Honda Unicorn 160 long term review, fleet introduction

With the Honda Activa 125 making an exit from the ZigWheels garage, it was time to welcome the new Honda Unicorn 160 as my new long term. Although I was mighty impressed by the Honda Activa 125, more power never hurts and I was more than happy to ride the Unicorn 160. I must admit that I didn’t quite like the styling of the new Unicorn 160, as I feel the designers have been very conservative on their approach to woo the mature consumers. Having said that, I did get quite a few queries on the new motorcycle at traffic signals as the H-shaped tail lamp caught many people’s attention. The Honda Unicorn 160 features a fully digital instrument console which is neatly laid out and is easy to read on the go. Switch gear quality is decent but the design of the switches could have been better and the lack of an engine kill switch at this price point is beyond any reasoning.

Powering the Unicorn 160 is a 163.7cc; air-cooled motor churns out 14.5PS of max power and peak torque rating of 14.6Nm. The new engine is definitely the stand out feature on the Honda Unicorn 160 owing to the punch it has on offer and it can cruise at speeds above 80kmph with relative ease. The engine is free revving and decently refined too but vibrations do seep in via footpegs and handlebar at the apex of the motor’s performance but that is understandable. Apart from offering good performance, the engine is fuel efficient too. The Honda Unicorn 160 returned us an overall fuel efficiency of 49kmpl which according to me is very good considering the traffic conditions of Mumbai. With the bike crossing the 1,000km mark it means a visit to the service centre is on the card. 

Date Acquired: January, 2015

Total km done: 1,146km

Overall Fuel efficiency: 49kmpl

Cheers: Engine, Brakes

Sneers: No engine kill switch, Stiff rear suspension