---

Gone are the ages of bland bikes in India , the young age of India prefers sports look over the conventional commuter bikes. The presence of more sports bikes than the commuter bikes in the 150cc segment is a clear example. As a result Auto makers are being pushed to make Indian specific sports model bikes. Honda has come up with a new 125cc bike named CBF bike inspired from the design CBR 1000.

Design and Engineering:

The new 125cc bike has styling elements like elegant visor , larger tank shrouds , aircraft type fuel lid and forged rear cowls and a new tail lamp pointing to lookalike a race bike. The sporty foot step holders and the instrument cluster is away from the tank and 17" alloy at the front and rear enhances sporty character.


Engine and Transmission:

The 125cc mill which cranks out 11bhp of peak power at 8000rpm and 11Nm of peak torque at 6500 rpm. This high performance engine is mated with a five speed transmission (1 down four up). The engine revs happily and gives excellent power at all speed ranges. The bike’s gearbox follows the internationally popular one down , rest up shift pattern. Gearbox shift quality is impeccable and false neutral is almost non-existent. The bike hits a top whack of 96kmph. Coming to the mileage , bike returns 53kmpl in City and 58 kmpl in our highway drive.



Ride and Handling:

The handlebars are mounted on the fork tops so your wrists don’t take a pounding .The footpegs aren’t too high. The sporty bike uses telescopic fork suspension at the front and 3 step spring loaded hydraulic shock absorber with rectangular swingarm at the rear. Ride quality of the bike is on par with its competition.



The bike has a 240mm disc brake at the front and 130mm drum at the rear.For the first time in 125cc segment a bike comes with tubeless tyres at the front and the rear. CBF bike comes with 80/100 tubeless tyre at the front and 90/100 wider tubeless tyre at the rear. This combination results in class leading handling chracter for the bike.

Variants:

The bike comes in three variant - Kick start with drum brake and alloy wheels , self start with drum brake and alloy wheels and self start with disc brake and alloy wheels and in
available in four colours - red , yellow , metallic and black.



Verdict:

Bajaj revolutionized the 125cc segment with the launch of Discover. Later Yamaha added the appeal to this segment with the Gladiator. With the new CBF bike , Honda has lead this segment to a new direction. Don’t wait! just go and shock the fellow 150cc rider with this bike.

---

---

---

---