[Jo-G]

Originally Posted by R.G

I intend to use the bike for office commute and may be that occassional long rides that I always wanted to , but never happened.

Before taking the plunge , I just wanted to check if anyone here could bring up a compelling reason that I should wait for the RS.

I agree with most of your thoughts RG. Since you mentioned about using it for office commute, Dlx Pro with Toe-Heel shifter could be useful when in formals without damaging the shoe upper. Moreover a grab bar around the top behind the pillion on the RS would have been good for women sitting sideways (again a + for non RS)

I just want to see how the riders foot peg feels between the centre set (non RS) and rear set (on RS) especially on ling drives with ageing muscles.

Moreover wouldn't the small mudguards in front throw all the muck on to the rider on a rainy day and to the vehicles behind, from the raised back? Just trying to analyse from practicality point of view too.

Anyways will wait for a test drive of RS (already have a booking for RS) if its not to the expectations can always see if I can exchange it with any youngster having non RS booking.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by R.G

Before taking the plunge , I just wanted to check if anyone here could bring up a compelling reason that I should wait for the RS.

From your list of what you require from your bike it seems the CB350 should tick all the boxes for you, not the RS.

However, since you have waited this long, what’s the harm in waiting for a little more time and checking out the RS before you put the money down. Except for the wait getting a wee bit longer, there is no downside to this. Why leave room for regret after picking up the CB350 that you should have waited for the RS.

Cheers

[Sebring]

The RS scores pretty high on style quotient. Should comfortably take on the Pulsars. The added features seem to justify the Rs 5000 premium over the H'Ness. But deletion of Bluetooth and USB C charging port are a big miss, especially since its targeting Gen X

[Venkatesh]

Honda BigWing announced that it has started deliveries of the CB350 RS in the country.

Speaking on the occasion of first delivery of CB350RS, Mr. Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Director – Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said," We are elated to see the overwhelming response that CB350RS has received from young enthusiasts in the country.

Built on the Road Sailing - RS concept, this motorcycle is designed to give an ultra-smooth performance on the road with a sailing feel & comfort for the rider. With its sophisticated urban style and power-packed features, CB350RS is a call to all the riders to gear up and ‘Live your Story’!"

Source

[R.G]

Originally Posted by Sebring

The added features seem to justify the Rs 5000 premium over the H'Ness.

RS (1.96L) is comparable to DLX (1.86L) variant considering the accesories/ omissions and the difference in that case is Rs.10K. That premium for RS is not reasonable in my opinion. It is a great looking youngster bike for sure !!

The photos you have shared is exaclty of the same bike in the video I shared earlier.

Originally Posted by R.G

Dispatch of Honda CB350RS..

On a lighter note , it appears that the showroom guys have not bothered to clean up the bird poop (at 2m:40 seconds) on the shifter lever even after 3 days it was unloaded.

[texmonster]

First ride review of CB350RS by Powerdrift's Shumi is out. He says RS is about 10% sportier than H'ness.

https://youtu.be/FIBx53XakTE

[texmonster]

Road test reviews of Print publications are now live for CB350RS!

Autocar India:
https://www.autocarindia.com/bike-re...st-ride-420196

Overdrive:
https://www.overdrive.in/reviews/202...d-test-review/

AutoX:
https://www.autox.com/reviews/bike-r...t-ride-109141/

[chaudharysaab]

Autox quotes "However, it’s interesting to note that Honda has kept USB and Bluetooth features as options on the RS."
Is it true guys??

[klgiridhar]

Originally Posted by klgiridhar

I have booked the red on 17th Feb in Big Wing Chennai (Kun Adyar). The dealer said that it might be mid march by the time the test drives start.

