Coming from the stable of Munjal’s Hero Honda Motors, Hero Honda Splendor is one of their all time successes. Infact, Splendor is the world’s largest selling motorcycle. The deadly combination of style and economy makes Splendor a worthy bike to own. ‘Desh Ki Dhadkan’(or ‘heartbeat of the nation’) is the right market recognition for the most successful bike.
Infact, the success of Splendor has propelled Hero Honda as the largest two-wheeler company in the world. [This achievement was celebrated by offering a Rs 1000 discount on all Hero Honda vehicles for some period]. Hero Honda now enjoys almost 50% of market share of motorcycles and around 35% in two wheelers in India.
Launched in 1995, Splendor was one of their tearaway successes after CD 100. The most attractive and striking feature of the vehicle was its design. The kind of designs of motorcycles that were available till then left a lot to be desired (except Hero Honda’s Sleek; which was truly ‘sleek’ but looked more like a racing vehicle). Splendor also came with lesser metal parts than its contemporaries did, which enables it to gain faster acceleration.
I had a Kawasaki 4S till then, which I had been using for nearly two years. I wanted to change to a new vehicle, because I had already met with two accidents in 4S and it had severe damages like bent petrol tank, broken crash guard, etc which could not be repaired unless I spent a lot of money. Hence I decided to change the vehicle and Splendor was an easy and obvious choice. I sold the idea to my parents with little difficulty [this was a lot easier than the earlier motion proposed to buy the 4S].
Then I faced the not-so-envious proposition of choosing the colour. Splendor then came in black, grey and red (I believe it also comes in silver and blue now). My dad wanted black, my mom grey. No marks for guessing this, I wanted red. Red, my parents said, is the colour of danger and also of blood and hence not auspicious for a vehicle. My dad had got feedbacks that red colour could fade. But red is what I wanted and what I got. My dad gifted me a red helmet for my next birthday to go with my motorcycle. I doubt it made me look like the Little Red Riding Hood? Who cares?
So by 1995 end, I became the proud owner of a brand new red Splendor (after waiting for three months for delivery as it was heavily overbooked). The price then was around Rs 40,000 (I believe it costs around Rs 45,000 now), which was the costliest at that time.
Why did I love my Splendor? For starters, mileage, mileage, and more mileage. [Remember “Fill it, Shut it, Forget it”. It was literally the case with me]. Infact all Hero Honda vehicles give great mileage (which incidentally is the right philosophy in the price-sensitive Indian markets). My Splendor gave me close to 85 kmpl and that is almost 15-20 kms more than most other Splendors.
Splendor has such deadly looks that even the guy with the prettiest girl in town used to look at me riding my vehicle with envy. Infact it gave me the required visibility in town that I did not have without this vehicle [maybe I looked like a fool riding like crazy in a latest red motorcycle wearing a red helmet; but again, who cares].
Splendor was also the best four stroke motorcycle around at that time. It also fulfilled some Euro Emission Standards, which were proposed to be implemented around 2000 and was consequently ahead of its competitors like Yamaha, who came out with models in 1996, which strangely (or funnily) did not meet the emission standards proposed to be implemented in 2000.
It was totally maintenance free till the day I sold the vehicle. Apart from regular services, oil changes and occasional seat cover or mirror changes, the vehicle never had any problems. I still remember when I went to the spare parts counter and said “I would like to get new mirrors for my Splendor”, the salesman thought for a couple of seconds and replied “Well, I think that’s a fair deal”. (crude attempt at humour)
The pick up was also better than my earlier motorcycle. But then as I used to ride long distances and rides within the city were very less (nothing compared to Mumbai standards), it was particularly not a hassle. However, If I told you that riding the Splendor on Indian roads was like riding through the clouds (like their ads claimed), you would think I am insane. But It did offer smooth ride over any terrain, which I think, is due to the change in the style of suspension and frame design [don’t ask me anything more, I wouldn’t know].
There were also other small things that I liked in my Splendor – the sound which was the closest to Bullet (atleast till then), its height (it was taller than most other bikes at that time including my previous bike), the petrol level gauge (may look silly, but it was not available in other bikes at that time and I found it useful), the hood around the headlight which was also a new style. The excellent dealer network is also another factor to buy a Hero Honda vehicle. [As a passing thought, let me mention here that I find Hero Honda very similar to Maruti in many respects]
The colour of my vehicle also never faded, as was alleged of it. I know of some of my dad’s friends who had this problem on their Red Splendor. Infact, it was primarily due to this fact that Black Splendor started selling more than Red ones. But my vehicle stood by my decision [Salil’s take : Decisions taken with conviction rarely goes wrong].
Can I share a small secret about Splendor with you? Can I have your word that you will not put it up in a product review on any consumer site? Ok, it is about Splendor’s seat (I don’t know about the present models, but was so in Splendor and Sleek among the old models). The seat slopes towards the front. Even a small brake would bring the pillion rider sliding towards the driver. Now I don’t have to tell what would happen if you have the female of the species at the back. [Now don’t you all go asking me whether I took advantage of this. No, I am not going to tell you.]
Now that I have told you that I loved my Splendor in the most roundabout way possible, lets try and see if there were any reasons why I could have hated it. Hmm.. frankly speaking, nothing comes to my mind. Maybe, the lack of tearaway pick-up was something desired for (only felt during overtaking and taking off from signals). But then Splendor was better than 4S and pick-up was never important to me as already mentioned above.
Another major grievance I had was on the colours in which Splendor came. Now I believe they come in dark blue also, but the colour I would ideally have liked to own was dark maroon. Even now a Dark Maroon Splendor is not available. Mr Munjal, ARE YOU LISTENING?
I used my Splendor for more than six years with absolutely no trouble whatsoever. It had spent two and a half years of its life (out of the above six) in Tamil Nadu also. Hence it spoke both Malayalam and Tamil :-) But before coming to Mumbai, knowing that I cannot use it for commuting, I was forced to sell the vehicle. :-(
Well my dear friends, that in short details my love story with Splendor, which went on for more than six years, till this cruel and mean city called Mumbai broke us apart. :-(
[sob sob..….breaks down crying….]
