The Honda CBR150R is a very capable motorcycle but doesn’t sell in India due to various reasons, the styling being one of them. Now Honda has updated the CBR150R in Indonesia (new tagline is ‘Live To Race’), giving it the design of the CBR300R which itself draws heavy influence from the flagship Fireblade. However, the changes to the CBR150R aren’t minor, there are a host of changes underneath too. The CBR150R has dropped the Perimeter frame in lieu of a Truss frame and the suspension is a pro-link instead of a swing-arm mounted unit. These come from the bigger CBR and will result in the 150R having more comfort and reduced vibrations.
The 2015 Honda CBR150R continues to use the same 149.4cc, single-cylinder, 4-valve engine which employs liquid-cooling. The bike gets a new dicylinder head and muffler along with changes to the ECU. The O2 sensor in the engine is new as well with the overall result being a slight change in output. The CBR150R now generates 17.1 PS of power (the old model made 17.8 PS) while the torque output has increased marginally to 13 Nm at 7500 RPM (12.66 Nm at 8500 RPM on the old baby CBR). The bike uses the same 15T sprocket at the front but the rear now gets a 46 sprocket instead of the 43 on the old bike.
The changes to the engine have been made to improve the tractability of the motor, focus being on ride-ability by improving output in the low and mid-range of the powerband. The true top speed is 131 km/hr while mileage is rated at 35.2 km/l. The switchgear has been changed and is borrowed from the CX-01 concept but there is still no engine kill switch. Honda will be replacing the existing CBR150R in India with this new model next year. The current CBR150R manages to sell less than 150 units a month while its key rival, the Yamaha R15 manages twenty times that number. Expect Honda to price the new CBR150R aggressively to take on the YZF machine.
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