This review will help you know some facts about the most talked bike. I haven’t compared it with any other bike.
I got my bike after 2 months of booking period. I had to go for Self-Start version which was available now. Why kick your bike if you love it??
My bike is 3 months old and has done about 4000 kms. I am done with my bike’s Second Service. It’s giving 60 km/litre (Almost 50+ km are covered daily in city conditions). I have requested the Mechanics not to alter any settings during Service of my bike.
Now about it’s positive and negative points:
PLUS POINTS
1-TACHOMETER
2-FUEL GUAGE
3-TURNING, HIGH BEAM & NEUTRAL INDICATION
4-FIVE GEARS
5-FRONT DISK BRAKE
6-VERY GOOD PICK UP
7-VERY STABLE IN BALANCE.
8-PUNCTURE RESISTANT REAR TYRE
9-BIKE CAN BE STARTED IN ANY GEAR, BY PRESSING THE CLUTCH
10-MONO SUSPENSION
MINUS POINTS
1-While driving, the Tail Light Assembly keeps shaking for some reason. Also heard from HONDA Mechanics that there’s vibration in Headlight Section too. It can be corrected at Service Centre.
2-The seat doesn’t fits nicely onto the body. You can shake it with your hand after locking it. There is no space at all to hold smallest of an item under the seat.
3-Toolkit compartment is too small and badly designed to hold both Toolkit & First-Aid Kit.
4-Petrol Tank lid is awful in it’s looks, although it does close down with ease.
5-There is problem of Disc Noise in some bikes. Even my bike has this problem from Day 1.
6-There are bad cases of Cold Start also.
7-No Standard Maintained in providing accessories. It’s all local with raised price tag.
8-The staff is like ’’tortoise’’ working at ’’rabbit’s’’ showroom. They care a damn about your time even at delivery. They asked me to collect my invoice, manual & rc slip three days later. Finally, I got all these things 10 days later. I got my Insurance Policy after 4 months after several reminders.
9-Same with Service Centre. Average Service Time is 3-4 hrs or you have to collect your vehicle the next day. There is no system even to address minor faults. You have to WAIT for hours. It’s like a Govt. Organisation. You can even bribe the Mechanics to get you work done early. There is no system to address complaints about Service, if any. You are at the mercy of Service Centre Head, who of course is just like a Chief Minister. If he doesn’t listen, you have no where to go. You can only complain at Head Office, Gurgaon Address, the only option available.
- There is NO FEEDBACK at any stage of buying or servicing the bike. They don’t need it, for some reasons.
ACCESSORIES: You can buy all or some of these accessories for your bike. (Buy from open market, it’s cheap & got more variety)
1-Leg Guard
2-Helmet Lock
3-Seat Cover
4-Body Cover
5-Dicky
6-Polish
AVOIDABLE ACCESSORIES:
1-Wheel Lock
2-Central Locking
3-Seat Net
4-Indicator Buzzer etc.
SOME OTHER POINTS
MANUAL: The manual is printed in both Hindi & English. Things are explained quite nicely. As I have written in my other reviews, that the illustrations have to be in colour as it makes a lot of difference. There is no info. about Tachometer usage. The only thing written about Tacho is to set Idling Speed at 1400 RPM. I expect correct RPM speed for perfect Gear Shift to be mentioned. Even ’’Min-Max’’ speed to operate in different gears is not mentioned which is found in every vehicle’s manual. You are told by Sales Person at the time of purchase, to drive at 45-50 speed during first 1000 km, which is also not at all mentioned in the Manual.
TOOLKIT: Sufficient tools are provided for emergency. The quality of tools look good. Although Toolbag is made up of plastic which will be easily torn apart when you try to sneak it into minuscule compartment under the seat.
For some, the bike is too heavy to engage on its centre stand. Side stand is easily operatable.
HONDA Emblem and the word HONDA is all done by stickering. Well, what about painting or embossing these things??
Website Link’s are provided for various sections such as service, comments, complaints etc. & guess what, you won’t get a damn reply regarding anything. WYSINWYG (What you see is not what you get). There is no information to address grievance’s to HONDA (Japan) if unsatisfactory action is taken in India.
https://honda2wheelersindia.com/contactus/default.asp
I was told that when HONDA guys visit India to check things, Service Centre’s are thoroughly cleaned and your vehicle is attended to very well. Everything goes fine in short ...... for one day, of course.
Guys maintaining that it’s a perfect bike may be die hard HONDA fans. They only care about HONDA Logo.
I have read many reviews saying that HONDA means perfect. I don’t think so after buying Unicorn.
My advice is that if you can cooly cope up with very very poor service of HONDA, then you must go for this bike and hope that it’s Service will improve one day. God knows what happens if HONDA pops up another bike (125cc) as planned by them in near future??
I am not disappointed with this bike but it’s Service is a big headache.
Hopefully, situation may not be as bad as this in other states, it is not good in New Delhi.
HONDA Unicorn: FLY ON YOUR OWN
AFTER 10 MONTHS OF DRIVING
There are some minor problems such as disk brake noise, self-start switch has become stiff to operate, some parts have rusted after rains, cold start problem etc. but it continues to give 60 km / litre since I haven’t allowed the mechanics to change the original settings.
The biggest problem of all is that minor faults are not addressed to, despite numerous requests, and the service remains VERY VERY POOR. Average service time is 4-5 hours, would you believe it?? They need more service stations or better service mechanics. May be Gurgaon Police can help!!
I have seen new Unicorn with Graphics. The Graphics are okay, but I am not impressed with colour combinations used in the graphics. Also it’s a person to person choice so you may like it. I have also heard that the seat shake has been fixed in new model.