Not happy with NewUnicorn.HETengines are defective. Review on Honda CB Unicorn 160 Standard

Hello friends,

I am writing this review after 1 month of use and 1 service of CB Unicorn 160.

I bought this bike on 30th April 2015 from Fortune Honda, Raniganj, Secunderabad / Hyderabad. I did long research on bikes visited to almost all brand agencies tested few newly introduced and popular bikes in 125 / 150 cc segment . Every bike has its advantages and drawbacks over others so it was quite confusing.

A middle-class 30-35 age group person would always prefer bike which is not so pricey, gives good mileage, gives comfortable ride in short and long distances, should have good pickup with reliable engine which needs less and cost effective maintenance with a blend of good and attractive looks. I also carried same expectation and searched for bike which more or less meets all these features. After looking at few bikes I decided to go for  new Unicorn after taking its test ride, reading reviews and watching its videos on YouTube, I found it somewhat better than other bikes considering Honda's lineage of producing high performance engines, In test drive I found it very smooth with good power and pickup although the test drive was very short to judge a bike. I spent Rs.88700 which is quite pricey .

So far my experience with this bike is not so satisfying, I got 45 KMPL approx. mileage before service, Pickup and engine sound is good and smooth during morning hours but reality of engine comes out when it has run for 10-12 kms and heated, performance of engine drastically reduces, pickup goes down as if you are riding 100 or 125 CC old bike. Engines starts sounding differently as if it dying to take breath and if you are riding with pillion then story is more worse. I get so irritated and anxious due to this that I feel cheated by Honda, spent hard earned long saved money and this is the product I have received.

To add more additions to worries when I explained my issues to the service center of Fortune Honda, S P Road, Secunderabad at the time of my first service, they replied that they are also not much aware about the performance of the new HET( Honda Eco Technology) engine and they would not be able to do anything in this other than washing the bike and changing the engine oil, that too they did not do properly, nonetheless Honda Service is known to be worst among all. Service center mAnasultanger told me that " It seems you have got defective piece of engine and out of 100, 2 - 3 engines becomes defective and its you bad luck that you own it now, if this is true then WHAT A SHAME ON HONDA, they don't have quality standards and checks before dispatching bikes from their plant.

I came back from service center with empty face and half washed bike because they did not  even washed it properly, spilled engine oil over entire engine without taking effort to clean.

As of date when I writing this review I have run my bike for 831 kms. . After service mileage increased to 48 KMPL. but no improvement in other areas, engine still gets overheated and starts sounding different and pickup is still low like 100 CC bike.

Good pointers in CB Unicorn 160:

• Mileage: its better from others among this segment.

  
  




• Ride position & comfort.

  
  




• Stability and grip on the road.

  
  

Bad pointers in CB Unicorn 160:

• Highly priced.

  
  




• Inferior quality plastic used in both sides body panel, if you don't take extra care while removing it, it will break for sure . I met one gentleman who owns this bike and had broken its panel while opening and it costed him 3400/- to get another set of worst plastic panel from Honda.

  
  

  Switch gear: They have given this from medieval age, its totally shoddy and there is no engine kill switch, even TVS Champ / Luna type bike has better switch gear . Its really an injustice with the high price a customer aishwaryasingh23s to get such an old below quality switches. I am very sad.

• Ground clearance: We live and ride bike in India where roads are made for bumpy rides full of naturally created speed breakers, I suspect if I dash my engine to some generous pit or speed breaker and wash my hands from it . Ground clearance is in such a bad case with this bike.

  
  




• No gear indicator or side stand indicator: again injustice with the price paid by customer.

  
  




• Balancer in handle bars: Its just a piece of plastic which is pushed in the handle bar from both sides which comes out very easily unlike Pulsar and other bikes where these are made up of iron ans fitted with screw.I did not find its relevance in this bike so far . service center guy called it as balancer, I don't know how what and where it balances? they also don't have answer to this.

  
  

Overall its an individual's choice to choose best product from market in Bike segment. Every bike has their own shortcomings and advantages. Please make your judgement with your wisdom .

Engine issue which I have mentioned here could be mine only and I could be few of unlucky guys to get defective piece of engine. please do proper research and I would suggest to wait for few more months to see true color of Unicorn 160 then you may pick it without any guilt. However I will never recommend this to anybody.

If my issue falls on Honda's ear please write me to resolve my issue, my email Id: deepakajay1@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading.