Honda Unicorn – Decent Bike With Superb Mileage

Honda Motor Company Limited, founded by Sir Soichiro Honda, is a much loved and branded Japanese multinational corporation manufacturing automobiles, including motorcycles. The Honda brand is high on brand recall, product reliability and general refinement of their vehicles. All these attributes are ones that would go down well in a market like India. Over time, Honda bikes have come across as truly passenger friendly, guaranteeing safety, economy, durability, comfort and style.

The CBUnicorn is a bike from the Honda Company that defines all the above attributes perfectly. In 2005, Honda’s Research and Development team in Japan designed and developed a new engine internally called the CBF 150M. They brought out several bikesbased on this engine and the Unicorn was foremost amongst them. The letters CB denotes the engine name and it is prefixed to all models using this novel engine. Sportier versions of the Unicorn have come out since 2005, but the basic technology has remained more or less the same till date.

Honda Unicorn, more commonly known as CB Unicorn, is powered by a smart 149. 1 cc SOHC, air cooled, four stroke engine which has swirl induction for better performance. This engine yields a peak power of 13. 48 bhp at 8000 rpm and a peak torque of 12. 8 Nm at 5500 rpm. It is mated to a five speed smooth constant mesh gearbox. The bike has a top speed of 114 kilometres per hour and has an acceleration of 0 to 60 kilometres per hour in just 5 seconds. It yields a genuine mileage of 50 to 55 kilometres per litre, though the company claims a mileage of 60 kilometres per litre. The fuel tank has a maximum capacity of 13 litres.

It has a distinctive sporty and macho design with a masculine front and fuel tank with knee grip. Other special features on the CB Unicorn include a front disc brake, mono shock rear suspension, digital speedometer with analogue tachometer, button star alloy wheels and a digital fuel gauge. The mono shock rear suspension ensures a smooth ride on all types of roads. The seat is positioned in such a way that the rider feels rather relaxed. There is improved ride and handling too. However, the absence of a digital console can be said as a drawback in the Unicorn.

A standard Unicorn is available from Rs. 63000 in the market. The cost may vary according to additional features provided. It is available in shades of Pearl Igneous Black, Space Silver Metallic and Pearl Siena Red. Honda CB Unicorn competes fairly well over other popular ones in the Indian bike market like the Bajaj Pulsar 150, Hero Hunk, Yamaha SZ-S and the TVS Apache.