Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

That is the question! How long the oil lasts. Some say 1k, some 2k, some 2.5k. In the absence of lab tested proof, we conjure our own theories on oil.

I'm not here to create a fight. Im here to collect data. So far, I don't have any valid data on how long a mineral lasts.

Does the Hornet manual recommend mineral or synthetic?

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Actually it's not mentioned in the manual. Some dealers advise owners to put throttle, others say throttle voids warranty.

The mineral oil is quite thin, and the engine gets abnormally heated along with rough engine and hard gear shifts after some 1500-2000kms. By 2000kms it loses its viscosity, I've seen it myself. It's like water flowing out of the engine. Many xbhpians like Pinaki sir have also experienced it.

But you're right, the drain interval varies. But from what I've seen on Xbhp, many complain of excess heating and rough engine.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

You're correct. It's been 2500 km since I didn't change oil, but now I'll. I'll see if FS oil can be used. FS will last longer, may be 2x than mineral. May be semi synthetic oil can be used. Bike does feel rough now.

Oil color is now dark brown but not black. But it lost its viscosity, you can feel it.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Rather than relying on just intervals, better to check oil every week or fortnight depending on your running. If it starts turning dark brown to black, then it's better you change it. You can check it yourself by rubbing on your fingers. Hope this helps.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Thanks! In my experience bike performs best if throttle opened gradually. Acceleration isn't that good if you give full throttle at once...
At full throttle it'll just make very big boom sound. If you really want to accelerate, better take each gear upto 6500-8000 RPM. That's power band of Hornet. Keep between that and you'll be touching 100 in no time.

You may overtake normal city cars in traffic it you ride this way. Most normal cars accelerate very good till 50 kmph, after that they slow down.
Try it yourself

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Oil can also turn black easily if the engine is old and has a lot of gunk. It shows that the oil is working well to clean the internals. Don't rely on the color alone to determine condition of oil.

[MENTION=81709]Sai Sagar[/MENTION] change the oil and get the carb cleaned and tuned. Check the air filter also.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

today i gave my bike for first service at 760kms! bike was very comfortable and the thing that i like most is its mileage. Many people here claimed that they're a getting a mileage of 55+ i never believed until i got the bike. i put on 500rs (i.e 7.22ltrs) of petrol as soon as i got the bike and it reached reserve at 348kms with 1.7litres left in reserve but i thought FE calculation would not be accurate as there's some fuel already which the showroom people fills in it,so as soon as my bike reached reserve i put on exactly 1 litre to test the mileage . the driving for that 1 litre is entirely on highway with pillion all the time as i went to college and i never crossed 55+ on the bike during the ride. For my surprise the bike yielded a mileage of 59.2 kmpl and my friend was also stunned by watching that . have to see how much does it give if revved harder
problems i told to the service center guy:
rear disc power reduced
rear disc making some screech sound
chain noise
headlight adjustment
gear shifting is hard.
i have one question:
as i completed my first service what is the maximum speed that i can go now?

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Rather than maximum speed, what the RPMs. Gradually increase the RPMs while riding, but don't accelerate hard till around 1500-2000km.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Hi everybody!This is my first post in any bike forum after riding bikes for almost 20 yrs.Yes,I cannot be called young----but as the book says,bikers are young at heart.
My previous two bikes were r15;both of them v1.This time again thought of R15S but finally retracted due to the budget restraint and the wrist pain(&problem called ganglion)that I faced during the ownership of the second R15.Sold it in mid 2014.Till then a little gem called SUZUKI Let's has been my only two wheeler.

Got my HORNET on 25/07/2016 in the white CBS model.The initial impression--
PROS->Looks(10/10),Ride quality(slightly on harder side but that helps the handling part),Brilliant brakes,Wide & long seat comfortable for pillion,Superb alloy design & finish.
CONS->Fit & finish specially in the welding parts deserves lot more attention(Yamaha way better in this respect),Spread of the headlight beam is not good,switch gear quality & absence of engine kill switch,No sealed o-ring chain,paint quality of the forks is not consistent,rear foot peg holders should have been made of alloys.The ordinary foot peg holders looks out of place.

I have replaced the headlight bulb with Osram silverstar & the twin parking bulbs(5w each) with Osram LED projector type bulbs(1w each).This mod has given slightly more brightness to the headlight & for me brightness is sufficient now.The two brilliant LED lamps give super brighness(with high temp white light).I have adjusted the headlight beams to the lowest possible position without compromising on visibility at night.

The engine part---better I shouldnot comment now.It's pretty smooth & will get smoother with time am sure.Gear shift is not butter smooth but not hard either.I face no problem finding the neutral.For my driving pattern I did not find any problem with the gear ratios.

(And this is my first HONDA bike/scooter.)

That's all for now.Sorry for the long post.THANKS.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Is once a week pressure wash bad for bike?? (in monsoon bike gets mud everywhere)

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Hi All,

I have noticed on another thing in the hornet, when i rotate the front wheel by hand by putting the bike in main stand, the wheel is getting stopped instantly, its like something is holding my tyre, i did not notice it in rear tyre, also when i go slow in a curve and when i turn my handle bar either on left or right side, the handle bar tends to turn much above what i intend to turn is it because of the new tyre or the handle bar is very rigid. I some kind of not getting with the bike when i ride.I own a SZR 2012 model before, I did not notice these kind of issues in that.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Congrats! 😀👍

Can you please photos of new headlights and parking lights? How much it costed you item wise.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences


I always follow the manual. Changing oil only at 6k kms. If the manual says it, its designed to last. Honda is not dumb to risk its motorcycles getting screwed over if someone follows the manual rigorously. So far I've ridden 3k kms with no oil change. I ride 70kms everyday, averaging 80-90 on the highway. I haven't seen any change in efficiency, or fuel economy or roughness. I wash and lube my chain regularly. The engine gets gunk from the chain as it is the only mechanical member which goes into the engine.

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Bro, welcome to the club. Even I am facing severe rusting issues. My entire sub frame is re painted and fixed. My steering bolts also caught rust and have been changed. Looks like we are in the same boat. I called Honda 2 Wheelers India, the main office in Delhi. They informed me that because its a new product, issues like this happen. They asked if anything else was wrong. I was told that this is absolutely not normal and I can have my entire bike replaced if it comes to that. In my previous post on this issue, I have told members facing this issue to complain to Honda so that a recall for rusting can be issued.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Well it's not designed to last in heavy traffic conditions as far as I can tell. Cleaning, lubing the chain didn't help as well (my bike has a fully closed chain also[emoji28]).

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Hornet is priced above the competition. It is also a premium product. Notice the use of better tyres and nissin brakes which are made in japan. Even the master cylinder is made in Japan. On the other hand, pulsar is a 10+ year old bike. The engine has paid for its R&D phase. And we Indians love to use what's existing and proven. That's why hero still sells splendors.

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Everything is removable. Only 2 Screws on each side and one screw holding the bigger panel below the seat. I have seen them getting removed personally. You can possibly do it yourself as its very easy and save yourself the labour charge

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Your performance may be declined due to air filter clogging or carbon deposition on the cylinder heads. Get a general service done and see if its still rough