Today I did a continuous to and fro 250 km trip and here are my observations for my bike. There was no heating issues throughout the journey and it was overall smooth but the engine could be more refined. Also I feel it is indeed very comfortable as there are no nasty back/ wrist or neck pain.

I maintained varying speeds between 65 to 90 kph depending on the oncoming traffic or while overtaking a bus/ truck.

I tend to upshift to top most gear by 55 kph so my bike struggles to go beyond 90 kph easily. As most owners have mentioned here there is indeed a boom type sound post 75 kph but between 65 to 80 the bike does sound strained specially if I have to overtake suddenly.

It sounds like a typical 100 cc commuter bike at that point. If i downshift and wring in quick situations it is even terrible! The bike performs well when it is ridden gently and when the speed is increased gradually. More so there was a lot of wind noise so the actual bike sound is drowned as speed increases.

The bike is best enjoyed at 50 - 65 kph with sudden bursts to 80.

The bike felt well planted until 90 kph beyond which I did not get confidence as my weight is perhaps less for the bike to stay grounded. I was being thrown around even in slight undulations on the road.

There is a peculiar problem - My bike just refuses to kick start these days. Even if i kick for 7 - 8 times beyond which I get annoyed it doesn't happen. There are no cold start issues...it starts with a click. I idle it for a minute or two after applying choke. And then its good to go - so I just do that.

When I ride sanely in mixed traffic conditions I have managed a 57 - 60 kpl.

Today despite riding relatively faster ( compared to my own riding style) and braking a little too often I could achieve a 54.5 kpl.

In slight wet conditions the tyres are not the most confidence inspiring as I felt the rear to slip a bit.

I am done with 790 KM and gave the bike today to Honda center for first service. Informed about the gear and chain sound. Totally they charged me 560 (chain lubing 160 and oil 310 + misc).

Now i rode for 20 KMs. The bike seems to rev little harsh.

Is it because of the new oil? and how long it will take to settle in?

And also how to check if the oil has been changed ?

Nice review! Thanks.

I've done 2400 KM till now. Got bike in Feb 2nd week.
Bike acceleration not that good. On 1st gear it goes only 15 at ~3500 RPM. If you try to take it to 20, it makes really big noise, unsettling.
On 4th and 5th gear after 4500 RPM, it really picks up power. Even 80-100 acceleration is decent.

I agree with most of the points. But 127 top speed is too much. On Plain road I got 114 kmph. Were you riding on descent?

Most annoying things:

1. Sometimes very harsh grunt noise comes up when you accelerate hard till 60-80 and it stays.
   At same case, it vibrates a lot on 70-80 range.
2. Headlight throw is worst. Even Splendor, Passion have good throws. Honda spoiled the headlight by making it Y-shape.
   Headlight gets scattered, not focussed. LED 50-60 W is required.
3. The indicators are too far out. After putting parking cover, it gets stressed over the indicators.

I will give 3.5/5 stars.

Please comment if you have same issues or know how to resolve it.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----



Go for 200 or more CC bike.
In my opinion, if you already had Apache 160, then no point in buying 160 CC again.
If your budget permits, then go for CBR250R, Duke 200. Even Gixxer 250 will be launched soon.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----



They way you calculated mileage may not be accurate.
The fuel indicator is very inaccurate. Don't go for blinking indicator. Try to calculate when bike actually stops or you feel like it is about to run out of main fuel. That's more precise.
I got around 50 kmpl for 300 KM which had ~220 KM of 60-80 highway riding.

Yes, about sound I agree. Too much noise. I don't like it at all. It wasn't there before 1st service. Pickup not that great, even activa overtakes Hornet if you try not to make big noise.. Grinder sound very uncomfortable..

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----



Exactly!! I've done 2400 KMs and I too have same issue.
SVC says bike after more running it will be smoother. How many KMs more. I'm tired of this.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----



Bike will get little smoother after more riding. Mine got smooth after 1500 KM or so. The more you ride in city traffic, the faster it will be smoother.

Just give choke for 30-50 seconds on 1st start then the noise reduces.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----



So you meant that in 73 to 85 bike feels very rough right?
I'm having this issue since long time. Sometimes it also makes boom type deep sound. Why does it feel that Honda has not done good job with this bike? Unicorn runs so smooth. What's wrong with Hornet?

One thing that, if you ride bike slowly for 10-15 kms below 60 kmph and then rev it up slowly, then bike runs super smooth on 70-90 speeds.
Even the engine noise becomes very low, almost inaudible. I think, the oil is the issue in this case.

Any expert can throw some light please?

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----



Yeah you're totally right about noise.

Even my experience is not that good. Do you know good SVC in Mumbai/Thane? I want to see my bike serviced all steps. These people don't do their jobs correctly.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----



That's so frustrating friend.

I also had same feeling when Pilot lamp fused out.

Hi Guys,
As I mentioned earlier checked with service centre on last Friday and they did some adjustments to carburetor. But none of the problems were resolved. But now facing some one serious issue, sometimes my bike is running on its own with high rpms even though I closed the clutch completely (in neutral also). As the issue is serious, I complained it to Honda. Let's see how their support will be.

I am done with 790 KM and gave the bike today to Honda center for first service. Informed about the gear and chain sound. Totally they charged me 560 (chain lubing 160 and oil 310 + misc).

Now i rode for 20 KMs. The bike seems to rev little harsh.

Is it because of the new oil? and how long it will take to settle in?

And also how to check if the oil has been changed ?

Today I did a continuous to and fro 250 km trip and here are my observations for my bike. There was no heating issues throughout the journey and it was overall smooth but the engine could be more refined. Also I feel it is indeed very comfortable as there are no nasty back/ wrist or neck pain.