Small change of plans in the last minute made me buy the bike from Big Wing Topline in Bangalore. Chennai dealer is unnecessarily delaying the bike delivery, citing elections as the cause for the delay and is clueless when he may deliver it (After elections is what he told me). Moreover, I got a message from Honda that the prices are being increased by 5500 from April 1 for the RS. So, called Big Wing Bangalore and they assured me the bike delivery in 2 days for the dual tone variant. Went to the Chennai showroom to physically check the bikes and found the black and yellow to be equivalently good in person though the red still edges out slightly. But I was okay with the minor compromise as I can customize it to the way I like anytime in the future and the oncoming price increase from April 1 eventually made me pull the trigger.

So, did the PDI and got the bike delivered day before yesterday i.e., 24th March 2021.

Total cost (Ex-showroom + TR + Insurance: 198000 + 1000 + 11041) = 210041. Also took the extended warranty for additional 3 years (3 years standard) for 3199. Will be doing the permanent registration in AP.

This is my 1st bike and my past two wheeler riding experience is limited to my Dad's Chetak (on which I learnt and started riding), then the 110cc TVS Scooty Zest, 150-250cc bikes of friends and a Dominar 400 rental in Bangalore.

The showroom experience in Bangalore has been extremely good and they were very courteous and prompt in answering all my queries and arranging all the paperwork, TR within 36 hours. Kudos to Ayush Jain and his team.

From my location, you might realize that I am from space port of India. Rode the bike for around 30km in Bangalore city on 24th and a 340km ride from Bangalore to my home in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh yesterday. So here are my initial impressions:

+ The riding position is slightly aggressive compared to h'ness and rider seat is super comfortable. No fatigue or pain after covering 340km. You will notice the change in the foot pegs position more than the handlebar.

+ Gear shifts have been super slick with no false neutrals. Also, neutral can be easily found as there is a clear slot in between 1st and 2nd gears and the lever feedback is soo good that you will very soon get to know how much force you have to apply to get to neutral from 2nd or 1st.

+ Tyres definitely are an improvement over the h'ness and have imparted lot of confidence over long sweeping corners of the Bangalore-Chittoor highway.

+ The stability at speed has been rock solid.

+ The brakes too are extremely good with excellent feedback at the front, not so much at the rear but overall has very good stopping power.

+ We were riding 2 up and I am 5' 8.5" and my friend is 6'. The pillion seat is comfortable for us both and even being 6', my friend didn't complain about any pain whatsoever in his knees or thighs.

+ Fuel efficiency has been good too. Maintained speeds around 90kph all along and got 40.1 (indicated) until Tirupati for the entire 4 lane highway stretch. From Tirupati, it was a 2 lane state highway, so dropped a bit and the overall mileage for the 340km trip was 38.5. Very satisfied.

+ The engine feels smooth and the exhaust note is addictive and once in the right gear, the build up of speed is effortless.

Some of the minor cons which I observed in my initial ride:

- Terrible positioning of rear view mirrors. They were a problem in the h'ness and Honda didn't rectify them in the RS as well . H-U-G-E blind spots. Will definitely be adding the small convex add-ons.

- Zero storage spaces/hooks to hang small bags and stuff.

- Though the pillion seat is comfortable even for tall adults, there is not enough room for movement (may be because we were riding with our shoulder bags), so after around 70km, felt my base becoming numb because of sitting for so long in the same position. So took a quick stop of 3-4 mins to stretch out and continued.

Neutral observations:

Didn't find the tall gearing an issue at all and I got used to it quickly and it felt natural very soon. The slick gearbox and the feather light clutch also made gear-shifting easy and fun. One or two downshifts, overtake and come to 5th and cruise.

Though all the reviewers claimed zero vibrations, felt mild buzz starting from around 80-90kph only on the handlebar (zero vibrations on the seat as well as foot pegs) but is no way annoying. We weren't wearing gloves and I think once we are gloved, we may not feel that small buzz as well. Will test it out more. My friend who got the h'ness confirmed the same.


