Honda's Royal Enfield rival likely to be called H'Ness

The Royal Enfield rival that Honda is set to launch on September 30 will likely be called the H’Ness (Highness).

• Upcoming Honda motorcycle to be called H’Ness.

• Launch on September 30

• Will be a brand-new 300cc-plus motorcycle for India

Honda H’Ness latest news

Last week, Honda revealed that it will launch a brand-new motorcycle in India. Now, we’ve got our hands on a trademark application that hints that this Honda bike will be called the H’Ness. 

Honda has been using the ‘Highness’ term in all its promotions so far, but as you can see in the image below, the trademark application for ‘Highness’ was opposed, while another one for ‘H’Ness’ has been approved.

Honda H’Ness sound

Earlier this week, Honda shared with us what the upcoming Honda H’Ness will sound like. The audio clip is of an exhaust note that sounds exactly like that of a Royal Enfield’s signature thump. It reveals what the bike sounds like while starting up, at idle and as it accelerates through the gears. Listen to the clip below and tell us what you think.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Autocar India (@autocar_india) on Sep 18, 2020 at 5:00am PDT

Honda H’Ness vs Royal Enfield Meteor 350

It’s no secret that Honda has been developing a motorcycle to take on Royal Enfield. Given what it sounds like, we are almost certain to expect cruiser motorcycle styling from this upcoming Honda.

This also leads us to believe that it could be a 350cc bike if Honda really wants to take on the REs. Interestingly, the upcoming Honda motorcycle launches just before the brand-new Royal Enfield Meteor is expected to go on sale. 

We are given to understand that this will be a never-seen-before motorcycle designed specifically for our market. It will be interesting to see whether the bike is based on an all-new platform or if it uses a modified version of something like the Honda Rebel 300 that is sold overseas.

However, considering that the Rebel is based on a modern liquid-cooled platform borrowed from the Honda CB300R, it is quite possible that this new bike will be based on a completely new platform. 

Honda H’Ness price and launch

As we mentioned above, this upcoming Honda motorcycle will launch on September 30. We also know that the new bike will be retailed out of the Honda Big Wing dealer network. 

While there has been no confirmation on the pricing, the Big Wing network has been designed for premium products and this new bike will be the most affordable motorcycle sold from it. 

Honda announced in November 2019 that it planned to aggressively expand the Big Wing network to 75 cities across India. The company also released a teaser on its Big Wing social media pages that you can take a look at below.