Honda CBR150R

The Honda CB150R looks every bit like its bigger neo-retro roadster siblings like the Honda CB300R and CB650R, with the motorcycle looking like a scaled-down version of the latter two. The neo-retro design theme of the Honda CB150R gives it a unique positioning and visual appeal in the market, thus creating a unique identity of its own.

The front fascia of the Honda CB150R has the same round LED headlamp, which here gets a small black partition in the middle and has crescent-shaped daytime running LEDs at the top and bottom of the headlamp. At the top of the headlamp, which here is encased in a small black plastic cowl, sits the instrument console, the corner edges of which act as mounts for the small LED turn indicators. Adding some premium appeal to the motorcycle here are golden finished front forks, while the front fender is painted in black.

Even the side profile of the Honda CB150R makes it look like a smaller version of the Honda CB300R, with the large and curvy fuel tank getting a rounded design. Due to the compact nature of the fuel tank, which doesn’t get proper knee recesses, taller riders might feel it a bit cramped in size. The front lower corners of the fuel tank come with broad looking fuel tank extensions which like in other CB roadsters are finished in contrast silver and gets faux air vents.

While the Honda CB150R looks small, the overall packaging of the motorcycle has been done in such a way that it looks beefy and sporty. The single-cylinder engine with the underbody stubby exhaust pipe is finished in all-black theme, and so are the alloy wheels. The triangular theme for the side body panels looks classy with their scooped design.

The short tailpiece of the Honda CB150R, above which sits the split seats of the motorcycle, flow towards the rear in an angular manner and ends up in a tiny LED tail lamp, with a long rear fender flowing from the bottom of it.

The Honda CB150R has a modern-looking cockpit comprising of a trapezoidal-shaped fully digital instrument console. This TFT unit with blue backlit gives readouts for speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, gear indicator, clock, odometer, trip meters and average fuel consumption. Despite being an entry-level sporty roadster, the Honda CB150R has been blessed with premium switchgear and handlebar levers, showing no compromise in quality.

Unlike the other bigger neo-retro roadsters from Honda, the Honda CB150R comes fitted with a lesser sophisticated suspension setup of upside-down hydraulic telescopic forks at the front and a single 5-step adjustable monoshock at the back. The motorcycle has been adorned with single disc brakes at both the front and rear, with a 100/80-17 tire at the front and 130/70-17 tire at the rear.

The Honda CB150R shares its four-stroke, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, 149.1cc engine with the fully faired 150cc motorcycle from Honda, the CBR150R. The engine, which here is coupled to a 6-speed gearbox, produces a maximum power output of 16.3 PS and a peak torque output of 13.7 Nm. For a motorcycle of this size, the Honda CB150R’s engine feels quite powerful with a good low-end grunt.

Save for a dual-channel ABS and engine kill switch, there are no other prominent safety features in the Honda CB150R, in order to keep the costs in check.

For an entry-level roadster, the Honda CB150R looks beautiful with its great combination of retro design and stance and modern features like LED lights and fully digital meter console. Given that it is a Honda motorcycle, there are no compromises on the mechanical fronts either.