Because while it still looks like a mower, and will still cut grass, underneath it's anything but. The only things that remain from the original donor are the plastic body panels and the pedals.

The wheels and tyres are from a racing quad, and the back axle is out of a 250cc go-kart. It's got a space-frame chassis, the fibreglass cutting deck is 90 per cent lighter than the metal one usually used, the seat has been lowered by 14cm and the blades?

Hmmm, the blades are interesting. And quite possibly lethal. Honda has ditched the standard metal ones because the transmission needed to run them was too complicated to connect to the bike engine. Instead, there are two electric motors, each with two lengths of brake cable attached to them. These will spin at four THOUSAND rpm, like some sort of apocalyptic strimmer. Never mind grass, this thing will cut through a nuclear bunker.

The engineering effort that Honda and Team Dynamics have gone to is mighty impressive: Matt Neal and Gordon Sheddon, Honda's touring car drivers, have given feedback on the design; there's an electronic power shifter for the gear change. There's even a chain-tensioning system rigged up between the engine and rear axle, and it's been lined with plastic to make it run quieter.