CB TRIGGER UNLEASHED!!!!!!!!
Hey guys, this is my second review on mouthshut.com. First and foremost I would like to thank the site moderators for awarding me ROTD on my review on the cb unicorn. The reviews I went through on this site helped me choose my bike, so thank you once again…..
Ever since Honda announced that they were planning to replace the dazzler, I had been waiting impatiently and so was my cousin who was planning to buy a unicorn since I had one and mine was performing as good as new after 1 year and 11000kms . Finally the cb trigger went on sale so off we went for a test ride. He fell in love with it and got the red cb trigger STD, which is the base model, delivered in two days.(kicking myself for not being patient and getting the unicorn last august). After using the bike for the past few weeks and 1250km we have the following opinion on the cb trigger.
Looks- the cb trigger looks a lot more sophisticated than the unicorn. The beefy 12l tank resembles FZ tank. The fuel tank with air intakes on either side gives the bike a muscular look and is definitely better than the fins that were present on the unicorn dazzler. The headlights also look great and look similar to that of cbr1000rr.The trigger is a real head turner. The bike looks sleek when viewed from the side. The exhaust is huge and kind of spoils the design aesthetics( my personal opinion). Short , stubby exhausts are a lot sportier and could have given the bike a streetfighter look like that of the FZ. The lcd unit is great but a bit small. Led tail lamps is a welcome addition. First Indian made Honda vehicle to feature led tail lamps. Headlights are still 35/35w which is still connected to the engine. Could have given us DC setup. Only pearl red, metallic green(yuck!!) and black. Why no silver and blue??
Engine and performance-
The trigger uses the same 150 cc engine that is used on the unicorn, and is very smooth.
It is tuned to produce around 14bhp as compared to the 13.3bhp on the unicorn. Torque is almost identical. The 5 speed gear is very smooth and is easy to use in our crowded cities. I still feel that Honda could have given the trigger a bit more power as it still feels underpowered. It lacks grunt when compared to pulsar or FZ. Also I personally feel that HMSI could have made the bike sound a bit more powerful since they are aiming for the age group of 18-25. The silencer is too good and we can hardly hear the engine. A bike should sound like it has power. I mean just listen to the apache. We know its powerful just by listening to the exhaust sound. Keep this in mind HONDA. There is very little engine vibration , until you take it past 85 or about 7k RPM. Even after that, the vibrations are not too much. Top speed we have gone till now is 92km solo and around 80 with pillion. Will max it after second service. Some people are telling 120kmph is top speed but I find that hard to believe without the presence of a 6th gear. The acceleration is almost as same as that of the unicorn dazzler and the bike does not struggle even with pillion.
- Features-
Trigger has a very stylish looking orange LCD display that shows RPM, SPEED, fuel, trip and odo meter. They could have made it a bit larger though. Kick start, full gear lever and full chain cover is also present. The only thing I found lacking was the quality of the plastics used for the switches. I found the same problem with my unicorn. The switches are made of cheap plastic and bring down the overall build quality. Why Honda is trying to cut corners in such a manner is beyond me. Another feature missing on the trigger is the engine kill switch. Even though its not necessary , A big red button on the handlebar , that looks like it will make your bike go at a million miles per hour is always good!!
- Mileage-
My cousin was getting around 50 in city before 1st service and after that it has increased to about 53kmpl . Yet to test the mileage on long highway run. Some of the other customers we saw during the 1st service were getting around only 45kmpl so I am not exactly sure now. Probably will be close to the 60kmpl as was promised by Honda.
- Ride and handling-
The ride quality is very good and handling is also great. It has a smaller wheelbase compared to the unicorn. It has the same monoshock found on the uni. Handling is very good and it weighs around 9 kg lighter than the unicorn which makes it a lot easier to control in heavy traffic. The unicorn at 147kg is a heavy bike. The trigger is Good on curves but could have been better if it had wider handle bars like fz. The seating stance could also have been a bit sportier.
Honda is offering dual disc for 3000 more and dual disc with combi brake system on the top end model which costs 9000 more than the std version. I don’t think that price is justified and I don’t think many people will buy the top end model. The base model cost 79k on road and the top end model will cost close to 90k onroad. The brakes on the std version are good and I personally believe the combi brake system at 9k extra was unnecessary and Honda could have atleast given us an option of a more bigger and more powerful engine at that cost, maybe a 180 or 200cc trigger. Honda is getting too greedy these days. They charged us extra for the numberplates!!!! What the hell. shouldn’t that be standard equipment?? If things keep going like this, Honda will start charging extra for headlights in the near future. I am concluding my review here. Honda have made a step in the right direction, but I personally feel they could have done a lot more in terms of styling and price. Opt for the trigger if you want the refinement and awesome mileage of the unicorn bundled with some extra goodies like better styling, lcd display and led taillamps. It is a very good bike but still a step behind its rivals the pulsar and the Fz. It seems a mystery why Honda are not marketing it aggressively. No TV commercials yet .No teaser. Nothing. Honda are a bit arrogant and think they don’t need to market their bikes more aggressively like its rivals. Pulsar, apache RTR, fz were all introduced to much anticipation. A lot of people don’t even know about the cb trigger. well anyway Good luck guys. Hope I helped you make your decision. Safe biking