Honda Unicorn

The new Unicorn 150cc with black alloys
This engineering masterpiece with international design appeal, guarantees to quench your thirst for motorcycle frenzy with all its stunning features.
Instead of conventional twin shock absorbers in the rear, Unicorn incorporates a single, high performance shock absorber housed centrally below the seat and mounted on a much tougher frame. Advanced technology mono suspension coupled with advanced tough and flexible diamond frame offers superior riding comfort and excellent stability.
There are two merits of introducing mono suspension. Firstly, it decreases friction loss through employing single shocker. As a result mono suspension can move freely, improving tractability on road surface. User can derive the benefit of more comfortable ride feel. Secondly, mono suspension design ensures centralisation of mass. By positioning suspension close to the center of gravity of the machine, turning characteristics, stability during braking and overall riding performance is substantially enhanced.
Original technology of mono suspension comes from the world of racing where bikes compete in most extreme conditions. More advanced version of this technology is employed in these bikes. Even the international production models incorporate mono suspension to give statement of style and comfort. Unicorn brings the world advanced technology to India to meet the Indian conditions better than ever before.
All New Sporty Unicorn is powered by a newly developed Honda 4-stroke, 150cc engine and incorporates many cutting-edge technologies developed by Honda’s global R&D team. It sets new benchmark in the uppper majority motorcycle segment in India with its swift acceleration, superior mileage, international styling, riding comfort and convenience.

Unicorn is engineered and styled for the taste of the younger generation. With the 4-stroke, 150cc engine delivering a whooping 13.3 bhp, Unicorn is the fastest motorcycle in India racing from 0 to 60 kms per hour in a mere 5 seconds. It has a distinctive sporty and macho design with a racy front face, masculine fuel tank with knee grip and a sleek rear cowl.
Unicorn offers perfect balance of pickup and mileage, delivering 60 kmpl through its famed 4-stroke Honda engine, cutting edge technologies like Multi-Mapping CDI, Tumble Flow Combustion Chamber, Roller Rocker arm, and a Classy Aerodynamic Body.

DESIGN & ENGEENERING:
Sporty and conventional are two words that best describe the Unicorn and we like its simple and well-poised looks. The bike comes in fantastic quality red, black, grey, blue and Silver paints. Fit and finish for this Honda are as good as they get and levers and grips are both top-drawer. Mirrors are units previewed on many Hero Honda bikes, like switchgear—which could get better—provides a choke lever and pass flasher, though lacks a parking light frill. The clear lens halogen fitted MFR headlight appears related to the Karizma, and works perfectly. The Unicorn three-pod dials win our vote for best set of motorcycle dials in India. A massive speedometer is at center, then there’s a sporty tachometer on the left, while the only blemish is the lack of a trip gauge. The squat fuel tank feels meaty and looks smartly angular with a rounded chrome cap stripped from the CBZ bin. Its one of the few bikes in the country with knee recesses to fit all leg shapes. The lockable seat believes in broad is beautiful, and offers super density with adequate length for riders as well as the occasional oversize two up load. Interestingly, aluminium sub frames for footrests are painstakingly buffed to a satin finish and look a cut above the regular painted surface seen on most bikes. The silencer adds further glint value to the Unicorn, with its large chrome shroud. HMSI offers this bike in one guise with no drum brake option.

PERFORMANCE,HANDLING,FUEL ECONOMY:
The Unicorn has been gifted an engine developed specially for Indian conditions by Honda. The Unicorn engine is straightforward and delivers on all counts. This jewel of a motor is silken, purring to life with a light kick. Displacing 149.1cc its four-stroke unit offers a max output of 13.3bhp at 8000rpm. The exhaust note is soft and drowning in traffic one will not hear the machine at all, though throttle winding leads to a pleasing and throaty intake note. A paper air filter element purifies air, while the Unicorn uses a Keihin CV carburettor and among other benefits enjoys the smoothness of power delivery this vacuum lifted slide unit affords. A 2-way air-jacket for the air-cooled engine creates dual air streams creating better cooling properties around the head. As a result, performance loss is avoided in high heat conditions often faced on our roads. Ignition timing also, is set in order to maintain efficient combustion through all conditions. Throttle position influences this and multi mapping via the digital route takes care of the spark. This Honda’s combustion chamber is amongst other things designed for good tumble character—vertical turbulence for good mixture flow and filling into the combustion chamber from where horizontal swirl takes over. Rolling rocker arm pads for friction cutting are present on the Unicorn, as on most new Indian bikes. The motor offers an India unique feature through its offset crankshaft for reducing friction losses. Air injection is deployed for its exhaust port, as is a honeycomb catalytic converter. The big blot is our sorely missing a self-starter on the Unicorn. Keep in mind that’s only for the moment though, as HMSI assure us this will be available within no more than a few months. The joy of this engine is its capability to respond with unquestioned results when the throttle asks for them. No matter which gear and however dismal the situation, its always got reserves of cracking response. To get this motor to hiccup would be tougher than to get Bush and Bin Laden on the same dinner table. The clutch pull is perfect, and gearshifts via the heel and toe one-down and four-up pattern slot in with perfection. At 100kph our satellite linked equipment told us true speed was a far more sedate 88kph. The Unicorn uses a lightened, yet tough diamond type frame setup tailored to suit the variable loads and roads of the country. This Honda bolts its engine on as a stressed member, while the frame is designed to complement its mono suspension. The Unicorn becomes the sole motorcycle currently plying India to sport mono-shock suspension. Two shock absorbers react differently due to it being near impossible to build mirror character into each side and using one damper eliminates any of this dual confrontation by default. Vital is the capability of a single shocker to ensure better centralization of mass, the unit being positioned close to the center of gravity of the machine. The Unicorn riding position feels slightly sporty and has yet been tuned to be comforting on city capers. Ride itself is firm and a touch on the sporty side. The bike gives a rock stable and planted feedback to riders in any variety of situations and rides on quality MRF rubber, the rear being puncture resistant. Surprisingly, it’s a bike that feels as much at home ripping the breeze on open stretches, as puttering around town at creepy crawly velocity. Cornering we discovered is real fun. Feel through the brake lever is progressive, though nowhere as sharp as on its direct rival, Bajaj’s Pulsar 150 DTS-i. The Unicorn’s good fuel efficiency is achieved by applying high quality engineering and materials in its construction, akin to a tasty dish always being prepared with fine ingredients. The Unicorn in its brief session with us delivered 50.69kpl in the city and that figure went up to 53.11kpl while out stretching its legs on the highway. Pretty much at par with its competition.

VERDICT:
The Unicorn is groomed to look spot on for its course. It also has an amazing and critically frugal engine. We can’t stop waxing about that unique monoshock unit taking ride and handling a big step over lunarscape for ‘Indiankind.’ HMSI has been wise in pricing the bike. It would have been heart rending to see such a tidy machine suffer with the paisa pinching Indian buyer shunning it when asked a premium for their wings. With this impression over, it doesn’t need much of a Nostradamus re-incarnation to predict that the Unicorn does seem to have the makings of a mighty good seller.