Honda Bikes

Honda’s first two-wheeler EV for Europe, EM1 e: electric scooter is planned for launch in summer of 2023New Honda EM1 Electric ScooterWhile its ICE-based two-wheelers continue to generate majority of sales, Honda is stepping-up focus in EV space as well. Honda has plans to introduce at least 10 electric two-wheelers globally by 2025. One of these is EM1 e: electric scooter, which has been unveiled at ongoing EICMA 2022.EM1 is essentially short for Electric Moped and the e: suffix denotes Honda Mobile Power Pack (MPP). MPP platform comprises removable battery packs and battery swapping stations, which will work as the core infrastructure for Honda’s upcoming electric two-wheelers. Honda is focusing on relatively smaller battery packs for its entry-level EVs. These are easy to use and offer adequate range for daily commutes and everyday city sprints.Honda EM1 e: featuresWith its compact, trendy profile, Honda EM1 e: electric scooter will primarily target younger audiences. The scooter has curvy body panels with smooth edges, which ensure a refined look and feel. It is clearly built for utilitarian purposes, as the scooter does not have any radical or ostentatious design elements. Some of the key features include apron-mounted LED headlamp, sleek instrument cowl and round rear view mirrors.With its flat floorboard, front and underseat storage space and dedicated rear rack, Honda EM1 e: electric scooter can carry quite a bit of load. The single-piece seat looks comfy and there are foldable foot pegs located on the side panels. The battery pack is located under the seat and is a removable unit. The floorboard panel is pretty thick and is likely to be holding the battery management system and other related components.[embedded content][embedded content]Honda EM1 e: range, specsHonda EM1 e: electric scooter range is over 40 km. While this number seems a bit low, it has been purposefully kept that way to reduce battery cost. Moreover, Honda will be building its battery swapping infrastructure for taking care of range anxiety. From the images, it appears that Honda EM1 e: is equipped with a hub-mounted motor. Details about the motor and battery capacity are not available at this point of time.Honda Mobile Power Pack e: has been developed with a strong focus on quality, reliability and durability. It has been tested for a variety of conditions such as humidity, varying temperatures, impact and vibrations. Apart from using swapping stations, users can also charge the battery in the comfort of their home.Hardware list is pretty basic such as telescopic front fork and dual rear shock absorbers. While other details have not been officially revealed, Honda EM1 e: electric scooter appears to be using a 12-inch front and 10-inch rear wheel.Honda EM1 e: electric scooter is confirmed for Europe, but there’s no clarity about its launch in India. Honda had earlier stated that its first electric two-wheeler for India will be an e-moped with top speed of around 50 kmph. It is planned for launch in April 2023. Later, a high-speed electric two-wheeler will also be launched in India. More

Honda CB500F will share most of its mechanicals with 2022 CB500X which got dual disc front brake, USD fork, lighter swingarm and moreHonda CB500F at a Bigwing showroom in BangaloreA Formidable machine, is what Honda called its CB300F. It was launched in August 2022 and is kept exclusive to Honda’s BigWing dealerships. When compared to similarly priced motorcycles, it falls short on paper.Sitting above the CB300F is the CB500X, which is a 500cc ADV. Even though it is a potent machine, sales have not been great. If we take sales in 200cc to 500cc segment, Honda only sold one unit of CB500X from April 2022 to August 2022. Honda seems to be getting ready to launch another 500cc motorcycle in their arsenal soon.Honda CB500F Spotted At DealershipSpotted at a BigWing dealership in Bengaluru, Honda’s new street fighter is likely to launch soon. The showcase before launch is likely to be a measured step in the direction of gaining customer feedback. This way, Honda can analyse the amount of interest that this motorcycle garners.Honda has used this strategy before and showcased Forza 300 Maxi scooter and even a Honda CRF300L. It is yet to be seen if Honda CB500F will materialise and launch in India. What does it offer, if it does launch?New Honda CB500FHonda CB500F gets sharper styling in terms of its fuel tank, tank shrouds, slightly taller rear stepped seat, integrated rear grab rail, chunkier exhaust, dual front disc for better braking, fatter rubber, and twin exhaust headers.Specs & FeaturesSticking to its F family lineup, Honda CB500F is a lot subdued in design. Especially when compared to other 500cc parallel twin motorcycles like Leoncino, 502C and TRK from Benelli. Honda takes a safer approach to styling and offers an everyday street bike.CB500F will be powered by the same 471cc parallel-twin, liquid-cooled engine that also does duties on CB500X. With 46 bhp of power at 8,600 RPM and 43 Nm of torque at 6,500 RPM on tap, Honda CB500F doesn’t seem to be at the edge of its performance cliff.Cycle parts include front USD forks from Showa. These are 41mm SFF-BP (Separate Function Fork Big Piston) and are finished in gold shade. Rear gets a monoshock unit. Earlier CB500F used to get a single disc at the front which is now replaced with a twin disc setup. Details about its launch and pricing are expected to be revealed soon.Image Source More

Honda Electric Moped might be powered by swappable batteries called Honda Power Pack e – good for around 100 km rangeHonda Electric Moped Design SketchesElectric vehicles are all the rage right now. To fuel this wave further, we are witnessing launch of new electric 2Ws like clockwork. Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India has not yet ventured into EV segment in the country as of yet. Honda has announced that it has 2W EVs in the cards and a launch is evident in 2023.We recently saw the Japanese brand revealing its future global roadmap with 10 electric bikes by 2025. One of that 10 electric 2Ws is likely to be a moped. Guess what we got our hands on from the old continent? Honda’s design sketches for its upcoming electric moped. These images are from European Union Intellectual Property Office.Honda Electric Moped In The WorksOne look at this upcoming vehicle, immediately reminds us of the Honda Super Cub – an underbone motorcycle that is powered by up to 125cc petrol engine. It is one of the most iconic two wheeler in the world and is very popular to date. Sales surpassed 100 million in 2017.Honda’s upcoming electric moped might have been inspired by Super Cub in terms of design. But it is quite evident that the future product comes with future technology. It gets an electric powertrain, unlike a gasoline-burning ICE engine. Will Honda use its iconic Super Cub name on this electric moped? Only time will tell.Honda Electric Moped Design Sketches – RearWhat we can tell now, is that it gets an underbone-type chassis and even offers a flat footboard. Even though there is just one seat in the design sketches, production model is likely to offer a pillion seat, at least as an option. At the front, there is a cool-looking round headlight that might get LEDs. The overall design is very minimal and looks futuristic.Specs & FeaturesLooking at the cycle parts, one can easily recognise the large wheels. There are alloys that are likely to be 17” in size, just like Super Cub. Front gets a disc brake, while rear gets a drum unit. CBS might be offered. Rear wheel houses a hub motor that will get assistance from the pedals if needed via a chain drive.Honda hasn’t revealed any specifications as of now. It is not a stretch to speculate that Honda might push swappable battery tech with this electric moped. Looking at the design, one might think that there isn’t really a lot of place to house a large battery. That might be the case here. With swappable battery tech, that is less likely to be an issue.As of now, Honda electric moped is not a very promising proposition for India. That being said, there is a tiny possibility that it might launch in India for B2B segment and intra-city deliveries and even postal services in urban areas. What is highly likely to be launched by Honda in India is U-Go electric scooter which has been patented in our country.Image Source More

In September, Honda 2W sales stood a little shy of Hero MotoCorp’s and takes the spot of second highest-selling 2W company in IndiaImage for representation purposeHonda Motorcycle & Scooter India PVT LTD was on the verge of overtaking Hero MotoCorp last month. But in September 2022, the gap widens more and Hero pulls ahead by a small margin. With Hero taking the lead, Honda takes the spot of second highest-selling 2W manufacturer in India.Honda sold 4,88,924 units in the country and gained 25,241 units in volume growth. The Japanese brand registered a 5.44% YoY growth. In contrast, Honda sold 4,63,683 units in September 2021. Honda 2W domestic sales account for 94.29% of the company’s total sales. With 4,23,216 units sold in August 2022, Honda saw a MoM growth of 15.23%.Honda 2W Sales September 2022Even though the company registers a small YoY growth in the domestic market, exports thrive a lot better. With 29,635 units shipped in September 2022, the company registered 62.61% YoY growth. Volume gain stood at 11,410 units with just 18,225 units shipped in September 2021. Honda’s exports account for 5.71% of the company’s total sales.While Honda shows a strong growth YoY in exports, the company registered a 24.61% drop in sales MoM. This is because of the 39,307 units that Honda shipped in August 2022. The company’s exports accounted for 8.5% last month which is reduced to 5.71% in September 2022.Honda 2W Sales September 2022Commenting on company’s positive momentum in the run-up to festivities, Mr. Atsushi Ogata, Managing Director, President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, “The auto-industry registered a strong demand force in the 2nd quarter as this momentum continues to rise with the on-going festival celebration.All our dealerships are witnessing a visible rise in physical walk-ins as well as customer inquiries. With an exciting range of model line-ups across segments to choose from, we are all set to delight our customers this festive season.”In total, Honda 2W pushed out 5,18,559 units and registered 7.61% YoY growth with a volume gain of 36,651 units and 12.12% MoM growth with a volume gain standing at 56,036 units. In contrast, Honda sold 4,81,908 units in September 2021 and sold 4,62,523 units in August 2022. With popular products like Activa scooter series, Unicorn, CB Shine commuter, Dio and more, Honda is likely to push more sales in the festive season. On the premium end, Honda CB350 is also doing well in sales.YTD SalesHonda 2W sales September 2022 YTD stood at 13,14,841 units in Q3 2022. With these sales figures, Honda has gained 9.09% YoY when compared to 12,05,296 units pushed out in Q3 2021 with a volume gain standing at 1,09,545 units. When compared to Q2 of 2022, Honda registered a solid growth of 32.13% QoQ when compared to just 9,95,136 units pushed out in Q2 2022. Volume gain stood at 3,19,705 units in Q3 2022 over Q2 of 2022. More

Honda XRE 300 gets a 291.6 cc single-cylinder motor that is capable of generating 26 hp of peak power and 27 Nm of peak torque2022 Honda XRE 300Honda seems to be shying away from launching proper enthusiast vehicles in India. Instead of CRF190L, we got CB200X to compete with Hero XPulse 200 4V. Not just that, we never got one motorcycle of Honda’s XRE series as well. That doesn’t mean that Honda will never launch one.Recently, a Honda XRE 300 ADV has been spied on in India beside BMW G 310 GS and KTM 390 Adventure. This is not the first time XRE 300 is making an appearance. We have seen XRE 300 getting patented in India in 2017. In 2021, XRE 300 was updated for markets like Brazil to compete against Royal Enfield Himalayan and Yamaha XTZ 250. Looking at the ADV on Indian soil again, one can not help but wonder, will it launch? We don’t know the answer to that just yet. But we can tell you why it would be a good product in HMSI’s arsenal.Honda XRE 300 ADV Spied in IndiaXRE 300 ADV borrows a lot of design cues from Honda’s flagship ADV Africa Twin. Right from its fairing and the colour schemes, XRE 300 is reminiscent of Africa Twin. Unlike other premium ADVs which get trail riding capabilities at best, XRE 300 is a proper off-roader. To make it a worthy off-roader, Honda has given it a lot of kit.Primary among these are, long-travel front telescopic suspension, rear mono-shock, 21” spoked wheel at front, 18” spoked wheel at the rear, high mounted exhaust, a front beak, abundant ground clearance and many more. The seating position is tall and the handlebar is placed at an optimum to offer relaxed ergonomics even when standing.Honda 300cc ADV Spied In IndiaHonda XRE 300 ADV gets a slightly inclined fully digital instrument cluster. This angle makes it fall in rider’s peripheral vision at all times. Something similar has been seen on upcoming Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 as well. Seat looks adequately comfortable for both rider and pillion. There is a rack to mount the top box behind the seat.Specs & LaunchPowering the Honda XRE 300 is a 291.6 cc single-cylinder, DOHC, air-cooled motor that is capable of generating 26 hp of peak power and 27 Nm of peak torque. This engine is mated to a 5-speed gearbox. It gets disc brakes at both ends along with Dual-channel ABS as standard. When viewed head-on, it comes off as handsome. Especially when compared to the Royal Enfield Himalayan.The silver finish on the engine case and telescopic suspension give out retro vibes. It gets the same set of tyres as found on Xpulse 200 which are 90/90-21 at front and 120/80-18 at the back. Honda XRE 300 ADV is also capable of running on Ethanol fuel. Dubbed as FlexOne tech, XRE 300 is flex-fuel ready.2022 Honda XRE 300HMSI has not revealed any info regarding this ADV officially. However, there is a possibility for the launch as ADV segment has heated up considerably. We have Royal Enfield Himalayan, Yezdi Adventure, KTM 390 Adventure, BMW G 310 GS and XPulse 200 4V at lower end. We also have the upcoming Himalayan 450 and Xpulse 400. More info is likely to follow soon.Source More

Honda 2W sales are mostly driven by Activa here in India like clockwork with a 52.25% share of total Honda domestic salesImage for referenceHonda Motorcycles & Scooters India is one of the most valuable motorcycle companies in the world. Due to its immense volume generated from domestic sales as well as exports, Honda is just a little shy of beating Hero MotoCorp, which is revered as the highest-selling motorcycle company in India for a long time.India is one the largest 2W market in the world and is of stark importance to establish dominance. Honda sold 4,23,226 units here in India with a 21,746 unit volume gain and registered 5.42% YoY growth with 4,01,480 units sold in August 2021. Not too shabby. With Activa at the helm, Honda is able to put out a lot of volumes and drive numbers forward.Honda Activa series sold 2,21,143 units registering a solid 8.05% YoY growth with volume gain standing at 16,484 units. It commands 52.25% of total Honda sales in India. Next is CB Shine with a 28.39% share. It sold 1,20,139 units and registered a de-growth of 7.53% YoY and lost 9,787 units. After the two heavy lifters, next is Dio with just 29,714 units sold and seeing 10.47% YoY growth.Honda Domestic Sales Breakup Aug 2022Unicorn 160 commuter bike has re-gained popularity in recent times and registered 341.12% YoY growth with 25,051 units sold. Unicorn accounts for 5.92% of total Honda sales in India. At 5th and 6th place are Livo and Dream which register 10.93% and 16.74% de-growth YoY. Royal Enfield rivaling CB350 sold 3,714 units and registered 254.73% YoY growth.Honda Domestic Sales – August 2022Hornet 2.0 and X-Blade stand at 8th and 9th place with 143.96% and 2034% YoY growth respectively. Sales stand at 1,010 units and 929 units respectively. Newly launched XPulse 200 rival, CB200X faux ADV sold 404 units. Honda’s CB300R seems to have resurrected from the dead as it only sold 1 unit in Aug 2021 and sold 258 units in August 2022 with 25,700% YoY growth.CBR650R sold 33 units in India and fell in the red with a 10.81% YoY drop. At the bottom, we have Grazia 125 scooter, Africa Twin ADV, CB500X and Gold Wing that didn’t garner any sales. Most surprising is Grazia 125 which sold 8,618 units last year.Honda Exports Breakup Aug 2022Motorcycle X scooter hybrid, Navi tops Honda’s exports. Honda exported 11,934 units of Navi while registering 114.25% YoY growth. Navi makes 30.76% of total Honda exports. Dio is in 2nd spot with 10,701 units shipped, registering 105.31% growth with a decent 27.22% of total exports. CB Shine is well received globally and sees 32.33% YoY growth with 3,414 units shipped.Honda Exports – August 2022X-Blade stands at 4th place and shipped 3,348 units while witnessing a 19.60% drop YoY. However, Dream commuter shipped 2,892 units and saw 57.86% growth YoY with 7.36% of Honda’s total exports. Unicorn isn’t chased as much in global markets and witnesses a 9.09% drop in sales.Livo shipped 1,500 units in August 2022. Grazia and Hornet 160R are not well received globally like last year and registered a 45.12% and 57.00% drop in sales YoY. Honda has shipped 800 Aviators while it is discontinued in India. Even though Activa is a coup de grace here in India, it is not a popular product globally. With just 392 units shipped, Activa exports dropped 36.16%.Showing appearance on export charts, we have CB350 with just 1 unit shipped with a 99.88% drop YoY. In total, Honda shipped 39,307 units while registering 30.53% YoY growth with 9,193 units gained in volumes. One trend to be highlighted is that Honda budget commuters are seeing a decline steadily while Hero is lapping up aggressively. More

Payment systems need to be fully automated to reduce the risk of unwanted liabilities arising from human error and misjudgementHonda Activa Owner Charged Rs 55,000 At Petrol PumpWith hard cash, the usual set of problems faced include shortage of smaller denomination currency notes, risk of counterfeit notes, torn/soiled notes, etc. Digital payments have done away with all such issues, but some new ones have been created in the process. Payments getting stuck, account debited but not credited and weak network signal are among the most common.At locations where the amount needs to be entered manually, there’s always the risk of human error. A recent example involves a Honda Activa owner who was charged Rs 55,000 instead of Rs 550. The incident occurred at a Shell fuel pump in Thane, Maharashtra. Thankfully, the matter was resolved amicably, with the owner getting the refund on the same day.What Happened?After filling the fuel tank of his Honda Activa, the owner made the payment by scanning the QR code shown by the fuel pump attendant. He made the payment via Google Pay. Once the payment was made, he was surprised to see the amount that was debited from his account. The amount was to be about Rs 550. But instead, the fuel pump attendant had by mistake generated QR code for Rs 55,000.Attendants at fuel pumps have to process hundreds of payments every day. Depending on the location, a significant percentage of these are digital payments. At most fuel stations, the amount has to be entered manually on the handheld POS machine. As number of transactions is quite high, the risk of human error is always present. Moreover, attendants are under pressure, as they have to ensure that the exact amount is entered.Honda Activa Owner Charged Rs 55,000 at petrol pumpEntering the wrong amount on the POS machine can also be due to lack of proper training and awareness. Newer machines that display a QR code for making payment are relatively easier to use as compared to older versions. Newer POS machines utilize capacitive touchscreens, as compared to the button keys of older generation POS machines. Newer POS machines also have larger and clearer displays.Despite these factors, the Activa owner was still overcharged. It is not clear what exactly led to this error. As newer POS machines offer smartphone-like clarity, it is difficult to tag this incident as a casual error. On their part, users can avoid such incidents by taking a look at the amount displayed on the POS machine screen before making the payment.Integration of fuel pump and POS machinesTo avoid incidents of overcharging, the human element needs to be completely eliminated. Fuel pumps need to be connected wirelessly to the POS machines, so that the amount shown is always equal to the value of fuel dispensed. Something similar has already been implemented at various retail outlets, where POS machines automatically fetch the amount from the bill generated. As no manual entry is involved, the risk of charging less or more is completely eliminated.Petrol pump transferred the excess amount back via NEFT to Honda Activa ownerCurrent-gen POS machines that display QR code for payment can also be improved by displaying the amount more prominently. As of now, the QR code takes most of the space and the amount is displayed in a corner in small font. If the amount is displayed more clearly, users can immediately spot a wrong entry. More

2023 Honda CBR250RR makes 4 bhp more than the outgoing model which was not launched in India2023 Honda CBR250RRHonda is known for its quality and reliability worldwide. So much so that it has a cult following even here in India. Honda is one of the most valuable motorcycle companies in the world right now when considering sales and production in all global markets combined.In India, Honda is known for scooters with Activa range while Hero MotoCorp still holds the strings in motorcycle department. Honda’s CBR range is generally reserved for sporty faired motorcycles. Of these, the quarter-litre CBR motorcycles offer the right balance of performance and frugality.India got CBR250R back in the day. But right now, fully-faired sporty motorcycles by Honda are a rare breed in India. With CBR650R currently the cheapest offering that costs around Rs. 9.5 lakh (ex-sh). Indonesia gets a revised 2023 Honda CBR250RR which would have been a good seller in India. Let’s take a look.2023 Honda CBR250RRIn Honda’s terminology, more R means sportier and more performance. First unveiled in 2016 in global markets, Honda CBR250RR was well received. Honda is keeping the product fresh by updating it for MY2023. This update not only brings fresher design, but Honda has also fettled with its engines to extract a few more ponies.2023 Honda CBR250RRComing to the looks department first, it is a sharp-looking animal. 2023 Honda CBR250RR gets an all-new fairing which is slightly more aggressive than previous design. Rest of the body panels along with its rear seat cowl are also new. Graphics and colour schemes are new for MY2023 too. LED lighting is standard and turn indicators are housed on top of headlights.In terms of componentry, 2023 CBR250RR now gets front USD forks finished in gold colour. These are Showa SFF-BP (Separate Fork Function – Big Piston), while the rear suspension is taken care of by a mono-shock, mounted on an aluminium swingarm. At 1,385 mm, the wheelbase is now 4mm smaller and allows the bike to tip into corners better.Engine & RivalsComing to its engine, it is a single-cylinder unit that displaces 249.7cc. With a reworked engine head, Honda has managed to crank up the compression ratio slightly. This allows the 2023 Honda CBR250RR to make 42 PS of power at 13,000 RPM and 25 Nm of torque at 11,000 RPM. With the 2020 model, performance figures were 40 PS and 25 Nm.2023 Honda CBR250RROther features include Dual Channel ABS, three riding modes, a quick shifter, slipper clutch, and dual pod exhaust among others. With a 14.5L fuel tank, 2023 Honda CBR250RR weighs 168 kg. This yields good power:weight ratio. Honda offers five colours namely Bravery Red Black, Mystique Blue, Mat Gunpowder Black Metallic, Black Freedom, and Honda Tricolour.Price is not yet revealed by Honda. If launched in India, with this power figure, it will take on KTM RC 390, BMW G 310 RR, Apache RR 310, and the likes. HMSI has not revealed any details about this motorcycle coming to our shores. We are hopeful, regardless. More