Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

So you say that a 130/140 section rear tyre is just a gimmick. Well those fat tyres have been a life saver for me on the FZ, Gixxer and Apache 200. They just don't improve cornering but they drastically improve the braking stability. Bikes like FZ, Hornet, Gixxer, RTR200, RTR160 4V don't skid and loose control under hard braking. Still people complain about less mileage. A Unicorn 150 in comparison feels so unstable with those 110 sec tyres. IMO all bikes from 150cc onwards should use atleast 130 section tyres.

Even if Hornet, Xblade & Unicorn use the same 160cc engine, they have different characters. The Hornet has completely different gearing compared to Unicorn 160 and Xblade. Both Xblade and Uni 160 are tuned for city riding, have better low end torque and initial acceleration. Whereas Hornet is tall geared, has very low torque in low end especially in 2nd gear. It is not that friendly in the city but its a blast to ride on the highway. Hornet also has the best cornering prowess among all the 160cc bikes. And Xblade also uses a 130 section tyre.

The Pulsar 220 has a short stroke engine (67x62). Yes the Pulsar 220 has mad power delivery. But the straight line stability is bullsh#t. Ride a RTR200 to feel the the difference. RTR200 is rock solid stable even at 120+ kph, while Pulsar 220 becomes all wobbly post 100.

To conclude, hardware like fatter forks and a 130/140 section rear tyre are basic things that ensure straight line, braking & cornering stability. And these aspects are more important than mileage, atleast for me. There is no point in expecting 45+ avrg from a 160cc. But they can save your life in an ugly situation. On the contrary, the chance of falling due to skidding is very high on Unicorn 150, Shine and every other budget commuter bike.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

[emoji106] Exactly, I agree with you.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Agreed, my most fav thing about hornet is it's stability... Just for the sake of hornet's looks, mid/top range performance/smoothness/stability, i will be ok with whatever the mileage figure it gives.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

There is much more to a bike than tyre size in terms of stability. Fat tyres may have been a life saver but it's not exactly necessary for stability or life saving. Braking stability? Lets see there are a thousand more things like chassis design, suspension, rake angles, tyre compound, bike's wheelbase, tyre pressure, brake pads, fluid levels, terrain and tyre size (thinner like 110 or a 120) itself.

This is about tyre size for you? Lets see. FZ's 140 section robs it of it's acceleration compared to other 150-160 segment bikes with thinner tyres. Honda Unicorn and unstable? Wider Tyre = More effort to move the bike. More effort = less mileage. It's simple. Have you ever rode a Unicorn? I own a Honda Unicorn (2017 model) as well in addition to Splendor and have completed 41,000kms so far. Never have I ever fell from it or have had any stability issues even with the 110 tyre. I bought it after riding my friend's 2016 Hornet for a year or so. I suggest you take a look at the thread and ask how many people have fallen because of it.

Pulsar 220 came in 2007 and came with 120 rear tyre (still does). Wobbly post 100? I suggest you get your facts checked. Unless you have ridden a 220 for a decent period, I would advise against commenting on it. There are tons of happy owners around. Just ask them. How many people have have stopped riding the bike because it's unstable and they have fallen from it because of the thin tyre? Also to tell you, I started learning on a Pulsar 150 back in 2015 which had a 100/90 tyre. Never had a stability issue and my UG 4.5 Pulsar back in the day made 15HP compared to FZ's 13.2HP and still the tyre sizes kept it under control without any braking issues what so ever.

Even before FZ was released, Pulsar 180, 220, CBZ, Unicorn, GS150R, Dazzler, Apache 160, 180 and many other bikes came with 100 to 120 section tyres. Forget all these even R15 V1 had a 110 Rear. Mind you, R15 is a proper track machine with great stability in the sub-200cc category. From your point I assume that they are unstable, have straight line stability issues and poor braking and might have a chance of skidding and making you fall because they have small rear tyre? And did you know that Apache 1604v (carb) and Pulsar NS160 come with 110 rear tyres as well? Well are people falling from it citing your reasons?

If that's the case, you should fit your Passion with 140 section rear tyres as well. And a 100 unit on front. Would make it super stable, wouldn't it? If can't ride a bike without fat rear tyres, you don't belong anywhere near a bike or have a phobia of riding bikes.

