Honda is set to launch a new motorcycle in India on August 19. And for the first time ever, Honda is going to make its presence felt in the entry-level adventure touring segment. And if we go by the latest teaser video that they have released, it will be more of a touring bike. Why so? Well, keep reading!
Firstly, is there a name for this bike yet? Well, the teaser didn’t release any such information, but there are rumours about it being called the NX200 as the Japanese brand has registered this name in India.
Now, if we watch the teaser video closely, it is clear that Honda has made an effort to bring out the adventure and touring feel on this new motorcycle. We can see a taller windscreen, knuckle guards, which interestingly have integrated turn indicators. The video also showed tyres that can be used on as well as off-road.
But like we mentioned in the beginning, this bike is likely to be a touring bike and not an adventure. Why do we say that? Well, adventure bikes have a couple of fundamental things - long-travel suspension, more ground clearance and spoke wheels. We don’t think Honda is going to make such efforts right now to offer a product in this category. They have the CB Hornet 2.0 platform and we believe this new motorcycle is based on that. So, we will see the same 17bhp single-cylinder air-cooled engine. The same five-speed gearbox. The gearing could be revised to suit the highway needs, but there’s also a chance that Honda would just use the same exact settings from its naked sibling.
The one place that Honda could have worked the most is the styling department. From the same video, we found out that the bike has new half-fairing - something on the lines of the CB190X that is sold in the Chinese market. The LED headlamp is from the Hornet 2.0 and we think the fuel tank also hasn't seen any changes. The tail section too is likely to look similar to the Hornet. Other things like alloy wheels, instrument cluster, mirrors, and few other cycle parts will be borrowed from the Hornet to keep costs in check.
So to summarise, this bike will be more road-oriented and if you look at the teaser video carefully, there are no signs of off-road shots. The product positioning is clear and in a way it is good because the majority of the Indian customers in the ADV segment ride on the road most of the time and barely spend time on the trails.
Now coming to the final part, the pricing. We all know Honda likes to demand premium for their motorcycles and it will most likely be the same for this new entry-level touring bike. For reference, the Hornet 2.0 retails at Rs 1.33 lakh ex-showroom Mumbai, and the on-road price comes to around Rs 1.57 lakh. So, we can expect an extra Rs 10,000 for this motorcycle, which will take the on-road price to around Rs 1.7 lakh. And honestly that’s a lot of money for a bike with 17bhp power. But let's wait to see the actual product and we are also looking forward to riding it soon.
*Honda CBF190X image used for representation.
