Why Honda's CBR 150R is not selling well ?

CBR 150R looks almost exactly like 250 R from side profile

Right from the introduction of CBR 150R in 2012 , baby cbr's sole purpose of birth was to take on Yamaha's razor sharp R15. CBR have Mighty 150 CC motor 4 valve with dual overhead camshafts everything seems all right until we compare sale figure of baby CBR with R15. From the very beginning CBR 150R has been selling 200 units every month with respect to 3000 units of R15.

 let's see stronger points of CBR 150R
shorter wheelbase for quick direction flick ability.
close loop fuel injection for precious fueling.
Dual overhead camshaft for quicker revving engine.
balance riding position for corner attacks as well city commute . 
And that's all about it nothing out of box. compare to this,

Yamaha R152.0 side profile look's like race ready super bike

Yamaha's R15 have greater overall advantage.
Aggressive stance, bike looks absolute beauty from every angle, it's proper track focus bike. Yamaha India have took customer's feedback very seriously and created magic out of canvas in form of R15 v 2.0.
Longer cast aluminum swing arm for better high speed stability.
Top notch switches quality (CBR150R don't even have engine kill switch)
Good torque availability in city.
link mono shock provides better stability on corner.
Dual headlamp at front.
lower price tag.
 

CBR 150r instrument cluster

So where did Honda went wrong with CBR 150R ?
  first of all bike is expensive than handsome looking r15
Switches quality is substandard  and kill switch is absent which is essential feature.
Bike have very bad city drivability due to 2 main reasons first of all its bore is 63.5mm and stroke is 47.2mm which give's this bike very short stroke nature motor add to that duel over head camshaft becomes recipe for high revving motor, these two things together make almost non existence torque in lower rev range till 7000 rpm, believe me in city traffic even passion plus feels better bike than CBR 150R , peak power comes at 10,500rpm thus you really need to wring the throttle to squeeze out of that engine. Inversely this turns out advantage on highway's cause this motor just goes on and on even after it's redline, motor is absolute smooth.
Bike look's very similar to CBR 250R in fact one may get misunderstood it as CBR 250R  which is itself looks like VFR. So biggest tragic thing happened with this CBR is, it looks like VFR rather than Fireblade.  

Read More

Pulsar 160ns may called just Pulsar 150. Sounds like strategic move by Bajaj !

Front end looks almost exactly same as 200 ns.

Currently lower spectrum of pulsar is consisting of pulsar 180 and pulsar 150 which are soon going to get overhaul, inspired by 200 ns . As globally pulsar 160 ns have been shown specifically in Turky what we can conclude now is as speculated earlier the pulsar 160ns may not called as 160ns instead it will continue to be called as 150. at least images pointing out that.

split seats going to make scary ride for ladies who prefer to sit with one side legs.

 

There is even one more possibility that this new pulsar may kept above current pulsar 150,   

 But why? because as seen in images this bike is outright sporty compare to current pulsar 150 , Just look at its split seat , broad clipon , open type chain or hard monoshock from 200 ns , There is significant amount of power bump is expected over current 15 bhp.

If they employ same 150 cc mil, power will raise around 16 to 16.5 bhp using 4 valve setup it could well go above that if they're employing  160 cc mil. If they place this 160 ns above current 150 pulsar then there are chances about getting  6 speed transmission or else it will be continue getting 5 speed gearbox for usable torque distribution in city traffic, triple spark technology is future for bajaj and we can expect that from this pulsar 160 ns, This new pulsar will compete with Yamaha  FZ v 2.0, Suzuki Gixxer ,  and even Hero Xtreme sports , This pulsar is expected to launch around mid 2015 and as always with Bajaj's aggressive pricing we can expect this bike at price tag of 70 to 75 thousands(ex showroom)     

Read More

Recently Honda launch CB unicorn 160 Indian market at price 69,350rs

Honda has launched its new 160cc bike, the CB Unicorn 160, in two variants. The CB Unicorn 160 standard that comes with a front disc brake and rear drum setup is priced at Rs 69,350 and the CB Unicorn 160 equipped with a Combi-Brake system costs Rs 74,414 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

                                                                          Styling-wise, the new CB Unicorn 160 resembles the CB Trigger with minor tweaks. The headlamps and the tail lamps have been restyled slightly in order to differentiate the CB Unicorn 160 from the CB Trigger. The fuel tank and saree-guard design are also unique to the CB Unicorn 160, which comes with an LED tail light, a chrome-finished muffler and floating side cowls. 

The Honda CB Unicorn 160 is powered a 163cc motor that is good for 14.5bhp and 1.5kgm of torque. This motor is mated to a 5-speed gearbox. The manufacturer's claimed top speed is 106kph and fuel economy figure is 62kpl. Six paint shades will be on offer. Prime competitors to the new Honda CB Unicorn 160 include the Suzuki Gixxer, the Hero Xtreme Sports and the Yamaha FZ Fi.

Read More