmission to a shaft-drive system cleverly camouflaged by a sculpted swing arm form that bolts to the center of the final-drive pumpkin.

The tube frame leaves plenty of space between the engine and fuel tank, showing off the broad expanse of chrome on the front cylinder’s cam-covers. It also meant Honda had to hide the liquid-cooling hoses and minimize the visual impact of the radiator. This was done by routing the top radiator hose beneath the front valve cover, and by integrating the thin radiator between the front frame down tubes in a way that renders it virtually invisible in profile.

The careful integration explains Honda’s choice of the 1300cc engine instead of the 1800 V-twin found in the big-brother VTX1800. The bigger powertrain would have required a larger radiator, and various other components that might have been more difficult to package in this spare design. As it is, the hydraulic master cylinders, gearshift linkages, mirrors, turn signals, and all the other necessary mechanical contrivances have been integrated so skillfully that the essential minimalism of the design dominates the bike’s visual presence.

It rides better than we had expected, too. Although undoubtedly too quiet and smooth for those iron men in their, um, seatless chaps and pudding bowl helmets, the Fury has adequate power and an elevated level of refinement. The V-twin wears dual counter-balancers, so it’s smooth at pretty much all engine speeds. But the all-important pulse of a common-crankpin V-twin is still there, throbbing gently through the drag bars and the surprisingly comfy seat cushion.

With torque aplenty, the bike launches easily, and it shifts as smoothly as the best bikes out there. The fuel-injection calibration is so good it makes the rider feel like he has the timing of a rockstar. The bike weighs 663 pounds (or 681 when equipped with ABS), but it steers and handles as if much lighter.

Even with the forks raked out as they are, the Fury is easy to balance, and you can perform feet-up U-turns on two-lane streets—despite the bike’s lanky 71.2-inch wheelbase—using just the time-honored technique of dragging the rear brake while slipping the clutch.

The staggered shotgun pipes are fairly muted, but they deliver a faithful off-beat exhaust note with an appropriate baritone timbre. There’s only a single disc brake up front (typical of bikes of this genre, better to show off the wheel), gripped by a modest twin-piston caliper. A smaller disc with just a single-piston caliper slows the rear wheel. Initial brake bite is not emphatic, and it takes a determined squeeze to command strong deceleration from this hefty motorcycle.

Although the rear end of the bike is carefully disguised as a hardtail, there’s a single coil-over shock with adjustable rebound damping and five-position spring-load adjustment tucked back in there. There’s enough compliance from the system that bumps encountered by the Fury did not send abrupt shocks straight up my spine—more than can be said for many cruisers ridden by this tall rider,.

For a bike with just a radical appearance, the Honda Fury handles quite well. It wouldn’t perform any of those scary hinge-in the-middle motions when cornering at high speed. The combination of a beefy 200/50-18 rear tire and skinny 90/90-21 front tire somehow provides good levels of grip with an accompanying sense of stability. Footpeg feelers are the first to touch down, as it should be, reminding eager riders that big metal parts will be next.

But this bike is stable at an indicated 100 mph on the freeway, feeling poised and capable of even more speed without drama. It’s not what most people buy choppers for, but it’s nice to know the Fury fulfills Honda’s expectation that a bike should feel safe at any speed of which it’s capable.

Radical design alone does not necessarily produce an impractical, unreliable or unsafe motorcycle. The Fury proves that. And underscoring the emphasis on safety, there is an ABS-equipped model for $13,999. Standard models are listed at $12,999, while a special matte silver metallic version runs $13,499.

Like the old “nicest people” ad campaign Honda ran way back when, this new chopper injects high levels of reliability, quality and even a little respectability into the equation.

A range of accessories are being made available as the bikes arrive in showrooms this month, including leather seats and pouches, backrest/sissy bars, windscreens, billet hard parts and braided lines. (You’ll have to wait until the Fall for the ABS model.)

A degree of social acceptability might not seem appropriate in a bike of this kind, but the new Fury is bound to find buyers from every level of society. It may not be a one-off machine from one of the bespoke chopper houses, but the Fury is a head-turning bike at a reasonable price, with the promise of excellent durability. And it’s easy to ride. Who wouldn’t want that?