Honda CB Hornet 160R

In 2015, Honda Revfest surprisingly brought us a new member in Indian automobile segment, tough enough to play hard with the existing competitors. Named as the Honda CB Hornet 160R, the bike is something which Honda never had purely tried in the past. Premium feel surrounds the newcomer as it is not made like every other commuter in the market or by Honda itself.

Lack of a naked bike with pure street bike feel is fulfilled by the muscular and tough looking body design of Honda CB Hornet. Lean bikes have always been Honda’s way of biking but changing market scenario forced them to bring a popular non-Indian bike series name ‘The Hornet’ under an economical engine size for the country.

The CB Hornet 160R comes inspired from the design of the concept Honda bike, the CX-01, which was showcased at the 2014 Auto Expo. It comes with a bit different approach as all the Honda bikes in the segment are more commuters than the famous street fighter designing. The tank gets a muscular cowl, which houses the Honda’s wing symbol over it. Front gets a Honda style LED headlight and the most noticeable point becomes its mid-ship exhaust design. The alloy wheel design is new to the Honda family and looks great on Hornet 160R.

The tank has been precisely chiselled from each angle, making it more muscular than any other bike in the Honda’s Portfolio. The rear gets an X shaped tail light and a wide tyre, which was always missing from Honda’s motorcycle range before.The length x width x height of CB Hornet is 2041mm x 783 mm x 1091 mm. Ground clearance of the bike stands at 164 mm with a wheelbase of 1345 mm. The fuel tank capacity is 12 litres and kerb weight of STD model is 138 kg. The seat height is 790mm.

Hornet has replaced the CB Trigger and comes with same instrument console which was used in the former. It is a fully digital rectangular unit, cleanly defining all the requirements, from a bar form tachometer to a digital speedometer, it carries everything like trip distance, fuel indicator etc. The unit looks good because it’s not as dated as many of the currently running street fighters.

The engine below the tank is said to be the same unit which is currently available on the CB Unicorn 160 but it has been tuned to generate more power and torque. The 162.71 cc, single cylinder engine develops 14.9 BHP @ 8500 rpm and 14.5 NM @ 6500 rpm. The gearbox remains the same 5-speed unit of the Unicorn and no changes are said to be done to the gear ratios also.

The engine comes with HET (Honda Eco Technology) and features a good balance between style, economy and power. The company claimed mileage of CB Hornet 160R is 60 kmpl and you can expect the real world combined mileage figure of 40-50 kmpl. The company claimed top speed of CB Hornet 160R is 110 kmph.

Hornet 160R comes equipped with two disc brakes, one for the front (276mm) and the other for the rear (220mm). The availability of CBS (Combi Braking System) and ABS is undoubtedly true, making it the best bike in terms of braking in its segment. The STD model of Hornet 160R comes with a 276mm front disc brake and 130mm rear drum brake. Suspension at the front is telescopic whereas the rear gets a monoshock.