The trademark application filed by Honda for the title NX200 has been uncovered and this is expected to be the name of the Hornet 2.0-based small adventure bike that the firm is working on.
Back in October 2020, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India’s boss Atsushi Ogata revealed that the firm is holding discussions about launching a variety of models based on the Hornet 2.0’s platform.
He even let it slip that one of the options that the brand was considering was a small adventure motorcycle that would be powered by either a 160cc or 200cc engine.
Several months later, in March this year, the Honda NX200 trademark has been filed and it looks like the motorcycle’s development is well and truly underway.
As mentioned before, the Honda NX200 will be based on the Hornet 2.0. However, Honda is expected to rework the chassis to befit an adventure bike.
In terms of styling, a previously leaked design sketch of the small Honda ADV showed that it will look similar to the 2021 Honda CRF300L with minimal bodywork, short seat and long-travel suspension.
However, Honda knows well that in order to make the bike successful, it has to restyle it to suit Indian tastes. But, we do expect it to feature 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wire-spoked rims.
When it comes to the powertrain, we do not believe that Honda will equip the NX200 with a 200cc engine. The Hornet 2.0’s 184.4cc engine (good for 17 HP and 16.1 Nm) should be used for the ADV with slight changes to the way the motor delivers its power and torque. The gearbox is likely to be a 5-speed unit.
When it gets launched, the Honda NX200 will primarily rival the Hero Xpulse 200 that fetched close to 2500 unit sales in March this year.
With the Honda NX200 trademark uncovered, the motorcycle is expected to be launched in 2022 and should cost around Rs. 1.30 lakhs (ex-showroom).
