The 2023 Auto Expo was deprived of much drama for two-wheelers due to the lack of participation from many manufacturers. However, the flex fuel arena of the event had some interesting two-wheelers on display including the Honda XRE 300 adventure motorcycle that’s not been launched in India yet. While we wait for its confirmed India launch timeline to be known, here are some of its eye-catchy pictures from the Expo.
The XRE 300 shown at the Expo is capable of running on flex-fuel which means it can be ridden on petrol as well as ethanol. Notably, the latter is widely used in Brazil where this version of the XRE is already on sale.
Powering the XRE 300 is a 291.6cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled engine that comes mated to a five-speed gearbox, instead of the more modern six-speed transmission system.
When ridden on petrol, this engine produces 25.05bhp and 27.6Nm of peak torque. Whereas, with ethanol, the power and torque go up slightly to 25.24bhp and 28Nm.
On paper, the hardware of the XRE 300 shouts of its adventure intentions. It rides on a 21-18-inch spoke wheel combination suspended by springs with long travel of 245mm up front and 225mm at the rear.
While the ground clearance is quite impressive at 259mm, the seat height of the bike is also high at 860mm which could be uncomfortable for shorter riders.
Bringing this 148kg motorcycle to a halt is a 256mm disc brake at the front and a 220mm rotor at the rear along with dual-channel ABS.
On the feature front, the motorcycle is pretty basic with a small LCD instrument cluster and a full-LED lighting setup.
A couple of months ago, Honda was spied benchmarking the XRE 300 against the KTM 390 Adventure and BMW G 310 GS. That could be an indication of its imminent India launch.
Photography by Kapil Angane and Kaustubh Gandhi