I maintained varying speeds between 65 to 90 kph depending on the oncoming traffic or while overtaking a bus/ truck.

I tend to upshift to top most gear by 55 kph so my bike struggles to go beyond 90 kph easily. As most owners have mentioned here there is indeed a boom type sound post 75 kph but between 65 to 80 the bike does sound strained specially if I have to overtake suddenly.

It sounds like a typical 100 cc commuter bike at that point. If i downshift and wring in quick situations it is even terrible! The bike performs well when it is ridden gently and when the speed is increased gradually. More so there was a lot of wind noise so the actual bike sound is drowned as speed increases.

The bike is best enjoyed at 50 - 65 kph with sudden bursts to 80.

The bike felt well planted until 90 kph beyond which I did not get confidence as my weight is perhaps less for the bike to stay grounded. I was being thrown around even in slight undulations on the road.

There is a peculiar problem - My bike just refuses to kick start these days. Even if i kick for 7 - 8 times beyond which I get annoyed it doesn't happen. There are no cold start issues...it starts with a click. I idle it for a minute or two after applying choke. And then its good to go - so I just do that.

When I ride sanely in mixed traffic conditions I have managed a 57 - 60 kpl.

Today despite riding relatively faster ( compared to my own riding style) and braking a little too often I could achieve a 54.5 kpl.

In slight wet conditions the tyres are not the most confidence inspiring as I felt the rear to slip a bit.

I disagree. Engine is refined. Its just the taller gearing in shorter RPM that takes the fun away (typical long stroke honda) and there is where gixxer scores (just being honest )

Like I said earlier the 70 to 85 band precisely is dead band. And if you are in top gear in that band acceleration will b flat i.e zero. Cross 85 ie 7000rpm and bike shoots ahead.
And if you are in the dead zone you downshift. Wring the throttle and i feel you are good to go (6500 rpm)

Agreed tyres are not best at dry roads too. Will switch to Michelin Radials after 27k kms

the engine loses pickup and makes hitting sound

Got my hornet 160 in Feb this year from bangalore, Almost every evening after some riding (around 5+ km) or riding with a pillion at daytime, the engine loses pickup and makes hitting sound, I've been to the service center like 15-20 times now, they fix it for the day and give it back. Yesterday night it gave me nightmares as i was riding in traffic and the bike was not able to pull even in the 1st gear, i think there is a manufacturing defect with the bike and the service center is trying not to accept it. what to do?

Got my hornet 160 in Feb this year from bangalore, Almost every evening after some riding (around 5+ km) or riding with a pillion at daytime, the engine loses pickup and makes hitting sound, I've been to the service center like 15-20 times now, they fix it for the day and give it back. Yesterday night it gave me nightmares as i was riding in traffic and the bike was not able to pull even in the 1st gear, i think there is a manufacturing defect with the bike and the service center is trying not to accept it. what to do?

Got my hornet 160 in Feb this year from bangalore, Almost every evening after some riding (around 5+ km) or riding with a pillion at daytime, the engine loses pickup and makes hitting sound, I've been to the service center like 15-20 times now, they fix it for the day and give it back. Yesterday night it gave me nightmares as i was riding in traffic and the bike was not able to pull even in the 1st gear, i think there is a manufacturing defect with the bike and the service center is trying not to accept it. what to do?

Got my hornet 160 in Feb this year from bangalore, Almost every evening after some riding (around 5+ km) or riding with a pillion at daytime, the engine loses pickup and makes hitting sound, I've been to the service center like 15-20 times now, they fix it for the day and give it back. Yesterday night it gave me nightmares as i was riding in traffic and the bike was not able to pull even in the 1st gear, i think there is a manufacturing defect with the bike and the service center is trying not to accept it. what to do?

Bro. It's disturbing to hear your experience.
Divya sharan has suggested a good advice
Also Visit the Honda website and lodge a feedback complaint.
Hope your issues are fixed soon.

Yeah this might be issue. Are you getting bad smell and black fume, then it's definitely Air blockage.
One day My brother put cleaning cloth under the seat and I was completely puzzled for 30 min, what happened to bike.
But when I asked, where is cleaning cloth and bam

It'll get smoother, don't worry. Just for few kms say 2000 km, don't put stress on bike frequently. Ride sanely and you'll enjoy it!

Just check oil dipstick after running engine for 1-2 minutes. If it's shiny golden yellow, then you've new oil.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----



I agree with engine behavior. How much total running you have?
Sometimes rear tyre slips on uneven surface. But not much.

If you sit properly by leaning then you won't feel the instability. If you can sit straight 90+ then that's good too. Just have completely closed clothing or riding gear and you'll feel confident on 90+
Enjoy! Ride safe

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----



+1. In my case, engine runs smooth if warmed up properly.

My odo currently is around 1600 kms. Until this trip I never exceeded the bike more than 75 kph purposely like an exceeded run in period. So I will still be gentle well until a few more 1000 - 1500 kms or so. It is only when I ventured to those speeds did I feel that the engine sounded strained.

Yes the tyre isn't that bothersome.

I always have completely closed clothing so there is minimal resistance due to fluttering. Being used to the typical commuter position I don't lean - so maybe I could try. However the roads were very windy - just too many turns - so I did not get the opportunity to cross 90 kph for a sustained time and hence had to brake frequently.

Why don't we fellow Hornet owners in Mumbai plan a meet/ short ride to the outskirts maybe on a weekend or something?

Also anyone else here with a white colour Hornet? Before I purchased I spotted very few - I don't see white ones anymore!