All about Honda Unicorn. Review on Honda Unicorn 150 cc

29000 Kms.....2 years plus and still going strong!! it’s interesting to write how I narrowed down on Honda Unicorn. I test rode the pulsar first (of course 150 cc) and loved its stance, looks little bit, good grunt (firing), braking and overall fit and finish as a first impression. What I didn't like was the engine and the clatter surrounding it because it’s like human who is as strong as his / /her heart and for a bike it’s the engine but then overall I liked the bike. Next I moved to Honda Unicorn for a test ride and I couldn't believe that apple to apple, the engine could be so silent and whispering smooth almost at all speeds I test rode it. I loved the looks as it was a kind of low profile (ironically masses hates it) and the overall simplicity, it had everything and more the pulsar didn't’t have more so the Honda reliability (and it continues no matter what and how many models Baja shells out). So the engine made the difference as for me looks doesn't’t matter which does for more then 80% people called as masses who all may be right though. I have a black unicorn; the old low profiled looks amongst the first lot and is a self start bike.  Hopefully my experience within this 2+ years and 29K Kms may help readers.

Mileage:  Till date I have only used Power of HP. The lowest I got was 44 Kmpl at high speed highway driving (managing to keep needle between 80 to 105 whenever the highway traffic gave opportunity) and the best I got was 62 with speed between 50 to 70 Kmph. I clocked all these several times with specific intention. But most important fact is that I use my bike daily for office commuting doing close to 76 Kms daily and it gives me not less then 50 and not above 55 in any case and condition ditto as per my desire.

Stability: Stability for cornering (ghats included) is excellent and doesn’t gives you goose bump!! High speed stability (100 and above) is also good but at times there are few undulation may be more due to wind, road. These undulations are more pronounced during stopping normally with adequate braking from that high speed.

Acceleration:  As a layman 0 to 60 happens above 6 seconds only. Getting from 60 to 80 is the quickest while the slowest is to touch 3 digits. More then 40% of my driving happens in city traffic and one of the best features of Unicorn is progressive clutch. In a slow moving traffic its a boon where you need not press the clutch lever and play with the accelerator. The bikes slowly creeps forward at super low speeds (as low as 3 to 5 Kmph) without pressing the clutch or opening the throttle and without stalling the bike at that...try it and see for yourself. In any case the bike is designed more for city condition and can pull along powerfully and is quite torquey.

Quality & Miscellaneous: Body Fit and Finish of Unicorn could have been better and this includes the new unicorn also. The Unicorn that I have has rattling headlight cowl which is kept quite by inserting a cloth (used for bike cleaning) between the cowl and speedometer space. The side indicators cant take the Mumbai rains and has dirt and water going inside it no matter what you do. Same is true for tail lamp though not for headlight. Now the worst part….All Unicorn has a problem of rain water / water entering the fuel tank (though Honda claims that its rectified in the new Unicorn).For two consecutive years I have taken out more then 2 liters of water each year myself and mind you the Honda service is of no use here as it doesn’t do this job nicely and water remains. So the only solution to prevent water / rain water is to have a plastic cover, covering the entire tank and this has its disadvantage as the colour bubbles / peels during sunlight. I even tried having an additional gasket but it didn’t have any effect. Mind you, cleaning the tank of all the water is a tedious task and requires minimum 2 hours. If you think pulsar didn’t have this, you are wrong.

The exhaust also is rusted by now and I make it sure that I paint red oxide with matt black after every monsoon. The front brake pads (I use front brake extensively) have been changed once while the rear is still original-intact. Talking of front disc brakes….old Unicorn is defective as to make “Ashok-Leyland” type noise during front braking at speeds below 50 Kmph and this fault couldn’t be rectified by anyone till date. Spark Plug also has been changed once which I did it intentionally after 25K though it was not required. I used Veedol Swift which is blend synthetic oil (mix of mineral and synthetic) and costs around 255 bucks. 10W40 Veedol Swift had advantages that I can recommend you viz. you need not even look at the oil change before 7000 Kms (though I checked it every 3000 Kms for low levels) and shopkeepers will vouch for 9000 kms change. Starting the bike was very easy (both kick and electric start) as compared to normal oil. It would come to life at first or second instance itself.

The gear change was the best part and it was the smoothest that I witnessed during the one year period that I tried Veedol Swift. I changed back to Honda oil as I felt that at higher speed >80 Kmph the bike was bit more noisier.  The headlight is adequate but can be improved which it seems they have done it in new Unicorn. Also talking of new Unicorn, its stability will not be the same like that of old one as its ground clearance and height is slightly higher then the old one there by increasing the centre of gravity which has its effect on stability at certain speeds. I personally feel that the bite of the brakes needs definite improvement as it tends to become spongy after couple of months again and again. Talk of degrading quality you see!!  The most important thing i.e. engine, till date no issues absolutely nothing, no matter what punishment you give it, it takes, you drive it every where and anywhere it does the task. I am sure the quality of engine is so high that I can simply pass this engine to my next generation (of course my next generation should be interested at that point of time!!). Chassis also is good enough and has not rusted till date nor showed any signs of rusting, same it true for almost all components except exhaust and the bolts holding the handlebar.

The worst part of Unicorn (if it can be attributed to Unicorn) is pure lack of service or the intention of it. I am able to maintain my bike because more then 80% of maintenance that is required is done by me including tuning. Service station will be keen to finish your free service and replacement solution will take priority for which you have to pay. If you try to point out any issues or problem during free service, it will be underplayed by service guys or they will mask it in such a way that you will end up paying. Of course there are quite a few individual who will not take that for granted and the result is heated verbal debates which is frequent in all Honda Service centre. So zero marks for service and if at all Honda has to sustain the quality of vehicles and the customer following, this is one area they should focus…or else they had it!! At the end I feel that new Unicorn is a good improvement but the increase in price is unacceptable at that!! or is it because Pulsar has more then that offered by New Unciron at a lesser price makes me make that statement! :-)