Announcement

**The Monk** · 09-07-2015, 11:08 AM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

Query Approved

I am no doctor so can't comment on what is good or bad for your back. But the Unicorn 160 is an extremely comfortable motorcycle. I rode it for quite a few kilometres in the week for which i had it. Even with a pillion it was good. The bike is more commuter oriented and thus probably perfect for your requirements.

Do take a test ride at the earliest. The other bike you can check out is the Suzuki GS 150, if it is still being sold and the Yamaha SZ, though i think that has a slightly stiffer suspension.

**s.srinath** · 09-07-2015, 01:04 PM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

Thank you Mr.Monk for approving the thread. Suzuki GS 150 is no longer available. Enquired about it with at least three dealers. They are more interested in Gixxer.

Today, I test drove the Unicorn 160 for 2 Km. The bike was pretty easy to handle and it has a relaxed upright position. It is also lighter than old Unicorn 150 (Liberal use of fiber might be the reason, eg: Chain cover is a plastic fibre one.) As of now my back is also ok. Sad that I could not get an elaborate test drive. Is a 2 Km drive enough to come to conclusion especially in my case?

I have narrowed down to Shine and Unicorn 160 as both have upright, relaxed riding position and low NVH levels. The decision making boils down to go whether with monoshock Unicorn or twin shock Shine.

After driving FZ, Unicorn 150 and going through lot of mono vs twin debates, I can safely say that "Monoshocks" based bikes are easy to control, corner, handle, tune and maintain. But the same cannot be said of bump absorption, preventing vibration transmission to low back / spine. This might be due to the inherent nature of stiffness of monoshock suspension.
1.I want to go with Unicorn 160 but fear about the long term repercussions on my back.

2.Is the new Shine (with HET) reliable one, especially the new one with HET?? Please help me decide.

**Camph345** · 09-29-2015, 12:22 PM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

trouble with my back and my physiotherapist in Toronto advised changing my bike to any other bike with good riding seat suspension. So I would not recommend both of these bikes, instead I would suggest a bike with good suspension.

**theironhorse99** · 09-29-2015, 02:37 PM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

have you got yourself checked first ?
is the lower back pain due to muscle spasm ?
slip -discs ?
disk bulge ?
or weakened core muscles ?

if either of these then first and foremost you should get that fixed as all of these can be fixed.

then look into a motorcycles. i had had friends with slip-disks also recovered and riding ninja's and cbr's and even pulsars in
everyday commute and long hauls.

**Pulsar220F** · 09-30-2015, 01:10 AM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

My colleague, in fact two of them has back pain issue. One is told not to use any motorcycles. Unless you are allowed by your chiropractor to ride you shouldn't be riding. Then again I understand that it is not feasible all times. We need to have a bike at emergencies. Unless you are already doing back /core strengthening exercises bike will take a toll on you. You need something like Hero Impulse's suspension. Also light weight. Duke is light weight but don't think good suspension for your back. Have you tried hero Impulse?

**SidharthaN** · 10-02-2015, 09:21 AM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

Originally posted by Pulsar220F View Post

My colleague, in fact two of them has back pain issue. One is told not to use any motorcycles. Unless you are allowed by your chiropractor to ride you shouldn't be riding. Then again I understand that it is not feasible all times. We need to have a bike at emergencies. Unless you are already doing back /core strengthening exercises bike will take a toll on you. You need something like Hero Impulse's suspension. Also light weight. Duke is light weight but don't think good suspension for your back. Have you tried hero Impulse?

Is Impulse still on sale. Would have loved to buy it since I also have a back issue and am planning to buy a new bike. Would be covering Ladakh next year.

**Pulsar220F** · 10-02-2015, 06:07 PM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

Originally posted by SidharthaN View Post

Is Impulse still on sale. Would have loved to buy it since I also have a back issue and am planning to buy a new bike. Would be covering Ladakh next year.

It is still, as per the Hero's website.

**krishna77** · 10-03-2015, 06:03 PM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

GS-150R is a very good and underrated bike. But, I think Suzuki is to phase out the bike gradually. So, even if you get one, finding the spares will be tough in future. I can suggest you SZ-RR. A very comfortable commuter. Take a test ride. Also, mono-shock doesn't necessarily mean better comfort. It comes down to your sitting postures and how comfortable you feel while riding the bike.
You are doing a very wise job by extensively riding the bikes you have selected. This helps in giving a better picture than taking a 5 minute test ride from the showroom. Choose wisely and patiently.

**arjunb25** · 10-05-2015, 03:11 AM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

Originally posted by s.srinath View Post

Hi friends!

1. Budget - 90K (can increase by another 5k)
2. Age - 34
3. Height - 5'9"
4. Weight - 75 Kg
5. Intended usage - Office commute
6. Fuel Efficiency requirement - Not important
7. City & Highway percentage usage - 95 % city commute and once in two months highway (to and fro 200 Km)
8. Approximate Daily running - 5 to 8 Kms
9. City / Town /Village of residence - Town with cement concrete roads and fair number of speed breakers.
10. Brand / Bike type preference (if any): Honda, Hero, Yamaha.
12. Previously owned: Yamaha RX135 (1999-2004), Xtreme (2013-2015)

11. Very Important : I had a disk bulge in lower spine hence, need a bike with good rear suspensions, less weight and low NVH levels.

Due to reverting of the forum to vBulletin 4.2.2 my earlier thread "Bike-or-scooter-for-person-with-low-back-ache" has disappeared. The gist of the suggestions from various members in that thread was "to go for a bike instead of a scooter to mitigate / prevent low back pain and back comfort". Even my doctor suggested me to stay away from scooters. Since that thread is no longer available, I am posting a new thread. Experienced members please contribute.

