Team-BHP > Motorbikes


Reply
  Search this Thread
1,005,973 views
Old 22nd December 2020, 13:31   #721
Senior - BHPian
 
ebonho's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Pune
Posts: 6,320
Thanked: 9,758 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jo-G View Post
With such low number of dealerships (compared to RE) and still managed to almost get close with RE is remarkable.
This is a hugely pertinent point. With each state and district in India as big as many European countries.

Cheers, Doc
ebonho is online now  
Old 22nd December 2020, 19:05   #722
BHPian
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Delhi
Posts: 182
Thanked: 1,060 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Honda organized Sunday ride for CB350 owners on 13 December. Due to protests at Delhi border, I was skeptical of being able to return to Delhi from Gurgaon. Plus, the scheduled meeting time was 6 am at Big Wing showroom in Gurgaon. Too early for me to start at 5:30 am in this bone shattering chilly morning. So, I let it go.

A week later, I again got invitation for ride on 20 December.

The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh-p1.jpg

This time, I did reach the venue, in spite of the chill and my basic nature of being lazy. This was the first time that I was part of a group ride. The group had around 40-50 riders.

The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh-p2.jpg

The ride was good, organized well. After ride of around 50 kms on Gurgaon Faridabad road, we were treated with breakfast at an eatery popular among bikers.

The Group (Photo courtesy: Honda)

The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh-p3.jpg

At the end, we were given gifts.

A bag

The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh-p4.jpg

Above bag contained this bag

The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh-p5.jpg

Second bag, when opened, converted into this very useful bag

The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh-p6.jpg

Enjoyed everything, from ride to breakfast to gift.

Last edited by NH08 : 22nd December 2020 at 19:07.
NH08 is offline   (14) Thanks
Old 23rd December 2020, 09:34   #723
BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 368
Thanked: 420 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

I did my first long ride over the weekend, around 750 km in total on wide open highways, smaller highways good and bad and twisty hilly and rural roads. The overall impressions are

- Comfort and strain is very low. I felt I could ride the entire day and not feel much fatigue.
- On smaller roads and climbs, the engine is a pleasure. You can slow down and accelerate out of corners and the loads of torque gets you moving in no time
- I hadn't asked to change the suspension settings and it didn't feel out of place even on broken roads.
- We had a torture test on the Z point road in Kemmangundi as my friend's TRK 502 couldn't get through the gate. Two of us, 200 kg in total and it handled the track with aplomb
- The large tank is a boon, no worries about filling up unlike the others in my group
- Very good luggage capacity, I went with just a tailbag and a small tankbag but could've easily accomodated a saddlebag as well.
The negatives
- 5th gear is the most useless feature on this bike. On most of the smaller roads, I didn't even bother shifting up from 4th
- I've never had a bike where I've twisted the throttle wide open and held it there for a long time. Either the performance is too high to handle for extended periods of time or the bike doesn't handle max throttle very well. This bike does both, even at max throttle, you hardly feel a thing and the performance is low enough that you can maintain that speed for long and still not keep up with a lot of traffic
- It's tough to ride with other bikes. We had a few superbikes and a BMW 310GS in our group. Inevitably it was our two Highnesses that arrived last at the regrouping points. It can get tiring for the others after a while

Overall, while I'm very satisfied with the bike, I do see myself wanting to move on for my touring needs as other offering come into the market
jaganm is offline   (8) Thanks
Old 23rd December 2020, 20:01   #724
BHPian
 
nutcracker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Delhi
Posts: 223
Thanked: 437 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Quote:
Originally Posted by jaganm View Post
- 5th gear is the most useless feature on this bike. On most of the smaller roads, I didn't even bother shifting up from 4th
- I've never had a bike where I've twisted the throttle wide open and held it there for a long time. Either the performance is too high to handle for extended periods of time or the bike doesn't handle max throttle very well. This bike does both, even at max throttle, you hardly feel a thing and the performance is low enough that you can maintain that speed for long and still not keep up with a lot of traffic
- It's tough to ride with other bikes. We had a few superbikes and a BMW 310GS in our group. Inevitably it was our two Highnesses that arrived last at the regrouping points. It can get tiring for the others after a while
Makes sense. Honda designed this to be a city bike (CB = City Bike) and a perfect city bike at that. For its purpose i.e. ferrying around the streets in a city; the bike aces all points. It is not really meant to be a speed demon. I sold my speed demon KTM 390 Adv and have booked the CB350 just because of this reason. I needed a perfect city bike, and the 390 just wasn't cutting it.
nutcracker is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 24th December 2020, 16:19   #725
BHPian
 
IP_Man's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: Dallas (USA)
Posts: 235
Thanked: 552 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Quote:
Originally Posted by jaganm View Post
- 5th gear is the most useless feature on this bike. On most of the smaller roads, I didn't even bother shifting up from 4th
Isn't this fifth gear is overdrive to get best fuel milage? This bike is not designed as cruiser but I'm sure it will have comfortable performance on highway.
IP_Man is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 26th December 2020, 20:02   #726
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: Rotterdam
Posts: 96
Thanked: 443 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

A very short test ride update: Finally Kun Honda, Chennai has started accepting bookings and is providing test rides via its popular Honda showroom in LB road, Adyar. Unfortunately, a big wing is yet to open in Chennai as I'm writing this post.

The showroom experience: I went to the showroom in my Meteor, and already the sales people knew the purpose of my visit, which was a TD to have a perspective. The advisor still took the time to explain the features, and insisted that I take a TD. A TD was arranged very quickly. I've never experienced such a "niceness" from a Honda bike showroom before. Guess the same sales folks are going to move to Kun Big wing, which is slated to open soon.

The test ride: The test ride was just a km, so basing my opinions just on that. As a Meteor owner, few things impressed me the most in the short test ride;

1. The looks - The test ride bike was a Matte black one, and it absolutely looks like a modern retro. The display bike was a metallic black, and it looks proper retro. Very simple and clean lines the bike's got there. The bike also looks bigger in person.

2. The handling - Upon beginning to ride, I felt like I was riding my ex-FZ25 in a standard's riding posture. The riding posture was just perfect for my 6"2 frame. The initial torque in the first gear is greater than that of my Meteor, at least that's what I felt. Beautiful to chuck the bike and maneuver. It felt like a naked in a standard's avatar. Would be one cracker of a city bike.

3. Exhaust note: S-W-E-E-T. I'm not a fan of REs loud thump, or anything loud/coarse for that matter. But boy is the exhaust bassy, yet not too loud. Just music to my ears.

If someone's is contemplating between a Meteor and CB350, I would humbly suggest to keep handling and seating posture in the top of of the deciding factors. I'm not claiming handling Meteor is cumbersome, but the CB is just a better handler in the city streets. Thank you for reading my opinions!

Cheers!
GandalfTheGrey is offline   (11) Thanks
Old 27th December 2020, 16:27   #727
BHPian
 
krishnakarthik1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 295
Thanked: 1,705 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Finally had to give in to all the hype and go visit the bike in the showroom. First impressions are that this is the most*unassuming bike I have ever seen. Very plain jane, not retro type plain but more like lazy designers plain jane. Looked like a bigger version of HF Dawn. Does not even come close to getting the RE classic swag and I am no RE fan.

There was no test ride on offer because of Sunday. I will go visit the place again tomorrow for a test drive just to see why it's so hyped. The more I think about it the more I feel that the exhaust sound would be a mismatch to the bike's look.

For folks in Hyderabad, there are lots of black and red normal variant ones available at JSP Honda in Kukatpally. You can pay up and take the delivery on spot.

I am still kind of not sure what the hype was all about. Is it a marketing master stroke by Honda in not providing mainstream media bikes initially which in return created so much user generated content and hence brought that halo around the bike? Could be or maybe its a great bike and it's just me who did not connect with it.
krishnakarthik1 is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 27th December 2020, 16:53   #728
BHPian
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Delhi
Posts: 182
Thanked: 1,060 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Quote:
Originally Posted by krishnakarthik1 View Post
First impressions are that this is the most*unassuming bike I have ever seen.

.. just to see why it's so hyped.

Could be or maybe its a great bike and it's just me who did not connect with it.
I don't know whether it is a great motorcycle or not but Honda makes products that do their job as expected. So, as a CB (City Bike), it is fulfilling all the expectations that I have. If a motorcycle suits one's requirements, it is great for him.

And whenever we see a new product as being a challenger to an established product, there is always a self-generated hype about who will win? Or which one shall be better?

