The feeling is stronger when you wake up to the fact that it’s only a 110cc bike. Please welcome one of the finer Hondas to town
Reviewing smaller capacity motorcycles isn’t an easy task.
One, your body has a hard time adjusting to the long rides motorcycling reviewers are subjected to—long rides on smaller capacity bikes generally get uncomfortable.
Two, the difference between any of the smaller capacity motorcycles available in India is often so insignificant that you have to get really intimate with your bike in order to figure these out.
Three, to over-exposed riders, smaller bikes mean touching the ‘boring’ end of motorcycling fun. So, when I got my hands on the Dream Yuga—the smallest bike Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) makes—I wasn’t all that excited! Although curious I was, since I have ridden everything from a Hero to a Bajaj to a TVS, but not a small Honda.
The body
Now we have a number of 100-odd-cc bikes in the country and, as far as design goes, they tend to be quite similar. (This is understandable, since adding unique design elements means higher costs.)
The Dream Yuga, too, at first glance, looks like any of the mass motorcycle segment machines. But a second glance shows that attention to detail has been paid by the Honda designers. The front cowl (including the headlamp assembly) is attractive and provides the required aerodynamics to the bike.
Stylish graphics have been added on the fuel tank, which go all the way towards the rear that has a body-coloured grab rail made of aluminium. The seat is long and provides ample space for two. The front and rear suspensions (the rear is a five-step adjustable one) give the bike a somewhat raised stance. Weighing a total of 108 kg, the bike is 2,022 mm long and comes with an impressive wheelbase of 1,285 mm. The ground clearance is 161 mm, enough for the raised speed-breakers you might encounter on some Indian roads.
The heart
Powered by a 109cc engine that pumps out a decent output of 6.35kw@7500rpm and a torque of 8.91nm@ 5500rpm, the Dream Yuga powerplant is impressive on paper. Fed by a carburettor, the bike gets a four-speed constant mesh (all back, N-1-2-3-4) transmission.
The wheels
The Dream Yuga comes with five-spoke alloy wheels shod with tubeless tyres that reduce the chances of immediate deflation in case of a puncture. Both sizes are identical—80/100-18.
The run
With 8.5bhp, the engine is a shade more powerful than most of the competition and it shows on the road. (The Dream Yuga engine is the same unit that powers the Honda CB Twister, though it seems to be tuned a bit more towards fuel efficiency.)
The gear ratios are just fine and the bike pulls equally well from all the gears at the right rpm. Mention must be made of the second gear, which is quite tall—meaning that the second gear pulls the bike from literally standstill to above 35kmph, and this makes riding the bike an easy affair in bumper-to-bumper (or I might say tyre-to-tyre) traffic conditions.
The first cog is also powerful enough for the bike’s size. In fact, at one of the traffic intersections, as soon as the light turned green and I let go of the clutch while pulling the throttle, the front tyre raised a bit!
It is at speeds over 60kmph where you feel you are riding a 125cc rather than a 109cc, given the way the engine, without much effort, pulls from 60kmph to 80kmph. But here we also feel the need for a fifth gear. Not only will it, theoretically at least, make riding easy by lowering vibrations (an extra gear means the bike will achieve higher speeds at lower rpm, and this means lesser vibes!), it might help better fuel efficiency too.
The bike, as expected in this segment, comes with front and rear 130mm drum brakes, which do the duty well, but only if you use both brakes. Here, Honda should have at least considered giving disk brake as an option.
The thirst
Unfortunately, the bike wasn’t with me for long enough to test its drinking ability, so here we go by the manufacturer’s claim of 72kmpl (in real-life conditions, expect anywhere around 55-60kmpl).
The ease
There is nothing great about the riding position but the fact that the long seat gives enough movement to the rider. For instance, after continuously riding for 25 km, when I felt my lower back almost numbing and neck muscles stiffening, an inch or two of sideways and back & forth movement readied me for another 10-odd kilometres of riding.
But considering the fact that smaller bikes are used for short-distance city commuting, the Dream Yuga doesn’t disappoint. The riding position is fine and you sit upright while holding the handlebars.
The need
If Honda can, without affecting affordability, include a fifth gear to the bike, a good product can be made better. Ditto with disc brakes as an option, since we always advocate safe riding. And the seat is too soft, so a firmer material might make long rides more comfortable. Otherwise, there aren’t too many gripes about a motorcycle that might define Honda’s growth chart and which Honda looks forward to in its ambitious goal of becoming the largest two-wheeler company in India by 2020.
The Dream Yuga is available in three variants. The base model costs R44,642, the middle one comes for R46,134, and you pay R48,125 for the & forth movement readied me for another 10-odd kilometres of riding. But considering the fact that smaller bikes are used for short-distance city commuting, the Dream Yuga doesn’t disappoint.
The riding position is fine and you sit upright while holding the handlebars.
The Dream Yuga is available in three variants. The base model costs R44,642, the middle one comes for R46,134, and you pay R48,125 for the top-end variant (prices, ex-showroom, Delhi).
