Honda Unicorn 160 BS6 future uncertain

The Honda Unicorn 160 BS6 has an uncertain future. The Honda Unicorn 160 might not make it through the BS6 transmission. There is no news on the 150cc variant. The CB unicorn 160 is a vehicle that was very unclear of its motive as it had a different styling than the 150 Unicorn but the engine was from the Hornet. The vehicle was a commuter but it had a tall seat height. 

The vehicle had a power plant of 162.71 cc. It was a single-cylinder air-cooled engine. This engine has Honda Eco technology which helped it give good economy during city driving. The vehicle had very average as in 14 bhp of power and 14. 61 Nm of torque. The engine was mated to a 5 speed gearbox. The vehicle claimed a top speed of 106 km/ h. These figures on paper were not impressive and the vehicle was compared to the Hornet which also has a 160cc engine and made more power and torque. The styling on this bike was also a bit commuter and it was overshadowed by the muscular styling of the Hornet. 

As a result of all the drawbacks of this vehicle, people who wanted a pure commuter went for the 150cc unicorn with the old design. The youth who wanted performance style, as well as the economy, went for the Honda Hornet. This is the reason why the sales on this vehicle dropped. Although being a facelifted model the vehicle did not do well because a more trusted model like the Unicorn 150 was in the market and people who bought the bike in the commuter segment preferred that bike as they were happy with the design and shorter seat height. 

Honda sold only 13,266 units of the CB Unicorn 160 last year. This number is very low and clearly suggests that the bike isn’t in demand. It does not make any sense for the brand to invest in a BS6 engine transmission. This might not even make sense if the company brings in a major facelift. What could work might be if they introduce the 150cc BS6 engine on the current design of the CB unicorn and discontinue the old Unicorn. This is very unlikely to happen but is a possibility as Honda might have had a foresight while introducing the CB unicorn 160.

As far as future Honda plans are considered, they have come up with a BS6 version of the Activa 125 as well as they have a 125 segment bike which is BS6 compliant. WIth BS6 emission norms under transition, there is no way around without fuel injections and it will cost more. This tech is costly and will result in an overall increase in the cost of all new BS6 vehicles. Do check out our video on the SP 125 which is a BS6 compliant commuter by Honda. 

Also read: Honda Activa Electric coming to India?