Tokyo: Honda Motor Compo

WE showed you leaked images of a new Honda Motocompo months ago and now Honda has confirmed that just such a bike is coming to the Tokyo show which opens on December 3.

Weirdly, though, the concept pictures the firm has released don't match up with machine that was leaked earlier in the year. Where that was a production-viable, petrol-engined bike, the concept Honda has now revealed is a much smaller electric bike, albeit with the same suitcase-inspired styling as the original Motocompo of the 1980s.

Called the Motor Compo to differentiate it from the original, the new concept uses a removable battery pack that's also designed to be able to power other electrical items, and just like the original Motocompo production bike, which was specifically designed to slot into the back of the Honda City car, the new electric one is designed to fit into a concept car that's also being shown at Tokyo, the Micro Commuter (below).

The fact that the original design that was leaked to us hasn't been officially revealed suggests that maybe it is actually planned as a production possibility, with the Tokyo Show concept bike being used to gauge interest in the idea.