Last edited by NH08 : 27th December 2020 at 16:54.
NH08 is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 28th December 2020, 15:05   #729
BHPian
 
Sam.k's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TN-37
Posts: 192
Thanked: 110 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebring View Post
Can't agree with you more. someone I know (In our CB group), put in a small 'RD350 like', stickering on the side panel. No one likes 'Highness' as branding. It's just good old CB350, plain and simple
The CB350 monogram is glued right?im looking to debage as well.
Sam.k is offline  
Old 28th December 2020, 15:49   #730
Senior - BHPian
 
Sebring's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Dubai/Bengaluru
Posts: 3,550
Thanked: 11,032 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Yeah it's glued. Many in our group have used floss thread to break it loose. Heat gun might damage the paint, so avoid that
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam.k View Post
The CB350 monogram is glued right?im looking to debadge as well.
Sebring is online now   (1) Thanks
Old 28th December 2020, 18:02   #731
BHPian
 
Sam.k's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TN-37
Posts: 192
Thanked: 110 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebring View Post
Yeah it's glued. Many in our group have used floss thread to break it loose. Heat gun might damage the paint, so avoid that
Thank you sebring.
Sam.k is offline  
Old 28th December 2020, 18:02   #732
BHPian
 
jonesanto's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 137
Thanked: 1,517 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Guys, since we can't service CB350 at normal Honda two wheeler station, what will be the long term service and availability of parts for CB350? I heard CBR 250 was struggling to get parts and proper service mechanic, especially in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
jonesanto is offline  
Old 28th December 2020, 19:35   #733
BANNED
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Kollam
Posts: 2,018
Thanked: 6,632 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Quote:
Originally Posted by jonesanto View Post
Guys, since we can't service CB350 at normal Honda two wheeler station, what will be the long term service and availability of parts for CB350? I heard CBR 250 was struggling to get parts and proper service mechanic, especially in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
Honda is just playing hard to catch with the CB350, it cannot be compared to the likes of the the CBR250R or even a Pushrod RE.

The technology is at par with a 100~200cc air cooled motorcycle from two decades ago, so simply put you'd not have to be bothered about serviceability, as for spares, place an express order and you'd get it within a week.

So all things considered there's not much to fret about owning a CB350.
ashwinprakas is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 29th December 2020, 07:18   #734
BHPian
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Chennai
Posts: 258
Thanked: 1,248 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Quote:
Originally Posted by ashwinprakas View Post
it cannot be compared to the likes of the the CBR250R or even a Pushrod RE.
The technology is at par with a 100~200cc air cooled motorcycle from two decades ago
So all things considered there's not much to fret about owning a CB350.
Hi,
I felt it was quite a harsh take on CB350, care to elaborate.
drrajasaravanan is offline  
Old 29th December 2020, 08:03   #735
BANNED
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Kollam
Posts: 2,018
Thanked: 6,632 Times
Re: The Honda H'ness CB350, priced at Rs. 1.90 lakh (page 6)

Quote:
Originally Posted by drrajasaravanan View Post
Hi,
I felt it was quite a harsh take on CB350, care to elaborate.
Harsh or not it is a fact.

Check the spec sheet, you're getting a very basic engine and motorcycle for the asking price.

In fact you can compare it with the CBZ Classic or the Karizma which again are Honda engines from 2 decades ago.

They're all basically Air Cooled Single Pot, SOHC, 2V/Cylinder engines, compared to that the CBR250R has a Liquid Cooled Single Pot, DOHC, 4V/Cylinder engine, the technology seen in the CB350 and CBR250R are literally decades apart, the issue with the CBR250R was that there weren't competent mechanics to resolve mechanical concerns with the motorcycle, it was the first motorcycle in these neck of the woods to come with Shim Type valves.

In comparison the technology on the CB350 is simply too basic to worry about, even the PGMFi units have been in India since the mid 2000's IIRC.

Once all the media hype and hoo-haa settles down and more serious high milers see the CB350 as a serious offering and opt for it, it would just be a matter of time before detailed ownership reviews come about along with DIY instructions for maintenance.

So I'd say not to worry about the CB350's upkeep in the long run and simply get the motorcycle if this is the only concern holding you back.

Regards,
A.P.
ashwinprakas is offline   (5) Thanks
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks