Honda finally gives us a motorcycle. Honda have chosen to play it very safe with the unicorn as they did wid da activa and the eterno. So here is my analysis of the HONDA unicorn
Design
The motorcycle is styled to be contemporary and more importantly acceptable to everyone. The former it is, but only just. We are all disappointed that Honda chose to burst on to the Indian scene with a motorcycle that looks as meekly compliant as this.
The fuel tank is inspired by the cbz and the tail light is inspired by the Karizma. The headlight seems to be a morph between the cbz and karizma. But the paint quality is top class. The tail light vibrates a lot while the bike is moving. The meters are average but not at all sporty.
Engine & gearbox 1/2
Where Honda shows its class is in this department. There are no multi spark plugs or such gadgetry, just simple and efficient engineering. The idling note is inaudible and when you hear it sounds like a geared activa. It is a torquey machine with a class busting 1.3 kgm of torque available at a surprisingly low 5500 rpm. This mean she can pull effortlessly in any gear no matter what the speed, as long as it is more than 2000 rpm. The unicorn makes an efficient city cruiser that will surf the traffic without any apparent effort. But if you are in a sporty mood, the unicorn will disappoint you. It does not look and feel fast, mainly due to the soundrack. The gearbox is slick and positive and in a 1 down 4 up pattern.
Performance
The unicorn is just slightly faster than the p150 but the p150 feels a lot quicker due to the masculine soundtrack it possesses. This is a major dampener for the unicorn. The unicorn will hit a true 112 kmph which means a 125 kmph speedo reading. It is a pretty responsive unit which adds refinement to its likeable traits. However, it isn’t completely devoid of vibration.
Mileage
Mileage is pretty satisfactory, but we could have had more. In everyday riding conditions returns 55 kmpl. It is ok, but p150 returns the same mileage wid a wider rear tyre. Even the 180 dtsi returns around 50 kmpl.
Ride and handling 1/2
Now don’t get me wrong, the unicorn could have got a 4 and a ½ stars but for the narrow rear tyre and the wide and high commuter style handlebars which do not completely use the handling capabilities of the machine. The monoshock is of a very basic type. It is marginally better than the pulsar’s gas shox. It has a longer wheelbase than the pulsar which makes it a lil lazy to turn.
Verdict
The unicorn has an unadventurous design, does not offer low handlebars, masculine sound, wider tyre , mag wheels and the great handling of the p150.
But, the unicorn offers a graet engine and gearbob and above all HONDA reliability.
The bottomline is that if you are a student looking for kicks then go in for the p150 and if you are a mature office going man who is looking for a decent 150 cc bike which is not flashy, then you should go in for the unicorn.
P.S.- for those guys who are going to buy these 150 cc bikes, you can also look at the 180 dtsi which is a kick a** bike with just a 5kmpl deficit in fuel efficiency. I don’t know why 95 % of the pulsars sold are 150’s. The 180 is highly underrated. I recommend take its testride and if you like it rest assured you will get 50 kmpl if you do not drive very rash. See ya.