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Honda H’ness CB350: What makes this bike a talk of the town in Nepal even before its launch

Photo: Honda

Honda H’ness is the latest two-wheeler from Honda, which is probably the number-one two-wheeler brand in Nepal. It has been more than 50 years since Honda started its journey in Nepal. Coming to this day, it has the largest segments of two-wheelers in the country.

Honda has different categories of two-wheelers such as commuters, scooters, naked sports, trail, super sports, endure, motard and cruiser.

Honda releases varieties of bikes every year in the market. This year too, it has brought two cruiser bikes to Nepal. Honda H’ness CB350 is one of the two. Before being launched officially, it has already grabbed the attention of the people here.

Let’s get into the details of the bike.

Specifications

EngineOHC single-cylinder, air-cooled, four-stroke
DimensionsLength: 2163mm
Width: 800mm
Height: 1107mm
Wheelbase: 1441mm
Ground clearance: 166mm
Displacement348.36cc
Starting mechanismSelf-starter
Max power15.5 kW@ 5500rpm
Max torque30 Nm @ 6000rpm
Stroke90.5mm
Bore70mm
GearboxFive-speed
Top speed100 kmph
Fuel tank capacity15 litres
Mileage35-40 kmpl
TyreFront: 100/90-19M/C 57H Disc
Rear: 130/70-18M/C 63H Disc
SuspensionFront: Telescopic
Rear: Twin-hydraulic
Kerb weight181 kg

Design

Honda H’ness CB350 comes with a touch of both vintage and modern looks. Flaunting a retro genre styling, it gets its looks from the clean and simple designs of old Honda CB motorcycles. Along with the retro charm, it has a round LED headlamp, a curvy 15-litre fuel tank and the classic chrome fenders giving it a classy old Honda looks whereas, on the other hand, the Y-spoke alloy wheels and semi-digital instrument panel gives that modern touch on the design of the bike. Adding some more modern touches on Honda H’ness CB350 are Bluetooth connectivity, traction control, dual-channel ABS, and a slipper clutch.

The bike uses a half-duplex cradle frame whereas there is a telescopic suspension at the front and twin-hydraulic suspension at the rear end. The bike weighs around 181 kg, which is lighter than its competitive Royal Enfield Classic 350. Also, it has a ground clearance of 166mm, which is probably the best in this class.

Performance

Photo: Honda

Honda H’ness CB350 is powered by a powerful 348.36-cc air-cooled, four-stroke, OHC, BS6 single-cylinder engine, and the company claims the engine provides smooth acceleration without vibration across the rpm band.

Paired with a five-speed gearbox, the newly developed engine generates a maximum power of 15.5kW @5500rpm whereas it reaches a max torque of 30Nm@3000rpm. With these power figures, the cruising should be effortless. Also, Honda claims to have taken care of the vibrations produced by the engine by employing balancer shafts. 

Photo: Honda

There are some of the segment’s first features in Honda H’ness CB350. This includes an assist slip clutch, LED lights and a side stand indicator with engine cut-off. The feature that stands out the most in the H’ness CB 350 is the Honda selectable torque control (HSTC).

HSTC is a first-in-segment torque control system that detects the difference between front and rear wheel speeds, calculates the slip ratio and adjusts engine torque via fuel injection. It can be turned on or off using a switch on the left side of the metre.

Overall, some of the noticeable features of Honda H’ness CB 350 are:

  • Powerful BS6 engine
  • Full LED headlamp and tail lamp with fire ring
  • Dual channel ABS
  • Assist and slipper clutch
  • Main shaft coaxial balancer
  • Honda selectable torque control (HSTC)
  • Hazard switch
  • Side stand with engine inhibitor
  • Gear position indicator
  • Battery voltage metre

Honda H’ness CB350 has been opened for booking and will cost Rs 750,000 and the company is offering a cashback offer of Rs. 25,000 on the purchase.

Verdict

Photo: Honda

The H’ness CB 350 is a beautiful bike from Honda. The brand has really upped the game to improve its bikes to further heights. With the launch of the H’ness CB 350 and CB350RS, Honda is trying to take over this class segment. It gets competition on this segment from Italjet, Jawa and Royal Enfield. The one that can give a tough competition to the new releases of Honda can be the reigning king of this category, Royal Enfield.

Not only is Royal Enfield considered a status symbol, but people have also started associating it as a feeling. Royal Enfield bikes in Nepal have made a strong brand perception among the people and this can be a huge problem for Honda. Though Honda is always known for its durability and quality, Royal Enfield has many weapons in its arsenal to compete against any bike in this category. Though Honda is providing many new features to the buyers, the desirability of the bike can fall short to Royal Enfield.

Other than that, this is a brilliant bike from Honda. Also, check the latest price of Honda Bikes in Nepal.

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Subba was a tech and auto writer at Onlinekhabar until December 2022.

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