Ever since Honda officially announced that they will launch four all-new products in India, there has been a barrage of speculations and rumours. Everyone is trying to pit in some or the other international model as “coming soon to India“.
However, the XRE 300 adventure motorcycle has some extra bits to, at least, consider it as a speculation. It was claimed to be spotted at some Honda’s plant in India (spy pic here) but we still are sceptical about that. Nonetheless, what is interesting is that Honda has filed for a design patent (pic here) of a similar motorcycle in India, however, there is a new twist to the story..
The design patent image that is being circulated, claiming to be the XRE300, is actually NOT that motorcycle. One of our reader tipped us in our earlier article that it is XRE 190, a smaller version of the series. Upon closer observation, it becomes abundantly clear that the design patent pic has an engine design very similar to the 190. However, that is not the end of the story…
It is very difficult to believe that Honda will create separate lines for a new engine which is not in production in India. More so, because the prospects of XRE 190 selling in India are neutral considering the very mute response the now defunct Hero (Honda) Impulse received.
Honda XRE160 Then?
This takes us to another possibility – is Honda preparing XRE160 for India? The 160 cc and 190 cc engines of these respective motorcycles look very similar so it is hard to distinguish between them but the 160 fits the jigsaw better.
Honda already mass produces the 160 cc engine in India (on the Unicorn 160 and Hornet 160R) and it is the engine that they will sell for many years to come. Back while announcing the four new products, Honda said that the second motorcycle (first one will be Africa Twin) will be a ‘fun mass market‘ product in the 150-200cc segment. XRE 160 adheres to this definition slightly more. It will also be more cost effective to make than the XRE190. So, if either of these motorcycles are coming to India, we will put our bets on the XRE160…
Let us also tell you that all of this is an (speculative) expectation without anyone having a concrete info on the actual product(s). But the question is – will India buy XRE160 when we did not latch onto the Impulse?
Next Read: 5 Lowest Selling 150cc Motorcycles: Hero Walks Away with the Crown…
