Triggering your Passion. Review on Hero Honda Passion

I remember one of my friends saying to me proudly that he saw the looks of a tiger in his“Hero Honda Passion“ that was standing stylishly with its side stand on. Well that was Sriram (sri5) for you, one of the many proud owners of this sexy little creation from the leaders in Indian bikes, Hero Honda. It would be a great pleasure and honour to review this bike and add more of my personal opinions on it.

The bike is superbly designed and really invoked feelings of awe in me. It just oozes style immensely. At the heart of the entire styling is that headlamp unit. Believe me!! I suggest people to buy this vehicle just for the headlamp unit. Sounds stupid, but such is its impressive nature. The bike is muscularly built and has a very good height. The tail lamp is equally attractive and the rail ‘n’ mini carrier adds to that bit of utility. What I really disliked was the seat. Being as hard as a plank of wood, it is sure to leave you with a sore butt. So watch out!! As of colours, I love the“Blue Passion”. But those people who love black or the slapstickish red have their options to device.

Definitely the bike is commendably strong with double downtube chassis and….. Hey wait!! To be honest there is not much difference between its older brother, Splendor. So as in Splendor, the suspension is really great. But the riding comfort maybe described as good, not excellent. Simply for the fact that the breaking looks rather fragile. One thing is sure. After all better brakes could spell the difference between going home to see mummy or going up to see your forefathers.

In my opinion, and in many others too, there is not much difference between the Splendor and Passion. The entire engine block of Splendor has been lifted out and plonked into this bike. So the pickup is really the same. A 99 cc engine can only trigger your passion for a sedate ride and not for that needed punch. I felt the vehicle is a bit too heavy and this really decreases the riding comfort. To an extent, I would prefer my splendor to this on this count.

Going on a leisurely beat, will certainly boost your love for Passion. Around the city, the vehicle is in its elements. But once you are set for a long ride, the vehicle under-performs. Sriram and me set off for a ride to a place some 30-35 kms from our place. By the time we came back, we could feel our vehicle (his rather) puffing. But then, hard tussles and squirms around the city are easily handled by this vehicle.

Mileage. This is one thing that an average Indian rider expects from a vehicle normally, more than anything else. In his opinion a good bike is one, which is both reliable and fuel-efficient. Unlike its older brother, Splendor ( the middle-class people’s saviour), Passion turns down all expectations. Ask Sriram (sri5) for reference and he’ll tell you about his petro-book. The best mileage he recorded was 63 kmpl. An average of 55 kmpl is not good compared to Splendor’s 70 kmpl. Hey….before you jump into conclusions, bear in mind that the Passion weighs 16 kg more than the splendor and this puts a dampener on the fuel consumption.

So, this bike impressed me with those stylish looks, strength, suspensions, handling ease and reliability, but lamely disappointed me with those hard seats ( Oooh! My butts), weaker brakes (disk brakes are a must) and rather lousy fuel efficiency. Someone who is looking for a sexy bike, does not have enough dough, wants performance of the Hero Honda fame can certainly go for Passion. A 4-stroker with 7.4 bhp doesn’t provide that kick, but makes a real mark with the looks. Afterall, people fall for looks isn’t it?

Triggering one and all’s passion with its styling, the Hero Honda Passion is certainly on course of a best-seller in many a people’s opinion. If you take my consent then you can certainly go for it. Sorry, not “can”, make it “should”. That is because it has many an ace up its sleeve and very few disappointments. These are my personal opinions and if any one of you have to say something then you are most welcome in the comments section. Thanks for reading.