It's evident that you don't have much experience riding higher capacity bikes and even if you did, you rode a poorly maintained bike. Manufactures are not idiots to under equip their bikes (with exception of some which is rare). I would suggest that you get out, ride the bikes you speak of and then comment on it. If not, it just becomes all bluff and by the book knowledge.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Once while riding from Bangalore to Kollam, just when I was dropping speed from 130ish kmph, a white sedan side swiped me, me rear end was literally pushed off its line, I was surely taken by surprise, but thanks to the wheelbase of the motorcycle like nothing happened she snapped back into alignment.

Here's a reminiscence from the incident;



Funny thing being this happened to me a second time at a much lower speed within Kerala but more forcefully such that the cars bumper tore and hung on to my exhaust.

I've toured interstate on several motorcycles and trust me, the P220 has many downsides, but straight line stability isn't one of them, heck people have even gone to the extent of writing articles about it.

Jack Of All Trades, Master Of One - Straight Line Speed and Stability

As for tyres, remember the V1 R15, that thing came with skinny tyres but offered enough grip that put everything else in and above its class to shame. Which goes to prove, it's not about the size but the type of compound in the tyre that makes the difference.

Cheers,
A.P.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

So you think you are smarter than the Engineers who created these bikes. Those who understand anything about bikes all know that a FZ or Hornet has superior chassis than the Unicorn. Do you know me personally? Do you think I will comment about all these bikes without riding them extensively!?
I ride a V1 yamaha FZ, a bs4 Hornet, and an RTR200 almost every day. I have done long rides with each of these bikes and also a Suzuki Shogun, Gixxer and RX 135 5s.

Pulsar 220 is scary at high speed cornering and the straight line stability is not as great as a RTR200 or NS200. Go try high speed cornering on a Pulsar220, you'll know what I meant. I've done crazy speed runs on P220. I only speak about bikes that I have experience with.

And why bring my Passion pro in this. Is the Passion a 150cc? I've clearly mentioned (If you even read the post clearly) that all 150cc + bikes should have wider tyres & fatter or bigger suspension. Its my opinion. Those who have read my post agree with me. I also ride the Hornet daily hence I know how different it is from all other 160cc's.

And going by your logic " you have to own one to understand it", the auto journos won't be able to review anything! Like I said earlier you only know that much about me as much I've shared on Xbhp. I mostly share my experiences with my Passion Pro here but that does not mean that I am a noob about other bikes.

FYI, I work on cars & bikes. I've worked on most of the bikes under 1 lac. I've worked in Suzuki two wheeler service and also worked in Multi brand car service. I also know that the apache 150 clutch plates are fit for Shogun, that the Shogun silencer has an inbuilt chamber and how to distinguish between a real Shogun and Samurai converted to Shogun. These are not textbook knowledge bro. It comes from experience. And lastly I am an Automobile Engineer.

I usually don't share all these things about me anywhere. The earlier post was my opinion about tyre size, that's it. I repeat, you know very little about me and in the same way I know very little about you. So let's end it here and respect each other.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Yes I agree that the quality of tyre compound in important. The Rtr200 uses 130 section TVS tyre at the rear. The grip levels are just adequate. But it has saved my life once.

On a return ride from Munnar, the Rtr200 went off the road at a blind curve. We were doing some 90kph. The cutting of the road was almost 5 inch deep. If the rear tyre was anything smaller than 130 section, I would have been dead on spot. But the bike didn't unsettle at all. It went off the road, moved a couple of meters through grass and got back on the road, all of that at ~70kph. That's why I say that fat tyres are a life saver. You can't expect that poise from a thinner tyre.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

I'm one of the Engineers who makes these bikes. I've worked with Yamaha for a whole year back in college. AFAIK, Honda bikes with monoshocks have same chassis more less the same. Riding a bike and commenting about them in a way that is incorrect makes you look like an idiot. You jumped in right where I said about wider tyres being a gimmick, even though it wasn't pointed at you even. There's a hell and heaven difference in riding and owning a bike. Again why I asked you to read ownership experiences. I have literally owned the Hornet for over a year before buying a Unicorn. What you have rode has nothing to do with what you wrote. You put forth a theory (should be wider rear tyres) and replied you back with facts that speaks for itself.

Read what Ashwin Prakas wrote above. Why would you even try and corner on a Pulsar 220? It's not even meant for the purpose. None of DTSi Pulsars are. Your argument here is based on comparing something about P220 that it's not even meant for and comparing it with a much newer bike. Mind you RTR200 came in 2015 compared to P220 (2007). It's scary but stability has never been an issue on Pulsars and my first Pulsar had 1,16,521 on ODO before being sold off.

