Honda introduced this middleweight cruiser for the 2017 model year as part of a new Rebel family, aimed at riders who wanted a simple, low-slung, easy-to-customize machine with modern styling and approachable road manners. The nameplate was launched in the U.S. in late 2016 with availability scheduled for April 2017, and Honda’s own product archives and history materials place the model in its modern era from that point onward. The bike was developed in the United States, reflecting Honda’s effort to create a contemporary take on the bobber/cruiser formula for newer and returning riders.
From the beginning, this model distinguished itself by pairing minimalist, blacked-out styling with a compact parallel-twin layout that gave it a different character from smaller single-cylinder cruisers in the class. Honda positioned it as the larger sibling in the initial Rebel range, alongside the smaller-displacement version, and later continued to evolve the platform with updates rather than replacing it outright. In Honda’s broader motorcycle lineup, it has remained an important entry in the Rebel family and a core part of the brand’s modern cruiser identity.
There is no evidence of a discontinued-and-revived history for this nameplate; instead, it appears to have had a continuous production run since its launch and remains in production today.