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It’s
here! India’s most important
motorcycle launch this year has
landed. How serious Honda Motorcycle
and Scooters India (HMSI) designs
in India are, can be judged by their
ambitions to amplify total two-wheeler
production from a current 5,00,000
units to 1.2 million by 2006-07.
We were privileged to receive no
less than bike number one to leave
the factory gates, and here’s
the very first comprehensive and
complete road test of the 150cc
Unicorn. : |
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Sporty and conventional are two words that
best describe the Unicorn and we like its
simple and well-poised looks. The bike comes
in fantastic quality red, black, grey, blue
and Silver paints. Fit and finish for this
Honda are as good as they get and levers
and grips are both top-drawer. Mirrors are
units previewed on many Hero Honda bikes,
like switchgear—which could get better—provides
a choke lever and pass flasher, though lacks
a parking light frill. The clear lens halogen
fitted MFR headlight appears related to
the Karizma, and works perfectly. The Unicorn
three-pod dials win our vote for best set
of motorcycle dials in India. A massive
speedometer is at center, then there’s
a sporty tachometer on the left, while the
only blemish is the lack of a trip gauge.
The squat fuel tank feels meaty and looks
smartly angular with a rounded chrome cap
stripped from the CBZ bin. Its one of the
few bikes in the country with knee recesses
to fit all leg shapes. The lockable seat
believes in broad is beautiful, and offers
super density with adequate length for riders
as well as the occasional oversize two up
load. Interestingly, aluminium sub frames
for footrests are painstakingly buffed to
a satin finish and look a cut above the
regular painted surface seen on most bikes.
The silencer adds further glint value to
the Unicorn, with its large chrome shroud.
HMSI offers this bike in one guise with
no drum brake option.
The Unicorn has been gifted an engine developed
specially for Indian conditions by Honda.
The Unicorn engine is straightforward and
delivers on all counts. This jewel of a
motor is silken, purring to life with a
light kick. Displacing 149.1cc its four-stroke
unit offers a max output of 13.3bhp at 8000rpm.
The exhaust note is soft and drowning in
traffic one will not hear the machine at
all, though throttle winding leads to a
pleasing and throaty intake note. A paper
air filter element purifies air, while the
Unicorn uses a Keihin CV carburettor and
among other benefits enjoys the smoothness
of power delivery this vacuum lifted slide
unit affords. A 2-way air-jacket for the
air-cooled engine creates dual air streams
creating better cooling properties around
the head. As a result, performance loss
is avoided in high heat conditions often
faced on our roads. Ignition timing also,
is set in order to maintain efficient combustion
through all conditions. Throttle position
influences this and multi mapping via the
digital route takes care of the spark. This
Honda’s combustion chamber is amongst
other things designed for good tumble character—vertical
turbulence for good mixture flow and filling
into the combustion chamber from where horizontal
swirl takes over. Rolling rocker arm pads
for friction cutting are present on the
Unicorn, as on most new Indian bikes. The
motor offers an India unique feature through
its offset crankshaft for reducing friction
losses. Air injection is deployed for its
exhaust port, as is a honeycomb catalytic
converter. The big blot is our sorely missing
a self-starter on the Unicorn. Keep in mind
that’s only for the moment though,
as HMSI assure us this will be available
within no more than a few months. The joy
of this engine is its capability to respond
with unquestioned results when the throttle
asks for them. No matter which gear and
however dismal the situation, its always
got reserves of cracking response. To get
this motor to hiccup would be tougher than
to get Bush and Bin Laden on the same dinner
table. The clutch pull is perfect, and gearshifts
via the heel and toe one-down and four-up
pattern slot in with perfection. At 100kph
our satellite linked equipment told us true
speed was a far more sedate 88kph. The Unicorn
uses a lightened, yet tough diamond type
frame setup tailored to suit the variable
loads and roads of the country. This Honda
bolts its engine on as a stressed member,
while the frame is designed to complement
its mono suspension. The Unicorn becomes
the sole motorcycle currently plying India
to sport mono-shock suspension. Two shock
absorbers react differently due to it being
near impossible to build mirror character
into each side and using one damper eliminates
any of this dual confrontation by default.
Vital is the capability of a single shocker
to ensure better centralization of mass,
the unit being positioned close to the center
of gravity of the machine. The Unicorn riding
position feels slightly sporty and has yet
been tuned to be comforting on city capers.
Ride itself is firm and a touch on the sporty
side. The bike gives a rock stable and planted
feedback to riders in any variety of situations
and rides on quality MRF rubber, the rear
being puncture resistant. Surprisingly,
it’s a bike that feels as much at
home ripping the breeze on open stretches,
as puttering around town at creepy crawly
velocity. Cornering we discovered is real
fun. Feel through the brake lever is progressive,
though nowhere as sharp as on its direct
rival, Bajaj’s Pulsar 150 DTS-i. The
Unicorn’s good fuel efficiency is
achieved by applying high quality engineering
and materials in its construction, akin
to a tasty dish always being prepared with
fine ingredients. The Unicorn in its brief
session with us delivered 50.69kpl in the
city and that figure went up to 53.11kpl
while out stretching its legs on the highway.
Pretty much at par with its competition.
The Unicorn is groomed to look spot on for
its course. It also has an amazing and critically
frugal engine. We can’t stop waxing
about that unique monoshock unit taking
ride and handling a big step over lunarscape
for ‘Indiankind.’ HMSI has been
wise in pricing the bike. It would have
been heart rending to see such a tidy machine
suffer with the paisa pinching Indian buyer
shunning it when asked a premium for their
wings. With this impression over, it doesn’t
need much of a Nostradamus re-incarnation
to predict that the Unicorn does seem to
have the makings of a mighty good seller |
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