"On the contrary, the chance of falling due to skidding is very high on Unicorn 150, Shine and every other budget commuter bike."

These were your exact words. Budget commuter bikes, shine etc. Shine uses the same tyres as your regular 100cc bikes. Also, Hornet is different from other bikes and as a matter of fact no two bikes are alike.

"A Unicorn 150 in comparison feels so unstable with those 110 sec tyres." Your reply here.

My Point: A Unicorn feels just as stable as Hornet with 100 section tyre. It's 100/80 not 110 BTW. Just to correct you here. I can say this since I have owned both the bikes and tyre size doesn't have everything to do with stability. Read the post above yours.



Here's our 21 Year old Shogun. Close to 60K on ODO with third block of it's lifetime.

I don't care who you are, what you do or what you own. If you cannot justify your posts with facts, I won't respect you irrespective of what you have rode and how you can brag.

P.S: This is nothing related to the Hornet so big thank you for derailing with an off-topic anyway.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Hmmm.... I wonder who is bluffing here now. If you have experienced the above said bikes or know about them you would never say " Pulsar 220 has long stroke motor" or " why do 160cc's need 140 section rear tyre apart from chunky looks" or " why would anyone corner on commuter?".

These premium 160cc's are also made for cornering. If you've experienced the cornering prowess of Hornet, You would never compare its stability with Unicorn. Oh you don't corner on commuter 160cc. Sorry about that.

I agree that I was wrong when I mentioned 110 section tyre for Uni 150, my bad. But how much difference do 10mm make. At 80kph a Unicorn 150 will easily get unsettled by a large pothole while a Hornet/Xblade will be rock solid in such a scenario. The manufacturer's are not idiot's. They charge the premium for what they give. A Hornet is considerably expensive than Xblade and Unicorn. But in return you get better suspension and wider tyres and they're given for a purpose that is improving stability. The Hornet inspires so much more confidence than the Uni160 & 150 on the highway.

What if the Pulsar 220 was launched in 2007. It still has better performance than RTR200. So it should also have better stability which it doesn't. Yes it is weak in cornering but a wider tyre would only help in improving this aspect.

It's you who said that these tyres are just gimmick and I just responded with my opinion. But you started questioning my knowledge & experience and have forced me to do the same. I never meant to troll you or anything. I only had respect for you as a fellow enthusiast and your liking for bikes like splendor, Cd100 and Shogun.

But at this point, I don't care whoever the hell you are. I don't care if you have designed any bike. From what I understand is that you don't read any post carefully before commenting. And I am not here to educate anybody.

I stand by whatever I have said. I believe in my riding experience. I still say that on a paved road especially in wet conditions the chance of skidding and losing control during hard braking is higher on budget commuter bikes with thinner tyres including Unicorn 150 and my HH Passion.

P S- I apologise to all the Hornet owners in this thread. I understand that the thread has gone way too off topic. Never really thought that this would get so ugly. Please avoid these posts. Be safe & ride safe.

Motoman.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

I stand corrected. Facts can be wrong.

Ever heard of RD350 or RZ350 or RD500? All of them had 110 section tyres. Did people fall of them? Tell me, how many people you alone in this thread do track based cornering on daily basis or ride the motorcycle? If the answer is no, then it's a commuter bike. Where will you corner in city or streets. My point still stands. Wider tyres aren't the only thing about that give a bike it's stability. You should know this if you are Automobile Engineer.

Again, cornering prowess is not the point of comparing here for stability and I won't compare them. Ride a good Hornet and Unicorn side by side and get back here. I use a commuter bike for commuting, not corner on crowded streets or city limits. If you have an adrenaline rush for being a cornering junkie, take it on a racetrack with a proper track machine like a R15 or R3. All the 160cc section bikes are glorified commuters and so is Pulsar 220. Have you ever seen a Hornet or a Pulsar 220 used on track? Gixxer is. Why? It's modified with race spec equipments like tyres for cornering. The aforementioned bikes are.

By that logic 30mm more shouldn't make difference as well. Why bother?

Once again, where have you seen people using Pulsar 220 for cornering on racetrack?

I respect each and every bike. No two bikes are same. This isn't trolling or person. I said they were a gimmick and it was my opinion. Wasn't an open invitation for you to counter it. Even if you did, you went to the ridiculous extent of mentioning how unstable skinny tyre'd bikes are or how many bikes you have ridden or bragged about how you are. I merely asked you to ask owners who have ridden the bike longer than you have. You in term decided to state facts without backing them. Knowledge develops when it's questioned or shared. Little knowledge is dangerous and ignorance isn't bliss. Accepting or investing something you don't know never hurts.

