2017 Honda Unicorn 150 looks sharper than ever with new headlamp and sleek bodywork; powertrain to likely remain the same
Realising the potential of the 150 cc commuter segment, Hero MotoCorp introduced an all-new Achiever late last year. It is one of the hotly contested spaces in the Indian two-wheeler market as the buyers come in mass numbers. They are a group of people who might try to upgrade from lower capacity bikes or first time buyers opting from a scooter based daily commuting.
The Bajaj Pulsar 150 DTS-I has been a shining beacon in terms of being a consistently selling product in the segment for over a decade now. It has had many rivalries over the years but the major emphasis goes to how well the segment evolved despite the growing competition as consistency in sales has always been there.
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Apart from the Pulsar, the segment also has another titan called the Honda CB Unicorn 150. After more than a decade of sales that included three facelifts, Honda pulled the plug on the Unicorn 150 in the later stages of 2014 to make way for the new Unicorn 160. On contrary to the high initial volumes, the 160 has not really taken off leading to speculations that it could be dropped from the lineup.
As a consequence, Honda had to re-introduce the CB Unicorn 150 to get back in the hunt and as expected it has received good response from the customers. Our exclusive patent image sheds the light on a possible upgrade for the Unicorn 150 as its design is certainly outdated. This time around, what we can expect are sharper body panels as similar to the sporty Hornet 160R with split alloy wheels resembling the same model.
The headlamp area has become meaner and narrower while the separated grab rails, single piece stepped up sharper seat, upright handlebar assembly and tank extensions present a completely contrast design philosophy compared to the outgoing Unicorn 150 we would reckon. A conventional telescopic forks and tightly-packed monoshock at the rear could do the suspension duties.
The base variant will likely have a front and back drum brake setup while a 240 mm disc could be offered in the top-end version. As similar to the existing CB Unicorn 150, it could ride on 18-inch wheels. Power source for the new Unicorn is expected to be the same single-cylinder air cooled 149.1ccc engine that develops 13.14 bhp at 8,500 rpm and 12.84 Nm of peak torque delivered at 5,500 rpm.
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It is connected to a five-speed manual transmission. Honda might add fancy graphics and additional colour schemes to make it more attractive. If our predictions go right and this is the exact new CB Unicorn 150, Honda appears to have a new motorcycle with all the more serious intent and sportiness the segment asks for.