[drt_rdr]

Great, the XR190L might not be far away now.

[RiderZone]

Could this be the new cheapest USD forks source for people modding their front suspension setups?

[Viju]

Handsome looking bike, and should be a good all-rounder, being a Honda.

Not familiar with the motorcycle prices off-late, but for someone who bought a brand new P180 Classic back in 2002 for 62000/-, a 184cc for 1.26L does seem a bit on the expensive side.

[NPX]

Originally Posted by Viju

bought a brand new P180 Classic back in 2002 for 62000/-, a 184cc for 1.26L does seem a bit on the expensive side.

I bought P180 in 2011 for Rs. 69980. Bikes are not VFM anymore.

[drt_rdr]

I'm having a hard time trying to understand the value appeal of this bike though. The longer stroke could make for a relatively torquey, easy natured ride. The simplicity of air cooled 2v engine might appeal to some people. It does have ~10 kilo weight advantage over the competition. The upright looking seating would be a plus for some. The flashy design and the superficial appeal of the USD forks do have some effect. And some people swear by Honda for whatever reason (what does honda have that suzuki doesn't?)

But compared to the rtr200, it's down on power, missing out on some of the quality of life features like the slipper clutch, the low speed throttle assist, the navigation and statistics features, and dual channel ABS. Yet it's priced around the same or higher than the rtr200 and the ns200. There's also a severe ~ Rs. 30,000 difference between this one and the trusty old rtr180.

Just wondering if the premium is due to the USD forks or if Honda is smoking some potent stuff.

[darkLightning]

Originally Posted by drt_rdr

I'm having a hard time trying to understand the value appeal of this bike though.

Same here. Honda has managed to price it lower by their standard so we cannot directly thrash it as overpriced, but it's doesn't seem to be having any USP (unless someone wants to consider USD forks as USP).

What does it offer unique compared to other Honda non-premium bikes?

More power than X-Blade but X-Blade itself was under powered for 160 cc category.
More sporty looks than Unicorn but looses out on the seat comfort.
More features.

What does it offer unique compared to other options in market ?

Power - Apache's and Pulsar's will smoke it. Heck the XPulse is more powerful

Ergonomics - Hard to say from videos but is it as comfortable as say an FZ-S ?

Seat - definitely not as comfortable as FZ or Unicorn, Seat looks quite similar to Gixxer to be honest though a little bit smaller and thinner.

Looks - Looks are subjective, however I personally feel that even though Honda wants it to look unique but somehow it doesn't look like that.

Console - Nothing unique here, could have done with something fancy like navigation

Features - Somehow auto mags are calling it feature packed but not telling what exactly is in the list of these features.

All in all I am not able to visualize this bike for any particular purpose.
It looks like an answer by Honda but what exactly is the question that it is trying to answer.

What I find funny is auto mags highlighting rear 140 tyre event though Hornet 160R had the same dimension tyres.

[payeng]

YAMAHA just needs to give the MT-15/515 V3 USD Forks. Hope this Hornet 180 nudges it to do so.

[drt_rdr]

Originally Posted by darkLightning

Looks - Looks are subjective, however I personally feel that even though Honda wants it to look unique but somehow it doesn't look like that.

Yeah, while it does look good, there's nothing unique about it, just a cookie cutter design unlike the cb190R which is a really nice looking bike, though a bit overdesigned. I might change my mind once I see it in the flesh though.

Features - Somehow auto mags are calling it feature packed but not telling what exactly is in the list of these features.

What I find funny is auto mags highlighting rear 140 tyre event though Hornet 160R had the same dimension tyres.

Honda doesn't really appear confident about the product. A lot of smoke and mirrors marketing going on.

It's claiming best in class performance figures while not being very clear about which class it's referring to. It's seems to be claiming better specs than 180cc bikes, but is priced like the 200cc competition.

It doesn't even advertise the quickness of the bike in the same terms as the competition to avoid direct comparisons. While the competition uses the 0-60kmph in x seconds metric, Honda has come up with the 200 metres in x seconds metric.

Their marketing drivel even claims an aircooled 2 valve engine producing par-for-the-course power as some kind of masterpiece.

All said, who knows, it could turn out to be a pleasure to ride.

Honda, I look forward to buying into all this trash when you bring in a sub 130 kg xr190L.

[ram.iyer95]

Originally Posted by drt_rdr

It doesn't even advertise the quickness of the bike in the same terms as the competition to avoid direct comparisons. While the competition uses the 0-60kmph in x seconds metric, Honda has come up with the 200 metres in x seconds metric.

True. I was bewildered as well when they quoted it during the launch. I mean, how on earth is this 200m figure supposed to help someone wanting to know how quickly it accelerates! And they did not even bother to reveal the power figure during the video launch and later silently updated their website with the full specifications; so, they themselves know that it's nothing out of the ordinary.

This simply shows that they are not confident with the product and just using fancy marketing tactics. They are better off churning out Activas, one "g'" after the other.

[tchsvy]

I think Honda has played it safe here (typical of them), starting with the 'Hornet 2.0' moniker. With this bike they are still competing in the 150-180CC segment and not in the ~200CC segment. Just to jazz it up a little bit they have thrown the USD forks in the mix. Pricing is also on par with the TVS Apache RTR 180 BS VI. So, basically this is just an updated version of Hornet and not a complete new bike, and ~12CC increment isn't that big to be honest, compared to the OG Hornet.

[drt_rdr]

Originally Posted by tchsvy

Pricing is also on par with the TVS Apache RTR 180 BS VI.

It's not actually. There's anywhere between Rs. 20,000 - 30,000 price difference between the bikes depending on region. It's more on par with the rtr200.

It wouldn't be hard to digest if it was priced close to the rtr180 when the rtr 180 itself is priced in the middle of newer 160cc bikes. All I can say positively is the hornet seems to be a better deal on paper than buying a suzuki gixxer 150.

[NiInJa]

More than anything else, I think the engine has been upgraded to accommodate the fat rear wheel. I've read quite a few places saying that the on-paper power specs did not translate well in reality on the Hornet 160 possibly due to the heavy rear tyre that it had. It also led to early chain loosening in some cases.

I always get a feeling that Honda overprices their bikes by 5-7k. Pulsar NS200 would still be my first choice, the MT150 or FZ250 second (subject to test ride) and this would be third.

[tchsvy]

Originally Posted by drt_rdr

It's not actually. There's anywhere between Rs. 20,000 - 30,000 price difference between the bikes depending on region. It's more on par with the rtr200.

I stand corrected here, the ex-showroom price of Hornet is on par with the RTR 180's on road price, I got them mixed up, my bad.

[Himanshu809]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Just out of curiosity, why do you think this is half hearted low spec motorcycle? Trying to understand better.

I had a quick reply but I read someone's comment here which summarises my thoughts exactly. So I'll be quoting him.

Originally Posted by drt_rdr

But compared to the rtr200, it's down on power, missing out on some of the quality of life features like the slipper clutch, the low speed throttle assist, the navigation and statistics features, and dual channel ABS. Yet it's priced around the same or higher than the rtr200 and the ns200. There's also a severe ~ Rs. 30,000 difference between this one and the trusty old rtr180.

Just wondering if the premium is due to the USD forks or if Honda is smoking some potent stuff.

Also, the looks are kinda commuter-ish for a bike advertised with the tagline 'Fly against the wind'.
Like dude it's ok, just an average bike, calm down. Apaches are probably the only Indian motorcycle which can stand close to Japanese machines when it comes to quality. Bajaj bikes are cheaper overall, both built and mechanicals.

[darkLightning]

Originally Posted by Himanshu809

the looks are kinda commuter-ish for a bike advertised with the tagline 'Fly against the wind'.

In my opinion in last few years the overall design language expectation has changed a lot in India.

I still remember when I bought my Splendor Plus at that time commuter looks were equal to Splendors and Passions, a bike like CB Twister was considered sporty.

The sporty look quotient in Indian market has been raised several notches by both Yamaha (FZ/R15/Fazer) and Honda (Twister/ Stunner/ Hornet/ CBR) Not to forget the contributions of Adreno/ Karizma/ CBZ/ Apache family/ Pulsars.
However it kinda saddens me deep down when these bike's looks are today classed as commuter like where as the newer kids (looking at you KTM) have got all the sporty look thunder.

I feel in terms of design a saturation point has already been reached in the minds of public as well as manufacturers where no new bike visible on horizon can be termed as a fresh design.

We really need a new Adreno or Karizma or FZ or CBR kind of ground shaking design to really usher a new era.
Indian public's acceptance of XPulse and Himalayan (other than Impluse all previous ADV looking bikes were higher and out of mass market reach) has shown that the mass market is still willing to accept a new design.

It is about time where manufacturers start asking the general public what they want their bike to look like.