You're not educating anybody here. Read back the last few pages. We are all owners here who are sharing experiences of our daily rides and adventures with the bike. You on the other hand aren't. Jumping in between just for the sake of argument or hurting you ago doesn't help anyone. Calling out people for "not reading carefully" on a losing argument is just an excuse.

That's obvious and mind you that "wet conditions the chance of skidding and losing control during hard braking" was never questioned. From your post it was basically inferred that skinny budget commuter bikes need wider tyres for being stable in general. Why would you hard brake on a smaller capacity bike at high speed? Yes, I understand it can happen by chance. That's why people are careful. People have been riding on those tyre sizes since the 80's and roads were always bad, there were always chances of skidding and losing control in wet conditions. No one has lost control or complained about it. Why? Because those tyre sizes are sufficient for doing what the bike does i.e commute. You see wet and uneven conditions, drive slower, use your skill to get the bike in control.

We'll be more careful. Thanks for the heads up man. Appreciate it.

On-topic: Our Hornet got a brand new number plate. The stock/dealership supplied plate rust out in 3 years completely and we had to fit a new one. Here's a picture.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Perfect analysis...

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

I'm glad that you're safe but that's just your assumption.

Going by that logic I have toured around the country on my CT100B, all the way from Kollam to Agra and then Delhi via the East Coast and then returned via the West Coadt passing through parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra where the roads are pathetic and I did managed to ride back to Kollam without breaking a sweat and the CT100B has 2.75 and 3.00 side tires.

Whereas my buddy [MENTION=40955]Fazeroid[/MENTION] has had a remarkable wreck on his Fazer16 just few hundred metres from my place which altered his facial structure for life in spite of wearing a helmet, his motorcycle had 140 section tires.

Does that mean 3.00 tyres are better than 140's? Hell no, that's simply circumstance and user experience at play.

So merely because you didn't fall while riding off tarmac due to your own shortcoming is really not reason enough to forsake something.

This thread has a reputation for lowering IQ of passerbys but damn, this was a new low.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

I respect your opinion. It may be just my assumption from that experience. But at Munnar, it was circumstance ( our own ksrtc buses) at play rather than my shortcoming . Had I been on my Passion Pro in the same situation, It would have been fatal for me. And how does this lower IQ. I just shared my experience and thoughts. Everybody has the right to agree or disagree with me. I am not forcing anyone.

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

Chill bro , everyone has their own opinions. I just want to tell u that the extended run in concept that u told about Honda engines is absolutely correct , I've both Hornet and Pulsar 220 and in just 200km run Pulsar the engine is smooth and free revving but it wasn't case with my Hornet ! Even Hornet felt more viby than my 200km Pulsar at the same ODO reading. [emoji4] [emoji106]

Re: Honda CB Hornet 160R Owners Experiences

There has been long discussion over width of tyre, this machine is good or that machine. It's good that we shared our experience and professional experience. But, guys don't be personal.
Here is my view,
Even with the Fatter tyre, the quality matters a lot, I hope everyone agrees that 140, MRF Zapper is not the same as Micheline or Metzeler.
They have different use.

Fatter tyre is not gimmick but also, not the absolute necessity for smaller engines. Yes, it does adds lots of stability and it changes the riding style a lot when you use a machine for longer period. I think, a 150cc should have 120-130 section with Micheline Radial quality tyres, to give enough stability for sub 80Kmph speeds.

My brother was riding his friend's R15, V3.0 for year, done a few short trips. When he used my Hornet, he complained, what the hell is your bike? It doesn't stop. Similarly, a person who is using splendor for years, if you give R15 he might be tasting tarmac if he has to hard break. They are very scared of double disc breaks.
My father has Hero Glamour, it a fine machine for the segment. When I use Glamour after long time, I always $hIt scared of going over 65-70. It feels like I can't control if have to hard break.
I had bad experience with RTR160, but with it was awesome with RTR180. However, I have doubt about quality in long run.
Let say, When you have been rider of performance bike (not talking about Hornet), when you touch a scooty . You may complain a lot, but hey, there are scooty rider who are very happy with scoot 1 over other brand.

So, over all let's share out experiences make ride better and sort out the issues we are facing with Hornet