The new CBR150R will be offered in two variants- ABS and non-ABS and will rival Yamaha R15 V3
Honda has launched the updated 2021 CBR150R in Indonesia. The bike was recently given an update in Thailand a month ago. However, don’t let that bike fool you as this iteration of Honda’s entry-level faired motorcycle has a lot of updates up its sleeve. It has been priced at 40 million rupiahs which translate to INR 2.10 lakh.
The CBR150R which was launched in Thailand back in December 2020 was just a minor update with added new colour schemes. However, the Indonesia-spec model is a whole lot different in terms of its design and mechanicals.
Updated Design
For starters, one might mistake it for CBR250RR at the first glance because that is CBR150R’s major source of inspiration when it comes to styling. It gets a funky twin-beam LED headlight setup, a sharper fairing and a neater section that mimic its bigger quarter-litre sibling. Overall, the motorcycle looks more aggressive than before.
While we were disappointed not to find a USD fork suspension setup at the Thai-spec model, this derivative of CBR150R does not disappoint as it gets gold-finished upside down USD forks sourced from Showa.
Similar gold-finished forks are also present in Hornet 2.0 in India, however, CBR150 has been equipped with Showa’s premium SFF-BP separate function big-piston forks that are also found in Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R.
Additional features
Another major piece of update is the addition of a slipper clutch which not only reduces rear-wheel locking and hopping during aggressive downshifts but also brings down lever effort by 15 percent.
To make it a more modern affair, Honda has also thrown in a new well laid out LCD instrument cluster. Apart from usual information, this unit also reads out information from the gear position indicator and fuel consumption meter.
Powertrain & Transmission
In terms of powertrain, Honda has not tinkered much with it. The updated CBR150R is powered by a 149 cc liquid-cooled 4-valve single-cylinder engine which pushes out 17.1 bhp at 9000 rpm and 14.4 Nm of peak torque at 7000 rpm. While its power output is less than its immediate rival Yamaha R15 V3 but produces more torque than its Japanese counterpart. This unit comes equipped with Honda’s PGM-Fi fuel-injection system and eSP technology. It is mated to a six-speed gearbox.
The faired sports bike was always a tempting option back when it was on sale in India. However, it is not expected to make a return to India anytime soon. Honda instead is looking to introduce the updated 2021 CB300R in the country sometime later this year. The bike is expected to arrive in India as a CKD unit and could be priced around Rs 2.50 lakh (ex-showroom).
