HONDA is one of the most pioneer motorcycle companies in the world. Bangladesh Honda (BHL) has already started assembling with the mission to be Number 1 also in Bangladesh. The brand Honda is so popular in Bangladesh that mostly bikes or motorcycles are referred as HONDA! Bangladesh Honda Private Limited (BHL) (Source), unveiled the Street Naked Sports Bike- CB Hornet 160R on 16th February 2018 at International Convention City Bashundraha (ICCB). Raw, Real, Ripped and Rocking, the all new CB Hornet 160R stands out in its category with its aggressive styling and cutting edge performance in their lineup. Team BikeBD has tested the performance of CB Hornet in the road condition of Bangladesh and want to share the Honda CB Hornet 160R Review.

Honda CB Hornet 160R Review & Test Ride Report - Team BikeBD

Honda CB Hornet Test Ride Video Review

Honda CB Hornet 160R Review - History

Hornet has a wide range of legacy 900cc, 600cc, 250cc and 163cc where the best part of the Hornet DNA put respectively to the latest 163cc segment. Hornet has this great history other than any competitors and this is the biggest competitive advantage of the bike. Honda CB Hornet 160R is one of the most successful models around the world and we, Bangladeshi people are enjoying that today.

Also Read: 160cc Cruiser Bikes In Bangladesh 

Honda CB Hornet 160R Review - Engine

The bike carries a 163cc air cooled single cylinder engine which gives out 15.1 BHP & 14.7 NM of Torque through a 5 speed gearbox on the drive to rear wheel. The engine is silent and it only scream once your rev it high above 6-6.5 k rpm.

Also Read: Honda CB Hornet Bike Price In Bangladesh

Among many other added things the bike carries viscous air filter which will help to make the bike breathe easier. The engine is refined. This engine gets Honda’s HET (Honda ECO Technology). This technology helps the engine to burn less fuel and also gives maximum performance.

Also Read: Honda Wave Alpha Given To Team

Honda CB Hornet 160R Review - Styling

We have seen Honda CB Unicorn 150 & Honda CB Trigger, both of which are good bikes but they lack the X factor something they worked a lot on Hornet. They made the bike muscular. The motorcycle has a sporty design and couples that muscular fuel tank with attractive graphics. 

 Also Read: Honda 100cc Bike Price In Bangladesh

Muffler of the bike is compact and it has petal disc brake. The rear tyre is wide; it has a 140mm rear tyre which increases the stability of the bike. As we Bangladeshi bikers always love wider tyre in the premium segment. The headlight of the bike is aggressive; it is sharp & edgy with two positions lamps upward facing indicators which created the bold first impression. Mono suspension is used in this bike which keeps the center of the gravity & it also helps to keep a better balance on the motorcycle.

n terms of design it is completely new. Upfront they gave a sharp halogen headlight. Straight away they gave AHO headlight system but sadly the headlight is in AC state. AHO is a safety feature which is now standard in many countries around the world. It improves the vehicle visibility not only in dawn, dust or fog but also helps in bring daylight, something which is very good when you ride on the highway.   There are air scoop on the side of the fuel tank & they are extended. This air scoop not only gives style to the bike but also add cooling air into the engine while the bike is running at high speed.

On the top of fuel tank you get a strip of carbon fibre look, it is trim in the centre. Handle bar is upright & they have rod handle bar, switch gears comes straight from Honda Dream Neo, something we didn’t like as with this new bike they could have changed this. Also Honda needed to add engine kill switch to this motorcycle.

Speedometer is fully digital and comes with LCD screen; it shows the fuel gauge, speed, rev counter & other warning light. It misses out with a gear change indicator.  The indicators of the bike are bulb type. Although they haven’t gave any split seat but they gave a nice looking rear grab rail.

 Agree with us, the best thing about this motorcycle is the tail light, X Shaped LED tail light does reveal the X Factor of the bike. The exhaust of the bike will remind you all about the single headlight Honda CBR150R.

Honda CB Hornet 160R Review - Mechanical Components:

The bike gets diamond frame & upfront there are telescopic front suspensions which are new, on the rear there is a mono shock suspension found in Honda CB Trigger. The rear mono shock absorber has a 3 step adjustable position for different road conditions or bike load.

 Upfront the bike gets 100 section tyres & on the rear it gets 140 section rear tyres. Attach to the front tyre there is a 276 mm rotor petal disc brake and one the rear 130 section drum brake. The tyres are attached to 5 spoke alloy wheels. The tyres are tubeless which a good safety features. The height of the bike is good for 5.6 feet bikers. Ground clearance is good, while riding with a pillion we found no issue over speed breakers. The bike weighs 138 kg & the tummy of the bike can carry 12 liters of fuel.

   The bike is equipped with EVAP with is evaporative emission canister, which is designed to keep gasoline from evaporating into the atmosphere.

