2016 Auto Expo: Honda CX-02 First Look Review

Honda motorcycles had wowed show goers at the 2014 Auto Expo with the CX-01 concept. The Honda CX-01 concept was the first two-wheeler offering to be designed by the Honda India R&D team. It was an aggressive streetfighter and everyone was impressed with its striking looks and aggressive styling. The Honda CX-01 design influences can be seen on the Honda CB Hornet 160R that was launched in December, 2016. Now, at the 2016 Auto Expo, Honda upped the ante by unveiling the new CX-02 concept. According to Honda, the CX-02 nomenclature stands for its second concept motorcycle to be designed by its R&D team in India. While its predecessor was a streetfighter, the Honda CX-02 is a full blown adventure tourer.

Given the fact that more and more manufacturers in India are understanding the importance of adventure tourer motorcycles owing to our dismal road conditions, the timing of the CX-02 couldn’t have been better. The styling of the Honda CX-02 is similar to any modern adventure motorcycle with a mass forward design language. At the front one is welcomed by raked and beaky headlamp housing with a tall windscreen. The headlamp detail is just gorgeous and looks like the logo of Transformers while the LED detailing makes it look even better. The CX-02 also features knuckle guard mounted LED turn indicators which look great in flesh. 

The beefy USD forks, off-road tyres and the alloy wheels make the front end of the Honda CX-02 intimidating. The fuel tank is contemporary in its form with sculpted edges and the brushed aluminium panels further magnifies its appeal. The sharp looking split seats go well with the overall design and the H-shaped LED taillight familiar to the Honda Unicorn 160 looks cool. The tyre hugger, gold finished chain, stubby exhaust and the beefy section rear tyre make the tail section look equally interesting. Switch gear quality looked top notch while the instrument console was a digital unit. The instrument console had a TFT display similar to the one found on the Ducati Multistrada but expect the production model to get LCD display. 

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Being a concept bike, Honda didn’t divulge engine specifications or other details regarding the CX-02 motorcycle. But the concept bike housed a twin-cylinder powerplant. Looking at the current market trend, we expect the Honda CX-02’s production avatar to be powered by a liquid-cooled, 500cc parallel-twin motor which should be good enough for around 50PS of maximum power and 45Nm of peak torque. The powerplant would be mated to a 6-speed gearbox.  Braking duties on the concept motorcycle was done by disc brakes on both the ends while ABS was also offered. The concept motorcycle employs USD forks at front and a monoshock suspension unit at the rear. 

We did see a few Honda officials taking feedback from visitors about the CX-02 signifying the fact they have something adventurous planned for us in the near future. The officials were focussing their queries on whether the styling of the bike was good or not and will they be ready to buy something similar to the CX-02 if it is launched. Another interesting question was what kind of money consumers will be ready to spend on a production version of the CX-02 concept bike.

Honda India made a brave decision by launching the new Navi mini bike and we hope this trend is prolonged and a production version of the Honda CX-02 hits the tarmac soon. Given the fact that Honda has given the Africa Twin the green signal for CKD operations and India launch by late 2016 we can see the production version of the CX-02 as an entry-level performance adventure bike. Royal Enfield will launch the Himalayan next month while Benelli is ready with the Trk 502 and we feel Honda should be gearing up with a 500cc adventure tourer in the near future. It's good times for Indian bikers for sure!