2014 Indian Auto Expo: Honda Activa 125 and CBR 650F launched

Taking the media by surprise, Honda Motorcycles and Scooter India announced it’s plan to not just launch a new 650cc middle sports model but that the company would also be assembling it in India. This would be the largest capacity motorcycle that would be assembled by the firm in the country. The design cue is borrowed from the liter class CBR with sharp designing and sporty stance. It’s well balanced chassis and standard ABS, twin disc in front and single disc on rear the 650F promises to be a nimble and safe bike to ride. At the heart is Honda’s completely new DOHC 4 cylinder featuring PGM-FI (electronic fuel injection) and mated to a 6-speed gearbox, and produces 63Nm at 8,000 rpm. The engine has been tunes to offer high torque at lower revs, making this middleweight bike apt for touring and sports riding. Honda has no plans to launch the bike before 2015 and we reckon it to be on par with the Kawasaki Ninja 650R and around the Rs 5 lakh price bracket. It is expected to hit our shores in 2015.

Claimed to be the “King of Scooters”, by Honda introduced the new Activa 125 today at the Auto Expo 2014. The scooter features Honda’s new 125cc engine which according to the company would offer the best in class fuel economy. Following the hugely popular Activa 110cc, the Activa 125 comes with telescopic forks, combi-brake technology,optional disc, tubeless tyres and digital instrument console. Even in terms of design, the larger capacity scooter resembles the 110cc Activa with an understated yet practical design, clear-glass turn indicators and crowned headlights. Though the Japanese automobile giant has not disclosed the price yet, but the new model would be slightly higher than the current range of Activa.

The company also displayed a range of bikes from their international range including the massive Goldwing 1832cc comfort cruiser, CBR 500R which is rumoured to make a debut here, and the trendy PCX 125 scooter. From the Indian range Honda had 2014 variants of the CBR1000RR superbike and also displayed new colours of CB Trigger and Dream Yuga commuters.