The Honda CBR150R Has Officially Hit The Thai Market

Honda has launched the 2020 CBR150R in Thailand. While there have been tonnes of rumours about the CBR150R getting an upside-down fork, that hasn’t happened yet. All this bike gets is four new colours: Gray Red, Black Edition, Red Black and Black Red. Of these, we really think the grey one looks the most premium. Apart from that, the 2020 CBR150R has seen no major changes.

Mechanically, the 2020 Honda CBR150R packs the same components as the 2020 model. The motor is a liquid-cooled, 149.1cc, single-cylinder unit. It’s mated to a 6-speed gearbox and makes 17.1PS at 9,000rpm and 14.4Nm at 7,000rpm.

The CBR150R has a preload-adjustable telescopic fork at the front and a preload-adjustable linked monoshock at the rear. The bike also gets disc brakes at front and rear with ABS as optional. The ABS model costs 99,700 Baht (around Rs 2,43,589, on-road Thailand) and the standard model is priced at 92,570 Baht (around Rs 2,26,169, on-road Thailand).

There isn’t a huge market for faired 150cc sportbikes in India. And whatever little there is, its rather well served by the Yamaha YZF R15 V3 and Suzuki’s Gixxer SF. These two sell rather well here, with the R15 having sold nearly 4,700 units in the month of September 2020 and the Gixxer managing a little under 2,000. If the CBR were to come to India, it would need to take on these two bikes to make a dent in the market. But even in its 2021 guise, the CBR makes 2.1PS and 0.3Nm less than the Yamaha, and that difference would probably be greater if it had to meet BS6 norms.

And then, when it comes to pricing, the Gixxer SF does a pretty good job with a price tag of Rs 1.23 lakh, while the Yamaha comes in at Rs 1.47 lakh (both ex-showroom Delhi). In its home market of Thailand, the CBR150R is already about 5,300 Baht more expensive than the Yamaha R15 V3. So, if Honda ever plans to bring this baby CBR to India, they will have to seriously revise its pricing, and ideally slot it somewhere between the Gixxer SF and the R15 V3.