Hey chidafn,
It's been more than 11 months now I bought red Hornet and 5850 on odometer.

Following are my observation and experience till now:
1) Very poor headlight
AC makes it even worse when riding slowly
Planning to install auxiliary 2 LED lights 27W each on leg guard to get good illumination

2) Stiff suspension
I mostly ride solo so bike really runs very rough and jumps on bad patches. Planning to soften it in 3rd service.

3) Vibration
Bike Vibration horribly between 65-85. But it accelerates very strongly as this is power band.
Little more BHP and lesser torque could've been really helpful for highway rides.

4) Short 1 and 2 gear
1st gear can only do 12 without screaming and to keep it below 5K RPM. 2nd goes till 25 where it screams again.
This makes it very hard to ride in bumper to bumper traffic in Mumbai.
One needs to constantly keep on shifting to ride at 10-15 kmph.

5) Hard neutral
Even after riding so much, gear shifting is very hard for 1 and 2 gears.
Bike goes to Neutral many times while downshifting to 1st. As it needs extra pressure to drop down to 1st, one needs to pay attention there. This can be very fatal in tight situations.
Many times indicator shows neutral but bike stays on 1st only. So while parking and in traffic, need to use clutch else wheel gets blocked.

6) Chain
Chain gets loose very frequently and lube flings out to rear number plate as well as on chain guard.
The noise of chain is very irritating.

7) Engine
Engine is super punchy at all times which makes it tough to ride in slow traffic or one needs to use clutch.
FS oil should be used for this super compressed engine. I'll try this after 3rd service.

8) Lack of engine kill switch
It's need is felt in traffic where one needs to play with key to shut down engine. Not acceptable at this price range.

9) Rear break feedback
The rear break has long Freeplay, which makes one to press it harder.
CBS ratio is more of 70:30 rear: front.
So one should use front break to stop earlier.

10) Mirrors
Edgy shape of mirrors reduces visibility. Should be square/oval shaped for this. But considering character it looks good. R15 has very nice rvm.

11) Mudguard
They should be little longer, as bike gets very dirty in rainy season and gets dusty other times.

12) Lack of foot rest on Saree guard
In country like India, this is a must thing. At least if not factory fitted, accessory wise it must be made available. It was a lot of trouble in early days of ownership, as no compatible foot rest was available. And I didn't want to have it welded.

13) Higher pillion foot rest
Even 5'6 height people find it troublesome to sit on rear seat for long time.

14) Far out side indicators
Indicators are placed much outside of main body which causes great risk of breaking them down.

15) Rusting
Earlier batches had lot of Rusting issues. It was to such a great extent that it felt like bike is few years old.
Had it painted from ASC after following up with Honda CC.

That's it for now. So see for yourself before buying it.

Completed 35K odo today. Its a feb'16 bike.
No history of breakdown.
No history of defective parts.
Only thing I changed is headlamp. not even tires.
Black fibre parts exposed directly to sun turned little grey.
I take good care of chains. Use kerosene/D40 for cleaning up once in 2 weeks and Motul lube spray once in a week.
I used stock oil till first 3 services, then changed to semi synthetic and then to FS oil.
I change FS oil for every 4000 KMs and buy fuel from Shell pump.
My service interval is 5000 KMs.

Rub Vaseline on the black fibre part which have greyed out. It will regain the black colour.

Guys I need ur suggestion on below points. Quick response is appreciated,

Today am about to give my hornet for 5th service, help on figuring out these below things.

1. Engine Oil _ which engine oil to choose, (Honda/shell/motul). Also which grade to choose. I want better performance and better mileage without affecting engine lifespan.

2. Chain sprocket _ which brand to choose, either stock or any other one. I need better durability, even on harsh riding.

Please go with Honda Throttle. I’ve been using it since last Service and super happy with it. Honda Throttle is manufactured by Idemitsu, Japanese leading Petrochemical company.

Go for latest O-ring OEM chain sprocket set. It is really good.

Please go with Honda Throttle. I’ve been using it since last Service and super happy with it. Honda Throttle is manufactured by Idemitsu, Japanese leading Petrochemical company.

Go for latest O-ring OEM chain sprocket set. It is really good.

Thanks for suggestion...
The service guys saying not to change other brand oil til 2 years, else the engine warranty will be vanished.. so am sticking with stock oil for this one service,
In next service, I will choose other better ones.,

What about the mileage, after using "Honda throttle" , what major differences you observed compared with previous one?

There is no drastic change with mileage. I’ve been getting average of 48kmpl in City and my most of the commute will be during peak hours. Also I get a stretch where I reach 80+ for a brief moment. However I feel engine feels lot smoother. Also, full synthetic oil helps engine lasts longer too.

There is no drastic change with mileage. I’ve been getting average of 48kmpl in City and my most of the commute will be during peak hours. Also I get a stretch where I reach 80+ for a brief moment. However I feel engine feels lot smoother. Also, full synthetic oil helps engine lasts longer too.

At what kilometers we can change to synthetic oil.

At the time after 1st service. This will allow engine parts to be well set with the mineral oil. And we should continue to using same oil and avoid changing t different grades of oil.

Fine, let me try throttle..

True. Using an after market grade is temperature and climate dependent. Honda insists on using the throttle even at climates where it is unbearable and the engine heats up more than it should. In my case, I use 20w50 because the ambient temperature here is about 35 degrees at all times. Reaches about 40+ during hot days. The aforementioned grade is the best in the climate here.


Throttle is 10w40 which I think is the most suitable grade for Bangalore climate.