Honda CB Hornet 160R Review - Performance

Bangladesh Honda Pvt Ltd claimed a top speed of 110 km/h & during our testing after we found out that the top speed of the bike is 124 km/h ( as indicated in the speedometer). We received a mileage of 38 –40 km/l in Dhaka city while on the highway the mileage figure topped to 42 -45 km/l. Mileage figure & top speed may vary depending on riding style, bike condition & road condition.

Honda CB Hornet 160R Test Ride Review - Riding Ergonomics

Is Honda CB Hornet160R a commuting bike? Technically no, BHL says this is a naked sports bike which can be used as a commuting motorcycle. The riding position is in the best comfort zone.  Riding this motorcycle for a long time in the city or on the highway you won’t feel any back pain. You must have the suspension setup right to get the maximum comfort from this motorcycle.

Also Read: Honda CB Hornet 160R ২৫ হাজার কিলোমিটার রাইড-মাইনুল

The seats are comfortable to sit both for the rider & pillion. But I think the rear footpeg is a bit small in size. The rear grab rails also help a lot for the pillion to seat comfortably. There is a standard saree guard and leg guard attached with the bike but unlike many bikes they haven’t gave any extra rear footpeg with the saree guard.

At low RPM the bike remains silent just like what a commuting motorcycle needs to be but once you twist the throttle & the RPM click past 6000 figure the engine becomes furious. Unlike many other bikes it doesn’t have any ready pickup. The brakes are VERY GOOD. Attached to the front tyre are two piston calipers Nissin disc brake & although the rear tyre are drum but with that 140 section tyre the bike does gives fantastic feedback to the rear end. What I LOVE most about the bike is the way it swallow the corners, the rear tyre isn’t flat but curvy which helps it to take corners at high speed.

Also Read: RAHMAN HONDA in Mohonpur, Rajshahi.

Cornering with this motorcycle is pure FUN! The bike is even stable under braking when you do high speed corning. What you need to make sure that you always need to maintain the recommended tyre pressure stated by Honda CB Hornet 160R manual. Gear ratio is taller as you can shift from 4^th to 5^th gear around 100 km/h. The gearbox of the bike at first remains very hard & with times after the first servicing it gets back to the softer side. You won’t get tired or bored riding this motorcycle in the city or highway.  Also the bike is pretty good stable machine on the highway. There are vibrations from the engine at higher RPM when the bike crosses 7500 RPM but below that there aren’t any major vibrations.

 Turing radius is good for city riding and even with a pillion you can maneuver the bike well in the city, something you would think that if it could have becomes 5 kg lighter then it would have been better. AC operated headlight is a problem as riding in dark places or on the highway it will frustrate you. Honda needs to make more concentration on this part as now they are no longer working only in the commuting segment but also in the premium segment.

In the commuter motorcycle segment Currently the bike is available in 3 colors: Striking Green, Sports Red, Athletic Blue Metallic. Bangladesh Honda Pvt Ltd will provide 2 years or 20,000 km engine warranty, 4 free servicing & the market price of the bike is 199,800 BDT.

Also read: ZAM ZAM MOTORS Tangail, Dhaka.

Honda CB Hornet 160R First Impression Review

Honda CB Hornet 160R Review - Summary

Pros

• The engine produces the most amount of Torque in this segment.
• Muscular Honda motorcycle in this segment after a long time.
• Good high end power.
• Smooth exhaust note.
• Suspension and chassis gives good feedback for long distance ride.
• Due to riding position it is very comfortable in city.
• Even with single disc brake the bike has better braking stability then it’s some of its rivals.
• Good mileage figure in this segment.
• Fantastic pricing in this segment.

Cons

• Although the acceleration is smooth & mid torque is good but lower end torque is not good.
• Switch gears don't go with the current trend of bikes in this segments.
• No engine kill switch.
• AC operated headlight. The best solution is the DC operated headlight.
• Chain tends to loosen up soon. The best solution is to lube the chain periodically.
• Currently only 68 dealers in Bangladesh and it will be difficult to get service.

 At Dhaka Bike Show 2018 BikeBD did a survey.  In that survey Honda CB Hornet 160R won the award of being the BEST VALUE FOR MONEY bike and it was elected by BikeBD fans. 52% people voted for Honda while the nearest competitor had only 16% votes.

If you consider the price of the motorcycle then you will feel that given everything around this is one of the BEST VALUE FOR MONEY 150-165 cc premium motorcycle in this segment. As far my personal verdict goes I think Honda CB Hornet 160R will end up to be one of the most iconic motorcycles in its segment.

  Always ride your motorcycle safely with proper safety gears. As we did this Honda CB Hornet 160R Review, Race was the Accessories Partner & GearX Bangladesh was the Helmet partner of the test ride review. We also want to thank MUV for being our Ride Sharing Partner.