Thread: New Honda Stunner Motorcycle

In the cold environs of a hotel coffee shop near Milan, a raging debate was er, raging. Except that debates are two-sided and this one wasn't. You see, manufacturers are too polite to telljournos off, and journos are never short of opinions. So we were, as a group, telling the two chaps from Honda that their current product lines were, in a word, inappropriate. We, of course, used a lot more words to say this. The upshot was, that we, to a man, wanted Honda to launch more aggressive products. More stylish products. products that didn't. by definition, tug at the wallets of the least common denominator. Products that represented international Honda, rather than the Indian masses.

Well. Honda had two years to think about that. and the story of the Stunner began in earnest at the Auto Expo, where a duo of CBfs turned up. Both stunning, one street-able, the other track-able. One in traditionally understated Honda colours (not counting the '90s CBRs, of course), the other in Repsol colours. Being the total opti¬mists that we are, we happily assumed that they were both Unicorn-based. And later realised that they were, in fact. Shine-based. And therein lie two important conclusions. first. the CBf looks plenty large for its displacement.

Honda says people thought it was a 180; one particularly clued-in gentleman even thought itwas a 250. Wewouldn't go that far, but yes, size does flatter. The other, crucially, is that we all wanted a bigger displacement sporty machine from Honda. And that. this one isn't. On being quizzed hard, the shy and retiring Honda gent said simply, 'Give us a little more time.

So while the Honda mill churns up a smashing new, bigger machine for us, let us return to the Stunner. Almost half the Stunner story lies squarely in its looks. And you have to give it to the Honda. Park the Shine and the Stunner together, and you'd never think of them as twins. Which they are. The Shine may like to dress all dowdy. like, and the Stunner simply knows how to apply the mascara. what Iipliner can do, and how to dress to impress.

The big visual change is the categorical move away from the traditional tank-side panel-tailpiece styling. A large swoopy fairing is bolted to the tank. ending in a Shine-ish headlamp. with a rather neat screen mounted atop. A simplified wing logo on this looks the business. and in both red and yellow, the Stunner is pretty impressive to look at. A fairly wide tank stays with the extra-large theme. as do the understated but massive matte black sidepanels. So large are the side panels that. if Honda painted them in matched colours. you'd end up thinking of something like Aprilia's much-panned Moto 6.5 nice enough, but simply too much body work for most people's liking.

At the rear, Honda chose to go with a two-panel tailpiece, where a co loured top panel clips into a black lower one. The impression of lightness is definitely enhanced by this. but I'm not entirely convinced of these panels' build quality. I successfully penetrated the edge with a grubby fingernail and repeatedly prised the pieces apart at will. But that panel is the sole flimsy feeling one in the mix, and during the test. it never even squeaked. so we'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

The other big change is the ergonomic design. The footpegs have been moved back, with decent looking rearsets, and the handlebar has been lowered and shortened in span. The result is a sportier, but still commute-able riding position. Which is nice, but personally, 1 believe an even more committed riding position would have actually suited the neutral and willing Stunner more. And I must absolutely make a mention of two niggles here. first of all. sporty the Stunner may be, but a tacho or an engine kill switch it does not get. Second, the choke placement is thankfully at the handlebar level. but the execution is downright '70s kitsch a metal plate with the choke switch wedged in it. That looks ugly. and um. cheap. Which, unfortunately, describes the rest of the switchgear also.



The switches are the lowest point of the Stunner, rather than the tyre contact patches. Which, come to think of it. are pretty impressive. Given Mumbai's on-off affair with the rains this year, I was hoping for a dry spell to see what the Stunner can do. No such luckthanks Murphy. But then again, the new tubeless tyres stick pretty hard and the Stunner feels planted, grippy and neutral to inputs. Like the Shine, then. but more than a few notches better. Riding about in the wet. I almost failed to provoke any slides at all. I could brake hard with confidence in the front-end and even my pathetic whee lie attempts (and Vijay 'Wheelie Boy' Jain's more impressive ones) proved easy and spin-free in pouring rain. Or indeed, in the middle of puddles.

Helping the handling is the sporty ride quality. The twin rear shocks (yellow but not gas charged) are damped a bit stiff, and feel almost too hard initially. But later on, it proves to be a good setup. Bumps are absorbed handily and there is chassis feedback when you want to elevate the pace. OVer mid-corner bumps, in the wet. the Stunner doesn't leave its line or cause nervous moments. It's good, then. Which brings us to the engine. Uh oh. When an article waits this long to mention the motor well. the styling and feel of the Stunner have, unfortunately, overtaken the motor. Despite a 1 bhp rise in power, the Stunner feels like it needs more power to feel truly sporty. There's nothing wrong with it. of course.

As Wheelie Boy put it. 'If all you want is a good-looking commuter with decent mileage, this is it.' What Honda have done is a tweak it a bit. with high-lift cams supplying the extra fuel for the extra power. The gearbox is Honda-slick, but the motor (surprise) isn't. Just like the CBZ X¬Tremel Hunk are less smooth than the Unicorn, the Stunner is less smooth by that same margin, r"ore or less. There are vibes in the handlebar and the footpegs once the revs come up and overall, I think the Shine's smoother.

Despite the power gain, the extra weight, nearly seven kg, damps some of the performance gains, so the 0 to 60 time is only marginally quicker. The five-speed gearbox helps matters, and the top speed is slightly better, and it also arrives quicker thanks to a (finally) slightly more potent top-end punch.

On the whole, despite the fact that the Unicorn motor in this package would have gone down like a smashing fondue, the Stunner is pretty likeable. The styling turns heads with a vengeance, the package is practical and the handling and ride quality are impressive. Okay, there are some com¬promises in the package, but let me also hasten to add that Honda's managed, with all of these shortcuts, to produce India's best looking 125 for a little more than Rs 2,000 more than the Shine. As long as you don't take Honda's claims of a sporty motorcycle too seriously, I think you will really like the Stunner.