Honda’s New Bike Launch In August: What Could It Be?

Honda sent out a ‘block your date’ invite for August 8, 2022. It contained the tagline “The Formidable Coming Soon”, and will be a product that will be sold in Honda BigWing dealerships.

Now, Honda already sells the H’ness CB350 and  the CB350RS through its premium dealerships, and this platform is perfect for the Japanese bikemaker to bring out different bikes catering to different genres. Here are the possibilities:

A Honda 350cc cruiser?

With the H’ness and the CB350RS, the next logical step for Honda seems to be to bring out a cruiser of sorts. This sounds like a good business move as the company will be able to take the fight to the Royal Enfield Meteor 350, which is currently the most popular cruiser in the 300-400cc segment.

The laid-back chassis can accommodate slight changes to the rake angle for a relaxed riding stance and Honda could also equip the bike with split seats, similar to the Meteor, and an easy-to-reach handlebar for mile-munching. Moreover, the long-stroke, torquey nature of the engine is the perfect candidate for a 350cc cruiser.

What about a more affordable 350cc bike?

The most affordable bike built on Royal Enfield’s  J-platform, the Hunter 350 is set to be introduced in early August. This is the perfect opportunity for Honda to bring out an affordable roadster based on the H’ness CB350 to compete with the upcoming RE.

If Honda decides to take this approach, it could strip down a few features such as the traction control, semi-digital instrument cluster with smartphone connectivity and perhaps replace the LED lighting system with conventional ones. The result? An old school, no-frills roadster with Japanese engineering to boot. What’s not to like?

Or, will it be an ADV?

Honda already has a scrambler-themed motorcycle under the 350cc platform (read Honda CB350RS), and the other logical step for Honda could be to bring out an ADV. The 350cc engine’s long stroke configuration can be tweaked to offer better bottom end grunt and Honda could enhance the chassis with long-travel suspension at both ends along with spoke wheels wrapped with block pattern tyres.

Sure, it sounds like a lot of work, and we’ll have to see if Honda goes down this route for its upcoming bike. Nonetheless, we reckon it will be something exciting and we’ll know what it exactly is in a couple of weeks’ time. Until then, stay tuned!

All images used are for representational purposes only.