All through my life I wanted to own something that is fast but at the same time comfortable & practical. Last year I tested Yamaha FZ 150i and it blew me away, gave me a new definition of something being FAST! & then one day I saw a bike in the name of Honda CB150R Streetfire & then when it came in Bangladesh my dream turned out into reality. Thus here I present 12,000 km Test Ride Review of Honda CB150R Streetfire.

Honda CB150R Streetfire: 12,000 KM Test Ride Review By Team BikeBD

Review of Honda CB150R Streetfire

For most of my life I wanted to own a Naked Sport bike & Honda Streetfire was on top of my shopping list. It was back in October 2015 that Bangladesh Honda Pvt Ltd said to us that they will launch Honda CB150R Streetfire in Bangladesh within February 2016 I started to save money for the bike. Sadly it never came & BHL confirmed us later they won’t bring it in Bangladesh and for me with a budget 3.5 lac I couldn’t effort a Honda CBR 150R so I was left with no other options but to buy it from an importer. Honda CB150R in short is a naked version of Honda CBR150R, a bike which we reviewed in our blog back in January. Streetfire was launched back in 2012 in Indonesia & the new facelift with LED headlight was launched in Indonesia in 2015 with a completely new engine & most of the parts are new. The engine in this is a DOHC single-cylinder water-cooled 150cc unit (same as CBR150R 2016) which gives away 16.7 BHP & 13.8 NM of Torque. The 6 speed gearbox in this bike is a fantastic unit & unlike many Honda bikes is very smooth.

The engine of the bike is controlled by many sensors & they all report at the center command of the bike known as PGM-Fi which controls as many as 10+ different parameters for the bike so that the bike runs with the most amount of efficiency yet it can be brutal at the same moment. 

Also Read: HAQUE MOTORS in Madhupur, Tangail.

Honda CB150R Streetfire weight 136 kg & also carries a kick starter but there are some major features missing from the bike, for instance the bike doesn’t have the conventional things:

• No Pass Light Switch.
• No Engine Kill Switch.
• No Gear Indicator on the Speedometer.

But it does have the following features install:

• All new LED Lighting System.
• Liquid cool engine with Auto fan, the fan operates when the engine temperature goes around 103 degree.
• Wide tubless tyres and both the wheels are fitted with Nissin brakes.
• Pro-Link rear suspension.
• Tuss frame.
• Rear grab rail.
• New muffler with Aluminum cap.
• Muscular fuel tank which carries 12 litre fuels.
• Auto secure key shutter.
• Bank angle sensor, if the bike tilts sideways over 60 degree engine shut down, fuel supply also shut down for safety.
• Futuristic Full Digital Meter Panel.
• Sporty grab rail for pillion rider.
• Detachable rear fender.
• Sporty under cowl, aggressive visor, red colour rim & radiator guard (only for special edition)

Also Read: Top Honda Bikes Under 3.5 Lakh

In terms of the features I think it lacks few things against its rival, build quality of the bike isn’t the best if you compare up against its rival Yamaha Vixxion. The worst thing about the bike is the quality of the chain sprocket set; also air filter gets dirty very soon.

Honda CB150R Streetfire Review By Team BikeBD

This is a brand new engine from the company and there are also some issues with the engine as well, I found out around 10-12 motorcycles have timing chain tensional issue, in this case the bike’s engine makes a very bad knock knock noise when is the engine is mostly cold, but so far I didn’t face any problem with the bike neither did my performance or mileage dropped a bit for this issue. 

 Also Read: Top Honda Bikes Under 4 Lakh 

Color quality of the bike aren’t the best and they should have had better quality front radiator as unlike a sports bike is it fully exposed  to debris & if not taken proper care then it might be damage. New tuss frame is designed with aluminum to support the engine, which also helps to give a high balance between strength & flexibility as well as supporting the creation of control in accordance with the rider desire in all road conditions & speed. 

Also Read: Honda CB150R Streetfire price in BD

Balance of the bike is pretty good, I was glad to ride Yamaha M Slaz & CBR 2016 & though the brake is a bit weak compare to them but Streetfire does have one of the best braking systems in its class. Both the tires provide enough grip for high speed corning and with the right tyre pressure maintained in them the braking performance in collaboration with Nissin brakes are fantastic. 

Honda CB150R Streetfire: RIDING EXPERIENCE: 

I really enjoyed these 12,000 km with the bike, it was an epic experience and here are things which I liked most about the bike

• Engine grunt is epic; it accelerates from 0-100 with most amount of savagery.
• No major vibration from the engine but there is that timing chain tensional noise in some bikes.
• Aggressive styling something Honda doesn't do too often.
• Turning radius is fantastic to ride in city traffic. You can move the bike almost perpendicularly.
• Both the pillion & rider seat is comfortable.
• Riding pasture is pure commuting & not painful for long distance ride.
• Brakes & tyre grips are fully ok and in hard core braking it works perfectly it maintained the approved tyre pressure given in the bike's manual .
• Rear view mirrors are not good for highway rides.
• Headlight is good given it is a LED unit.
• Indicators are not rubber type, so they break straight away instead of bending.
• Engine response it good, gear ratio is short which is good for city riding.
• This is a good family bike for all age riders.
• Very smooth riding for highway & city.
• Suspension is good for some off roading.
• Tyres are not good for off roading though they work well in the wet.
• Absence of Pass light & Engine Kill switch is frustrating at this price range.
• The speedometer needed to have a gear indicator.
• No standard radiator guard.
• Gearbox is inverse compare to CBR 2016.

To be honest given the price of Yamaha M Slaz I think Honda CB150R is a more practical bike & good value for money. It is an all-rounder, if needed you can ride in a comfortable mode where you can ride in low rev and save fuel & savor the moment. But on the other hand if needed you tear apart everything. For the last 4.5 years we have seen some very good Honda bikes in Bangladesh, CB Unicorn, CB Trigger both the bikes are fantastic but they both lacked characters on the other hand Honda CB150R Streetfire is full of it. It is a serious bike and lacks a sense of humor but the best thing about the bike is that it can be ridden by people of all age, it is not complicated. 

My Streetfire is both ridden by me & my father (age 58 years), & given his riding experience comes from the 90’s with Honda CDI100 HS he said to me that this is the most comfortable bike he rode in a long time. Partly because of the EFI system which is new for him but mostly for the suspension. I admit that Yamaha M Slaz is more SPECIAL & Honda CBR150R 2016 is more of a sporty bike but CB150R sits in a place where it can give you a mix of both comfortable ride & absolute savagery. It is a genuine all rounder bike. 

Buying from importers does gives the disadvantages of not getting any spare parts for the bike, no engine warranty & no proper service for the bike but when you twist the throttle you just tend to forget all of that. The people of Japan (or Indonesia) named it STREETFIRE for a reason; it does creates the fire on the road. 

Performance: Top Speed: 142 km/h Mileage (City):   38-42 km/L Mileage (highway) :   45 km/L Fuel Grade:  Above RON 90 

Also Read: Best Honda Bikes Under 4 Lakh At A Glance | BikeBD September 2023 

Honda CB150R Streetfire is a machine of pure imagination coming into reality. It was my childhood dream to own something that can be tame the way you want. Yes it lacks few things but overall it is a fantastic machine. We hope Honda CB150R Streetfire Review by Team BikeBD will help you to know more about this beast which breaths FIRE!

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