New Honda CB150 Test Rides at Sumet Cycle

[SumetCycle]

Hello, everybody. Hope you are all doing well. We recently purchased a new CB150R to use for test rides here at the shop. I've been riding it myself for the past several days, and it's a lot of fun. Not the most powerful bike, but very lightweight with superb handling and an excellent suspension. Perfect for city commuting and beating traffic. The standard model without ABS is 105,000 Baht and the ABS version is 114,000 Baht. We are open Monday-Friday from 8-6 and Saturdays from 8-5. I can be contacted at 081 919 8570 during business hours or after hours via Line App at brian242. Thanks 

 

Brian 

http://hondasumetcycle.com/contact/

https://paultan.org/2017/09/05/2017-honda-cb150r-exmotion-rm13k-in-thailand/ 

[SumetCycle]

It is a bit on the small side. Here's a pic next to my Africa Twin for comparison. LOL

[eisfeld]

I've done a test ride of this bike last saturday. Unfortunately only on a parking lot but yea, fun little bike. Felt much better than the tiny MSX. Handling was fine. Can't speak for the suspension as there were no bumps to try out. Being a 125 single cylinder bike, it's not very exciting in any way to me. It vibes in higher revs and what I found most annoying was the on-off throttle in first gear when trying to go slow. The design is pretty nice but imho it's one of the bikes that look better on pictures than in the flesh, especially when looked at directly from the side, there's this big gap behind the cylinder. Also the plastics on the sides of the radiator in front looked a bit too wide. A bit pricey for what it is. I liked the gear indicator. Overall I think the bike isn't bad, will sell pretty well.

 

Asked the sales girl if she knew when the CB300R would come to which she insisted that such a bike doesn't exist, oh well... :)

[SumetCycle]

4 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

I've done a test ride of this bike last saturday. Unfortunately only on a parking lot but yea, fun little bike. Felt much better than the tiny MSX. Handling was fine. Can't speak for the suspension as there were no bumps to try out. Being a 125 single cylinder bike, it's not very exciting in any way to me. It vibes in higher revs and what I found most annoying was the on-off throttle in first gear when trying to go slow. The design is pretty nice but imho it's one of the bikes that look better on pictures than in the flesh, especially when looked at directly from the side, there's this big gap behind the cylinder. Also the plastics on the sides of the radiator in front looked a bit too wide. A bit pricey for what it is. I liked the gear indicator. Overall I think the bike isn't bad, will sell pretty well.

 

Asked the sales girl if she knew when the CB300R would come to which she insisted that such a bike doesn't exist, oh well... :)

Agreed, there are a lot of vibrations, particularly at the revs. Not a bike I would tour or do long distances though, so it hasn't really bothered me that much. 

 

The first gear is very short. I've found it's better to keep it in second at low speeds and blip the throttle to keep the revs up. Taking off in second gear is much better.

 

At low speeds, it does feel a bit like an MSX 125. At higher speeds is where you really notice the differences though. The CB150 feels much more stable and planted. Had it up to 120km/h and felt safe and confident. 

 

I thought it was a bit pricey at first too. However, IMO after reviewing the specs, I think it is reasonable. 41 mm upside-down Showa forks, radial-mount 4-pot caliper disc brake, digital dash, LED turn signals/headlight, all new engine, lightweight swing-arm, etc, etc......... The build quality is exceptional. There was a special introductory price, but it's gone up a bit since.

 

I too am looking forward to the CB300, looks amazing. At 6 foot tall, it would probably suit me better than the 150. The ergonomics sure took some getting used to, that's for sure. You are welcome to stop by if you fancy doing a proper test ride on the road. Thanks.

[papa al]

Do like USD forks and ABS, but

 will prolly keep '08 ceeber150 for another 40,000km.

[aidenai]

On 11/13/2017 at 12:18 PM, eisfeld said:

It vibes in higher revs

 

On 11/13/2017 at 12:47 PM, SumetCycle said:

Agreed, there are a lot of vibrations, particularly at the revs.

I bought a black Honda CB150R in October 2017. Currently 2,200 km on the clock. Use it for going to work, about 2 km from home, and driving in the sticks on a nice Sunday. In the past I had Waves, Clicks, Finos en Mooves. Just wanted to have something different. In my younger days in my home country I drove motorcycles. Ages ago the last one was a Honda 400F. The handling and roadholding of the CB150R are great. So are the brakes. The top speed is somewhere between 120 and 135 km/h. Cruising at 90 km/h is good. However, I do have problems with the vibrations of the motorcycle. Specifically the handle bars but also the fuel tank and seat. At my bike they start at about 4,500 revs. Had an expert over from Honda AP Bangkok after my complaints to my dealer in the province. Could even drive another CB150R of which I felt the bike was vibrating at higher revs than mine. i.e. 6,000 revs. Anyways, no acknowledgement from the Honda expert. My bike was fine according to expert. The mechanic changed my shift-light to 4,500 revs as if that would help anything. Guess I have to live with it. If I could do it over again, wouldn't have bought the Honda CB150R.

[eisfeld]

Thanks for the review of an actual owner, aidenai!

 

I have a general impression that Honda has upped their game recently in terms of design and general emotion (actually doing some work to try to make the bikes sound better etc). They probably had to as Yamaha is eating into their sales. But I am unimpressed by their small engines. From the 125 to the 300, I haven't experienced a small cc Honda powerplant where I'd walk away with a smile. I have actually not tried any small capacity engine from other manufacturers recently so I don't know if they are all "meh".

[Issanman]

On 11/13/2017 at 12:18 PM, eisfeld said:

Asked the sales girl if she knew when the CB300R would come to which she insisted that such a bike doesn't exist, oh well... :)

The non-existent bike came out>>  2018 CB300R

[Rhys]

On 1/22/2018 at 1:29 PM, Issanman said:

The non-existent bike came out>>  2018 CB300R

  OK

[aidenai]

 

The new Honda CB300R starting price is 149,800 THB.

 

 

 

[papa al]

On 11/13/2017 at 11:15 AM, SumetCycle said:

It is a bit on the small side. Here's a pic next to my Africa Twin for comparison. LOL

If you take the mirrors off, will the CB fit in the top-box?

[Poppadom]

On 2/4/2018 at 7:47 PM, aidenai said:

 

The new Honda CB300R starting price is 149,800 THB.

 

 

 

Isn't that only 35k more than the CB150R ABS model?

[aidenai]

Isn't that only 35k more than the CB150R ABS model?

Yup.