Honda CBR500R India launch in early-2014, sooner than expected
Japanese automotive giant, Honda is working on a range of exciting new bikes, which will be launched in the near future. The first of these bikes to make it into production will be the upcoming CBR500R. Honda will showcase the new CBR at the 2014 Auto Show in February, and bookings for the motorcycle will commence shortly after that. Sources also say that, training of service technicians at the authorised service centres has already begun in order to cater to the latest tech used on the bike.
The CBR500R was first revealed in November-2012, it is powered by a 500cc parallel twin, liquid cooled engine, putting out 47bhp and 43nm of torque. Even though the bike is very heavy, weighing in at 194 kilos, this engine helps the bike perform very well indeed. 0-100 kmph takes 5.7 seconds, and the bike will go on to eventually hit a top end whack of 185 kmph. Braking duties will be handled by a 320mm petal disc up front and a 240mm petal disc at the rear and while ABS is optional globally, it will come with the bike as a standard feature in India.
Globally, the CBR500R competes with the Kawasaki Ninja 300 and KTM 390 Duke, but the CBR has a 200cc and 125cc advantage over these bikes respectively and a higher output too. The Ninja 300 is more of a track focused machine, and the Duke 390 is a street fighter, but the CBR500R is more of an all-rounder. It can take up touring with ease and can also do track days and regular commutes too. More importantly, the CBR has more competition headed its way with the KTM RC 390. So it all depends on the pricing of the CBR, because the pricing of the Bajaj-KTM duo is always competitive. The price in the USA, for the CBR500R ABS is INR 3.6 lakhs, it might see an INR 4 lakh price tag in India. So, it remains to be seen what the CBR can do to its competition.
Also see – 8 Upcoming 250 to 500cc bikes in India
2013 Honda CBR500R might launch in India this-year
See more pictures of 2013 Honda CBR500R –
Source – MotorBeam