Slight off-topic observation:

The highway towards Tirupati from Bangalore has been terrible for upto some 20km after KR Puram. We started at 5.15 AM and the road is devoid of any lane markings and whatever that are there are almost non-existent, no signs of speed breakers ahead, no reflectors on the road, became really difficult to notice things on the road. Don't know what they are doing with all the tolls collected, especially around the Hoskote toll. Nothing changed from when I was working in Bangalore 1.5 years ago

Here are a few pics of the bike which I took somewhere after Kolar bypass.









For me personally, the design was enough to make me ignore the slight premium over h'ness. Will ride more and put out a detailed ownership review soon.

- Giridhar

[klgiridhar]

Originally Posted by chaudharysaab

Autox quotes "However, it’s interesting to note that Honda has kept USB and Bluetooth features as options on the RS."
Is it true guys??

Maybe they have made an error. The dealer confirmed with me that they are not optional on the RS and they are yet to get RS specific accessories list.

[Cyborg]

Congratulations and all the best with your RS Giridhar. Guess you are not one of the believers of a running-in period or taking it easy on a new machine. The bike looks lovely in this dual tone combination. Hope you are going to remove the ridiculous looking saree guard . Look forward to your review.

This look with a 500cc engine, 50-60 BHP and around the same torque would be delicious.

Take care and ride safe.

Cheers

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by klgiridhar

This is my 1st bike and my past two wheeler riding experience is limited to my Dad's Chetak (on which I learnt and started riding), then the 110cc TVS Scooty Zest, 150-250cc bikes of friends and a Dominar 400 rental in Bangalore.

Congratulations on your new motorcycle. That was a very informative initial impressions post. I look forward to your detailed ownership review.

Originally Posted by klgiridhar

- Terrible positioning of rear view mirrors. They were a problem in the h'ness and Honda didn't rectify them in the RS as well . H-U-G-E blind spots. Will definitely be adding the small convex add-ons.

Do try these mirror extenders from Advtribe to solve your problem. I am using them on my motorcycle and I find that it has helped improve the rear visibility tremendously.

[klgiridhar]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Congratulations and all the best with your RS Giridhar.

Thank you for your kind words Sir!

Hope you are going to remove the ridiculous looking saree guard .

Even I am thinking about the same

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Congratulations on your new motorcycle. That was a very informative initial impressions post. I look forward to your detailed ownership review.

Thank you so much Neil Sir!

Do try these mirror extenders from Advtribe to solve your problem. I am using them on my motorcycle and I find that it has helped improve the rear visibility tremendously.

Thanks once again for this reference. Will definitely be helpful for owners of the CB twins.

[Turbojc]

Honda has launched the CB350 RS in Japan as the GB350 S, priced at ¥594,000 (approx. ₹3,94,430). I must say, the colour choices are way better than what we're offered here. The bike looks stunning in Pearl Deep Mud Grey!





The Gunmetal Black Metallic shade looks good too:



I also found this really interesting image depicting the difference in posture between the Highness and the RS. Could help those confused in choosing between the two.



Cheers!

[Jo-G]

Originally Posted by klgiridhar

Small change of plans in the last minute made me buy the bike from Big Wing Topline in Bangalore.

+ We were riding 2 up and I am 5' 8.5" and my friend is 6'. The pillion seat is comfortable for us both and even being 6', my friend didn't complain about any pain whatsoever in his knees or thighs.

- Giridhar

Congrats Sir, Thanks for the detailed review. Though have paid up the price on 21st, yet to put my hands on it citing TR delays.

*CB 350 RS MONOTONE*
Ex showroom :- 198756
Road Tax :- 24466
Insurance :- 11015
Total :- 2,34,237
-------------------
Extended warranty :- 3226
RSA :- 1511
----------------------

Paid up total Rs.2,38,974/- (inclusive of Extended Warranty and RSA

Fingers crossed for the RTO "Gods" to show mercy and bless the poor "mortals" to ride it.

Waiting patiently (that's the curse, we Indians have submissively accepted over years from the authorities)