Honda recently filed another patent in India for a new motorcycle, globally known as the CRF190L. It is essentially a small capacity off-roader bearing a striking resemblance to the Africa Twin.
The Honda CRF190L gets a Dakar-esque front fairing with a split vertical headlight furnished with LED DRLs. The bike gets a long single seat and a pillion grab rail complete with a luggage rack. It gets mid-set foot pegs and an upright handlebar, which should prove to be effective in both urban and off-road riding conditions. The seat height is set at 830mm which is 5mm more than that of the Hero Xpulse 200 4V, its closest rival in our market.
We expect the baby CRF to be powered by the same 184cc single cylinder air-cooled engine that we’ve seen on other motorcycles from Honda’s stable, like the Hornet and the CB200X. The 184cc mill produces 17.2hp at 8500rpm and 16.01Nm of torque at 6,000rpm. This engine comes mated to a 5-speed gearbox. The China-spec CRF gets a disc at the front and drum brake at the rear.
Unlike the road-biased CB200X, the CRF190L seems to have better off-road ability along the same vein as the Hero Xpulse 200 4V, which coincidentally will also be its chief competitor. The bike's tubular steel frame gets a long travel suspension set-up affording it a ground clearance of 241mm. It comes with a 19-inch front wheel and 17-inch rear wheel, both shod in dual purpose knobbies.
The ADV segment has experienced a lot of popularity lately, especially in the low to mid capacity segment. The success of the Hero Xpulse 200 shows that.
The CRF190L, if launched, promises to be a potent off-road package from Honda which could potentially have a lot of takers in our market provided, of course, they price it well.
Would the Honda CRF190L have a place in your garage? Let us know in the comments below.
Vishal Venugopal
Ved Janve
Azaman Chothia
