The Airblade could be introduced with a 160cc petrol engine in India to rival Hero Xoom 160, TVS Ntorq 150 and Yamaha Aerox 155
Honda has filed the design patent of the upcoming Airblade maxi-scooter in India. This scooter is already on sale in several global markets with 125cc and 160cc engine options. Honda Airblade could be launched in the coming months in our country to rival the likes of Hero Xoom 160, TVS Ntorq 150 and Yamaha Aerox 155. The Japanese brand presently retails Activa and Dio scooters in the domestic market in India. However, both of these are family-oriented entry-level scooters with 110cc and 125cc engines.
The design patent reveals the Airblade to be a sporty maxi-scooter. Though it is not as heavy as the Xoom 160, it is more identical to the Aerox 155. Upfront, there are LED headlamps mounted on the apron, which Honda has termed as Crystal Light Technology. We also see a wide LED DRL above the headlamp unit while the LED turn indicators are positioned over the DRL.
A few other notable design elements include stepped seat, rear grab rail and LED tail-lamp cluster. The Airblade has an underseat storage area of 23.2 litres while the fuel tank capacity stands at 4.4 litres. The maxi-scooter tips the weighing scale at 113 kg which is significantly lesser than Yamaha Aerox 155 and Hero Xoom 160 which have a kerb weight of 126 kg and 142 kg, respectively.
Riding on 14-inch front and rear alloy wheels, Honda Airblade uses 90/80-14 front and 100/80-14 rear tyres. The suspension duties are handled by RSU telescopic front forks and dual rear shock absorbers. As for braking, the maxi-scooter comes with front disc and rear drum units along with a single-channel ABS as standard safety features. The saddle height is pegged at 775 mm while the ground clearance is 145 mm.
Honda Airblade comes equipped with a plethora of premium features in the form of USB charging port, fully-digital instrument cluster, all-LED lighting, and Honda smart key with keyless go. We strongly believe that Honda will launch the Airblade with a 160cc engine as introducing it with a 125cc engine doesn’t make any sense at all with Activa and Dio already there in the segment.
At the heart, the Airblade maxi-scooter houses the 156.93cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled petrol engine which develops top power of 15 bhp and peak torque of 14.8 Nm. The maxi-scooter has a claimed mileage of 44.8 kmpl in international markets. Hence, the maxi-scooter can run for around 200 km on a full tank without the need of refueling.