I test rode 7 months old Yamaha FZ V 2.0 of a friend for 2 days (total ride of 4 hours over 2 days). Felt low back pain immediately after half an hour ride. Tested for 2 day as well and the pain continued. Riding position was also not comfortable for me. Hence ruled out.

After the pain completely subsided 2 days later, I drove Unicorn (150 cc) one year old bike for an hour on various tarmacs. Seating position was very relaxed and comfortable. The bike I rode has serious front suspension problems and it was'nt maintained well. Felt stiffness in lower back after 2 hours i stopped riding.

I test rode Honda CB Shine and Super Splendor. Did not get any pain at all even after 3 days (aggregate 6 hours of riding).

I think the "monoshock suspension" which are obviously stiff, isn't going well with my back.

I haven't test driven the New Unicorn 160. I am trying to get one for test drive, but have'nt succeded till now.

Now I am in dilemma, whether to go with Shine or Unicorn 160. Shine is too plain jane and the quality of the product has deteriorated. Unicorn's driving position is very comfortable and handling is very easy, but I fear its stiff suspension might aggravate my low back pain. Kindly help me out.

Thank you!

Regards!
SRINATH.

Take a test ride of the new hero splendor plus good bike a friend had bought and believe me there is no pain rather the bike is very good. You can consider on the unicorn but I had a very bad taste from the company in my previous bike for which I had to shift back to pulsar.
There is another option BAJAJ avanger.

**jammbuster** · 05-22-2016, 06:52 PM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

Bro. I shared my experience.. I am in also in same age group and having height above 6.5"....

Dont go for mono shockers bike until u test drive or took drive for long....

cbr250 is from different league...

For soft shockers go for dual shockers

1. Hunk
2. Cbz extreme (not new model)
3. Szr / szrr ( i used szr for one year never had back pain)
4. Pulsar 150/180
5. Suzuki Gsr150( eyes closed if it available now)

Rest all bike look too small to me in heights

Pls note above suggestion only for back pain nothing else...

**krishna77** · 06-06-2016, 04:41 PM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

@ The thread starter, have you decided anything yet?

Sent from my Xperia L.

**soppashashi** · 07-06-2018, 03:07 PM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

Even my New Unicorn 160 having same problem,I dont no why R&D department Honda is not addressing this problem.Honda should come out with proper soulution for this problem. I think I have to try what bike_1 suggested. bike_1 could you please provide more feedback after chaing the tyre.

**tkp** · 07-07-2018, 06:13 PM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

i have a Unicorn 160 CBS version which i am riding for past 2.5 yrs and now extensively (for work) past 8 months. The suspension is stiff but can be adjusted into 3 levels. An important thing i would like to point out is that the suspension is very smooth with a pillion. So with a bit extra weight, the suspension feels good. Handling it in bad traffic is easy and it can corner very easy without slipping or snaking thru the traffic.

**#bpk** · 07-07-2018, 06:37 PM

Re: Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

Originally posted by s.srinath View Post

Hi friends!

1. Budget - 90K (can increase by another 5k)
2. Age - 34
3. Height - 5'9"
4. Weight - 75 Kg
5. Intended usage - Office commute
6. Fuel Efficiency requirement - Not important
7. City & Highway percentage usage - 95 % city commute and once in two months highway (to and fro 200 Km)
8. Approximate Daily running - 5 to 8 Kms
9. City / Town /Village of residence - Town with cement concrete roads and fair number of speed breakers.
10. Brand / Bike type preference (if any): Honda, Hero, Yamaha.
12. Previously owned: Yamaha RX135 (1999-2004), Xtreme (2013-2015)

11. Very Important : I had a disk bulge in lower spine hence, need a bike with good rear suspensions, less weight and low NVH levels.

Due to reverting of the forum to vBulletin 4.2.2 my earlier thread "Bike-or-scooter-for-person-with-low-back-ache" has disappeared. The gist of the suggestions from various members in that thread was "to go for a bike instead of a scooter to mitigate / prevent low back pain and back comfort". Even my doctor suggested me to stay away from scooters. Since that thread is no longer available, I am posting a new thread. Experienced members please contribute.

I test rode 7 months old Yamaha FZ V 2.0 of a friend for 2 days (total ride of 4 hours over 2 days). Felt low back pain immediately after half an hour ride. Tested for 2 day as well and the pain continued. Riding position was also not comfortable for me. Hence ruled out.

After the pain completely subsided 2 days later, I drove Unicorn (150 cc) one year old bike for an hour on various tarmacs. Seating position was very relaxed and comfortable. The bike I rode has serious front suspension problems and it was'nt maintained well. Felt stiffness in lower back after 2 hours i stopped riding.

I test rode Honda CB Shine and Super Splendor. Did not get any pain at all even after 3 days (aggregate 6 hours of riding).

I think the "monoshock suspension" which are obviously stiff, isn't going well with my back.

I haven't test driven the New Unicorn 160. I am trying to get one for test drive, but have'nt succeded till now.

Now I am in dilemma, whether to go with Shine or Unicorn 160. Shine is too plain jane and the quality of the product has deteriorated. Unicorn's driving position is very comfortable and handling is very easy, but I fear its stiff suspension might aggravate my low back pain. Kindly help me out.

Thank you!

Regards!
SRINATH.

Go for 2018 hero achiever

Announcement

Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

Honda Shine or Unicorn 160 for person with low back pain??

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment