Sep 04, 2016 02:19 PM
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The Honda Unicorn is a motorcycle developed by Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India(HMSI) and introduced in 2005. The motorcycle was built and designed by the Honda R&D team based in Osaka, Japan. It was internally called the CBF150M. The engine was taken from CRF150F post 2005 engine. The previous version of CRF150F was the old CBZ classic. The design of the bike was done keeping in mind Indian road conditions. Many new features were incorporated, including a two-way air jacket and a diamond frame. The first version of the bike featured spoke wheels and kick start with an optional self-starter.
Honda claimed the Unicorn accelerated from 0 to 60 km/h(0 to 37 mph) in 5 seconds. India Business Insight reported acceleration of 0 to 60 km/h(0 to 37 mph) in 5.28–5.86 seconds, and a top speed of 114 km/h(71 mph).
Honda released this motorcycle to compete with the Bajaj Pulsar and the TVS Apache. Changes included alloy wheels, powder coated engine with a polished head, electric starter, new graphics, clear lens indicator lamps, a trip meter, and a slightly smaller rear grab rail. Few performance changes included minor changes in the cylinder head, overhead valve, ignition remap and a rear sprocket increase of one tooth, which resulted in increased acceleration at the expense of reduced top speed.The airfilter was changed from a dry paper to oil coated to better suit dusty conditions and a new airflow screw in carburetor. A limited Moto GP "Unicorn Grand Prix" edition had the guise of a Repsol Honda RC211V. HMSI sold 720, 000 Unicorns in 2007. The Unicorn overtook the Bajaj Pulsar to rank highest in its category, the premium segment, in the 2005 Motorcycle Total Customer Satisfaction(MTCS) survey of 7, 000 customers conducted by the TNS specialist division, TNS Automotive.
