Bajaj Pulsar NS 160 vs Honda CB Hornet 160

The 160 cc segment is quite heated up in recent times. The College goers, as well as the young-minded Indians, are really squeezing the 160 cc bike sales. The Bajaj Pulsar 160NS and Honda CB Hornet 160R are among the top players in this segment. Let’s make a faceoff between these bikes in terms of technical specifications and we’ll see who better of two.

Power

The thing that boosted the sales of the 160 cc segment is because of significantly higher power when compared to the 125 cc bikes. Bajaj Pulsar NS160 BS6 comes with 160.3 cc single-cylinder, fuel-injected, oil-cooled engine. The engine churns out nearly 16.8 bhp max power and 14.6 Nm of peak torque. The BS6 Pulsar NS160 is currently the most powerful bike in the 160 cc segment. However, Honda Honda Hornet isn’t a weak player either.

Honda Hornet BS6 is yet to arrive so we will take the BS4 model for a reference. Honda Hornet BS4 is equipped with 162.71 cc single-cylinder, carbureted, air-cooled engine. The engine produces around 15.04 bhp max power and 14.76 Nm of peak torque. Comparing these figures side by side with the Bajaj Pulsar we see that Pulsar NS160 has overtaken the Hornet in terms of power, but Hornet has a very good amount of peak torque which will help the bike to pick well at the lower rpm’s. Nevertheless, Bajaj Pulsar NS160 has a clear win in the power figures.

Cycle Parts

Coming to the cycle parts, Bajaj Pulsar NS160 gets telescopic suspension at the front and mono-shock suspension with canister at the rear. The braking duty of the Pulsar NS160 is done by 260 mm disc at the front and 230 mm disc the rear. These brakes are then assisted with the help of single-channel ABS. The bike sits on 17-inch alloy wheels with tubeless tyres.

The Honda Hornet on the other hand also gets a similar level of cycle parts. It gets telescopic suspension at the front while the rear gets mono-shock suspension, Braking duty is managed by 276 mm disc at the front and 220 mm disc at the rear. These brakes are also assisted by single-channel ABS. The wheel size is also similar to the Pulsar NS160 which is at 17-inch for both. The Honda Hornet gets wider and thinner rear tyre at 140/70 section while Pulsar NS160 gets 120/80 section rear tyre. So, it’s a tie for both the bikes or we can say Honda Hornet has a very slight advantage in terms of cycle parts.

Feature

Bajaj Pulsar NS160 comes with the semi-digital instrument cluster while the Honda Hornet gets a fully-digital unit. Bajaj Pulsar comes with clip-on handlebar while the Honda Hornet comes with a single-piece handlebar. Honda Hornet comes with LED headlamps and taillamps while the Bajaj Pulsar comes with halogen headlamps and LED taillamps. The Bajaj Pulsar is equipped with the split seat while Honda Hornet gets a single-piece seat. So in terms of features, it’s again a win for both.

Also read: Bajaj Pulsar SS 400 – Do you remember it?

Price

Bajaj Pulsar NS160 costs Rs 1.03 lakhs (ex-showroom) while Honda Hornet BS4 costs Rs 97,203 (ex-showroom), the BS6 variant is expected to have a price hike around Rs 6-7,000. Both the 160 cc bikes do offer good value for money. However, there should be the one winner so Bajaj Pulsar NS 160 seems to have clear advantage of power figures and offers slightly better value for money over Honda Hornet. Other 160 cc bikes in the segment are TVS Apache 160 4V and the upcoming Hero Xtreme 160R.