Honda Rebel

The Honda Rebel sources its entire design inspiration from the flagship 1100cc Rebel which unfortunately is not on sale in the Philippines market. The low slung profile of the motorcycle, with its all-black theme, looks very attractive and gives a sinister appeal to it.

The frontal look of the Honda Rebel has been kept minimal but it looks modern and classy at the same time, thanks to a simple looking round headlamp which though is an all-LED unit. Even the small and round amber-colored turn indicators flanking it are LED units, which make the front fascia look very appealing. The chopped theme for the front fender adds to the cruiser theme of the motorcycle.

Move towards the side profile and the Honda Rebel manages to impress you even more with its low slung stance, with the long and slanted fuel tank adding some glory to the overall design. Just below the fuel tank, the Honda Rebel has the long tubular frame, below which sits the parallel-twin 471cc engine which is finished in an all-black theme. This black finish is carried out for the two-into-one exhaust pipe as well as 10-spoke alloy wheels too.

The Honda Rebel comes with a split seat theme, with the pillion seat mounted on the rounded rear fender. The rear look of the Honda Rebel has been kept simple and minimalist, with a simple tail lamp assembly mounted on the rear fender itself, which also doubles up as the mudguard of the motorcycle.

In a traditional cruiser fashion, the Honda Rebel has got forward-set footpegs as well as high positioned handlebar, which is laid out in a straight manner. Just behind the handlebar sits a small round full digital instrument console, which looks cool with its blue-backlit theme. However, apart from the small fonts which are hard to read while on the go, the meter panel has just the basic information on offer, including that of speedometer, odometer, fuel gauge, trip meter, and clock.

Cruisers are usually not fitted with fancy mechanical hardware, and the Honda Rebel stays loyal to the cruiser brigade in that sense. The motorcycle comes fitted with 41mm conventional hydraulic telescopic forks at the front and Showa pro-link mono-shock at the rear. The Honda Rebel comes with a single disc brake setup as well as 16-inch wheels with tubeless tires at both the ends (110mm section tire at front and 150mm section tire at rear) at both the ends.

The Honda Rebel is powered by the same four-stroke, parallel-twin, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, 471cc engine which is there in some other prominent models from Honda like CB500X, CB500R, and CBR500R. However, for extracting more usable performance in lower rpms, the engine has been tuned for the Rebel, and here, it makes 46.2 PS of maximum power and 43.3 Nm of maximum torque. The engine on the Honda Rebel is mated to a 6-speed gearbox.

The Honda Rebel is quite underequipped for a middleweight motorcycle when it comes to safety aids, with the motorcycle just having a dual-channel ABS and no other electronic safety aids in it. 

The Honda Rebel has definitely got a price advantage over the traditional American cruisers from Harley Davidson, for it has a smaller, but more refined engine. The low slung stance and classic design, coupled with contemporary features like all LED lighting and fully digital instrumentation, makes the Honda Rebel the best of both the eras – the bygone one as well as the current modern one.