Honda recently launched the all-new 2021 Honda H'Ness CB 350 BS6 in the country. The new Honda H'Ness CB 350 is the first sub-500cc retro cruiser from this Japanese two-wheeler manufacturer in the Indian market. As we all know that the new Honda H'Ness CB 350 has created a lot of buzz in the market. Also, although this affordable retro motorcycle segment is mostly dominated by Royal Enfield, the new H'Ness CB 350 has surely impressed everyone, be it a prospective customer or an auto expert. But, as we all know that everything has both its upsides as well as downsides. So, today we will be sharing with you all the Pros and Cons of the new 2021 Honda H'Ness CB 350 BS6.
2021 Honda H'Ness CB 350 BS6 Pros and Cons:
Pros
The Way It Looks and Colour Options
The new Honda H'Ness CB 350 is a very good looking motorcycle. It has as an inherent old-school retro appeal but at the same time, it is also loaded with all the modern elements. At the front, it gets a beautiful round-shaped all-LED headlamp with chrome surrounds and round LED turn indicators. It gets a dual-tone fuel tank with Honda's branding and a H'Ness CB 350 badge on the side panel. The motorcycle gets a long flat single-piece seat and at the rear, it gets a rectangular LED taillamp. All in all, the new Honda H'Ness CB 350 looks very elegant and sports a retro charm.
The new Honda H'Ness CB 350 BS6 is available in two variants - Deluxe and Deluxe Pro. The base Deluxe variant is available in three colour options. They are Precious Red Metallic, Matte Marshal Green Metallic and Pearl Night Star Black. The top-spec Deluxe Pro variant also gets three dual-tone colour shades. They are Matte Steel Black Metallic with Matte Massive Grey Metallic, Pearl Night Star Black with Spear Silver and Metallic Athletic Blue Metallic with Virtuous White. Which colour variant of the H'Ness CB 350 is your favourite? Hit us in the comments section below.
Loads of Features on Offer
The new Honda H'Ness CB 350 is a very feature-loaded motorcycle. In fact, it is the most feature-loaded motorcycle in its segment. The new H'Ness CB 350 gets an analogue instrument cluster along with a small MID or a multi-information display that displays fuel gauge, trip meters, battery voltage meter, distance to empty, real-time mileage, gear-position indicator, etc. Some other features of the motorcycle include HSTC or Honda's Selectable Torque Control which is basically a traction control system, an assist & slipper clutch, engine start/stop switch, hazard light switch, an in-house developed Voice Control System, etc. Thus, we can say the new Honda H'Ness CB 350 is a very feature-rich offering from Honda in India.
Very Refined Engine with Good Performance
The new 2020 Honda H'Ness CB 350 is powered by a BS6-compliant 348.3cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled, fuel-injected engine. This motor churns out 21.07 PS of maximum power at 5500 RPM and 30 Nm of peak torque at 3000 RPM. The engine comes mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. This 348.3cc engine of the new Honda H'Ness CB 350 is a long-stroke engine and it is an all-new mill from Honda. This engine is supremely refined, even at the higher RPMs and it offers good performance too. Talking about fuel-efficiency, the H'Ness CB 350 BS6 delivers around 30-35 kmpl of mileage in real-world conditions.
Premium Hardware Components
Honda is known to offer good quality materials in its vehicles and the same is the case with the new H'Ness CB 350 too. The motorcycle has good fit and finish and it gets premium components too. Further, if we talk about the hardware bits of the motorcycle, so for suspension duties the new H'Ness CB 350 gets telescopic forks at the front and dual spring-loaded hydraulic shock absorbers at the rear. The braking duties of the motorcycle are performed by disc brakes at either end. It gets a 310 mm disc brake at the front and a 240 mm disc unit at the rear. It also gets dual-channel ABS as standard. Also, it rides on 19-inch front and 18-inch rear tyre. The front tyre of the motorcycle measures 100/90-19 while the rear one is a 130/70 section 18-inch unit. It gets alloy wheels and tubeless tyres.
Affordable to Own and Maintain
As we have already mentioned before, the new Honda H'Ness CB 350 BS6 is available in two variants - Deluxe and Deluxe Pro. It was launched in India in October 2020 at a starting price of Rs. 1.85 lakhs, Ex-showroom Delhi. But now, as we have entered the new year, the prices of the motorcycle have been hiked. The Deluxe variant of the Honda H'Ness CB 350 is now priced at Rs. 1.88 lakhs while the Deluxe Pro variant is priced at Rs. 1.94 lakhs. All the prices stick to Ex-showroom Delhi. It is still a very affordable motorcycle if we take into consideration its sweet overall package. Also, being a Japanese motorcycle, the new Honda H'Ness CB 350 is affordable to maintain too.
Cons
Only Available at Honda's BigWing Dealerships
Now, as we are done with the positives of the motorcycle, let's have a look at its negatives. So, the first and the major con of this motorcycle is actually not of the motorcycle but of the manufacturer's strategy. Now, Honda Two-wheelers India is selling this retro classic motorcycle in the country only via Honda's premium BigWing dealerships and not through the regular outlets. At present, the premium Honda BigWing dealerships are available in very limited numbers and even all Tier-I cities do not get it, forget the Tier-II and Tier-III ones. The company has promised that they will expand the BigWing dealerships exponentially in the coming months but it will need some time for sure.
No Option of Spoke Wheels
As we have already mentioned before, the new Honda H'Ness CB 350 rides on 19-inch front and 18-inch rear tyre. The front tyre of the motorcycle measures 100/90-19 while the rear one is a 130/70 section 18-inch unit. It gets alloy wheels and tubeless tyres. While alloy wheels and tubeless tyres are always better than the tubed tyres and spoke wheels, still Honda should have considered offering spoke wheels too as an option. That's because it is a retro classic motorcycle and many people love their retro beauties with spoke wheels. Also, the addition of optional spoke wheels with tubed tyres would have made it even more affordable, thereby luring more buyers.
Firm Ride Quality
The suspension duties on the new Honda H'Ness CB 350 BS6 are performed by telescopic forks at the front while at the rear, it gets dual spring-loaded hydraulic shock absorbers. The ride quality of the Honda H'Ness CB 350 is slightly on the firmer side and so one can easily feel the undulations of the road at lower speeds, however, on the plus side, at higher speeds, it remains planted and offers you the confidence to push it even harder.
Some Ergonomic Flaws
Last but not the least, the new Honda H'Ness CB 350 has some ergonomic flaws too. For instance, if you see the switch gears on the left side of the handlebar, the horn is positioned above where we normally get the switch of turn indicators while the switch of the turn indicators is placed below where we normally get the horn switch. This isn't a major issue but you will need some time to get used to it as every time when you wanna turn on the turn indicators, you might hit the horn switch.
So, these were the pros and cons of the all-new 2021 Honda H'Ness CB 350 BS6. We have listed the top five positives and four negatives of this all-new retro classic motorcycle. Do you own a new Honda H'Ness CB 350 BS6 and do you want to share more pros and cons of this retro motorcycle with the fellow readers? Do feel free to share your thoughts and opinions with all of us in the comments section below. You can also join our 91Wheels Auto Enthusiast Telegram group (click via mobile to join) curated exclusively for the fans, enthusiasts and the owners. Further, subscribe to our YouTube channel for more such amazing motoring updates.
