Mahindra Centuro

Looks and Styling

The Centuro is a well welcome change in the bland 110cc segment. The motorcycle looks and feels premium and is actually on par with the products in the 125cc segment. The trapezoidal headlamp, sculpted tank, contemporary graphics and well-designed grab rail make the Centuro standout in the crowd.

The golden ribs however are overdone – but Indians in general love bling and I don’t think too many people will complain about them. I liked the LED parking lights and LED tail lamps; they not only look nice but are also pretty useful. There aren’t too many things to complain about with the looks and styling of the Centuro, apart from the quality of headlamp fairing and steel plate on the exhaust.

Features

In features department, the Centuro is way ahead of the competition – Mahindra offers so much more than its competition that I am actually worried that they might not make enough on every unit sold. The thing is Mahindra is currently looking to establish itself in the two-wheeler market and these extras are supposed to help them against the brand value of Hero and Honda.

Unlike a regular bike key, the Centuro comes with flip-key similar to the ones offered by a few premium-car manufacturers. The similarities don’t end there; the key has a button that triggers alarm and LED lights so that it becomes easier to locate the motorcycle in crowed parking lot. The quality is economy class – after all it is an 110cc commuter bike, but both the bike keys are similar key-fobs with 96-bit secure access that raise an alarm if you insert a duplicate.

The instrument cluster is also very detailed. It is split into three parts – the left part has distance to empty and fuel gauge, the middle part of the console hosts digital speedo meter, tachometer and service indicator, while the other end lets you toggle between clock, trip meter and odometer. The indicator lamps with sit above the main cluster on both sides in perfect pattern, but the over plastic quality of this console is one of our very few complains.

Ride and Handling

The Centuro is powered by 106.7cc single-cylinder air-cooled engine that churns out 8.5PS and 8.5Nm. I rode the motorcycle in hilly region around Chandighar and thought that the basic performance was very similar to bikes in this segment. The ergonomics are well sorted; the riding position is nice and the rear seat is big, wide and more comfortable than that of most other bikes in the segment.

The handling of the Centuro is sharp – it is easy to maneuver this bike in traffic, but you need to be really cautious at start or you are in for a big surprise. The tyres provide ample grip and I had absolutely no issues around bends with a pillion. The brakes are fine and coupled with grippy tyres offer decent traction even under panic situation; but I am not a big fan of drum brakes and will rather wait for the version with disc brake that is expected in three months.

Things that we want to complain about – the four-speed gearbox feels a little notchy and there are some vibrations at the pillion’s foot peg between 4000rpm and 4500rpm. The basic nature of the engine is peaky and although it did help me in the ghats, I am afraid it might hamper cruising ability in the top gear. There are lots of vibrations posts 8000rpm, but that is also the case with other 110cc commuter bikes.

Mahindra claims that the motorcycle has best in class acceleration and efficiency; we will verify these claims when the motorcycle comes to us for a test.

Verdict

The Mahindra Centuro has a lot to offer, whether or not you compare it with the Japanese bikes in the segment. The basic design and styling pits it against the Hero Passion Pro and Honda Dream Yuga, but the bike is more affordable with the fully loaded version available at Rs 45,000. Personally, I think the Centuro is more than an option in the 110cc commuter segment; it ticks all the right boxes on looks and features and has acceptable levels of performance.

The only thing that is not in favour of the Centuro is the test of time. Where the Passion and Dream Yuga are known for trouble free experience for years, the Centuro has no such backing. Also, I will personally like to wait for the version with disc-brake.

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