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With the increase in demand for the middle-weight motorcycles in India, the Japanese bike maker, Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India is looking forward to launching an exclusive range of motorcycles in the displacement of 250cc to 750cc. In order to attain this target, the bike maker has crafted a team of engineers both from Japan and Thailand to work in India.
As the bike maker believed it has an expertise and technology to develop two-wheelers in the segment to pose a fierce competition for the Royal Enfield models. The complete brought up of a new range of Honda motorcycles from designing to production will be taken care at company’s manufacturing unit in India. Also, the brand has already patented its Rebel 300 cruiser for the Indian market.
For the upcoming bikes, CEO and President of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter Limited (HMSI) stated, “We have strong intentions to start this project, and it will depend on the decision making process, which includes creating a concept, selecting the engine capacity, type, model, etc. It will be 100 per cent made in India, otherwise it’s very difficult to compete from a cost-competitiveness point of view.”
The Indian biking industry is on rising in the 250-500cc segment and the most acknowledged cruiser bikes manufacturer from Chennai, Royal Enfield is leading the segment without any strong rival. So Honda also wants to try its hand in the segment.
As of now, the brand has Rebel 300 and Rebel 500 to cater audience at the global front. Since Rebel introduction in 1985, for the first time, the cruiser is available in two trims. Recently, the updated Rebel 300 and Rebel 500 were premiered at Long Beach Motorcycle Show.
Beneath the fuel tank, the Rebel 300 shares powertrain from the CBR300 that is a 286cc single cylinder, water cooled engine. While the Rebel 500 is loaded with a liquid cooled parallel twin engine borrowed from the CBR500 that is capable of churning out 45 bhp peak power and 44 Nm peak torque.
Mounted on a new trellis frame, both the Honda Rebel 300 and Rebel 500 come equipped with 41mm telescopic front forks and twin rear shocks as suspension setup. While the braking for both models come from a single 296 mm front disc and a 240mm single rear disc brake.
In the US, Honda Rebel 300 and Rebel 500 is on sale at the price sticker of $4,399 (INR 3,01,221) and $5,999 (INR 4,10,781) respectively. If launched in India, the bikes will combat with the likes of Royal Enfield and Bajaj Dominar in the segment.
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