Are you excited about the new Kamen Rider movie that’s due out in March, 2023? It’s fittingly called Shin Kamen Rider (or New Kamen Rider). If you’re as amped about it as we are, then you may have already seen the brand-new teaser that the production dropped on September 30, 2021. It’s a straight-up tribute to the original opening credits sequence from the original Kamen Rider TV series, all the way back in 1971.
While the character of Kamen Rider is naturally the star of the show, his bike is clearly a co-star. Various machines have played roles in all the iterations of KR since the series started in 1971, always wearing original bodywork to dress it up. Not every superhero has cool vehicles, but Kamen Rider certainly does.
So, what bike is hidden underneath all that body cladding in the Shin Kamen Rider teasers? Yes, that’s plural, because there are two different cuts the production team released, showing multiple angles of Kamen Rider’s newest bike.
Since Hideaki Anno’s (Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shin Godzilla, the yet-to-be-released Shin Ultraman) involvement as both writer and director of Shin Kamen Rider was revealed, the official SKR Twitter account has been dropping all kinds of breadcrumbs about its production. Along the way, there have been teeny, tiny glimpses at the motorcycle, as well as the creation of the bodywork it will wear in the film.
Gallery: Shin Kamen Rider
Earlier photos posted by the official Twitter account showed a Honda model, but which Honda model was purely a point of speculation among fans. However, that all changed with the SKR Twitter account’s September 24, 2021 post. It offered a very clear view of the taillight cluster, which seemed to confirm only one specific model.
From the taillights, fans quickly agreed that the new Cyclone is a CB650R. In the trailer, you’ll note that it’s dressed up in two different ways. There’s a roadgoing bike with a really cool front fairing and quad headlight lenses that resemble the texture of the eyes on Kamen Rider’s helmet.
Then there’s a more dirt-oriented version, which has a round LED headlight surrounded by a completely different (yet still cool) cowl. For those unfamiliar, it seems that Kamen Rider isn’t the only one who transforms when he goes to fight crime—his bike does, too. Very clever 50-year-old production choice, guys.
Speaking of which, it’s also Kamen Rider’s 50th anniversary in 2021! While the Shin Kamen Rider movie isn’t due out until 2023, here’s the original Kamen Rider TV opening that Shin Kamen Rider’s teasers wanted to honor. The song remains the same, but the bike has changed—as it should.
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Source: Kamen Rider Wiki