THIS Is the ADV Honda Should’ve Launched In India

The newly launched Honda CRF190L for the Chinese market is exactly the kind of bike Honda should've launched in India

• The Honda CRF190L is based on the Honda CBF190X, but with a more off-road-centric demeanour. 
• It features spoke wheels, much better ground clearance, and a revised design.
• Costs an equivalent of Rs 1.98 lakh in China.

Sundiro Honda, the Japanese manufacturer’s affiliate company for the Chinese market, has launched the Honda CRF190L, an off-road-friendly adventure bike based on the road-biased CBF190X ADV. The standard variant retails at CNY 17,389 (around Rs 1.98 lakh), whereas the triple-tone colour variant costs CNY 17,889 (about Rs 2.03 lakh). This makes the CRF190L around CNY 1000 (about Rs 11,400) more expensive than the CBF190X. 

Compared to the road-centric ADV, the CRF190L comes with a host of changes. The design is distinctly different from the CBF190X, and is sleeker, with Dakar rally bike-inspired looks. It features a vertically stacked LED headlight with a 2-level, 40mm adjustable windshield adorned up top. The tail lamp and the indicators are LED as well. The full-LCD instrument cluster shows the speed, tachometer readings, fuel gauge, gear position indicator, clock, odometer, and trip meter. 

The motorcycle is powered by the same 184.4cc single-cylinder, air-cooled, fuel-injected engine as the CBF190X. However, it has been detuned to produce 15.70PS at 8500rpm and 15.75Nm at 6000rpm, compared to 16.85PS at 8000rpm and 16.3Nm at 7000rpm in the road-biased ADV. The motorcycle offers a claimed mileage of 41.6kmpl, which is decent enough for a bike of its class. This, coupled with its 14-litre fuel tank (two litres larger than the CBF190X), should make the CRF190L a good tourer. 

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The chassis is suspended on a telescopic front fork with 180mm stroke as opposed to the inverted unit in the CBF190X. The rear comes with a linked, gas-charged monoshock. And at 241mm, the CFR190L’s ground clearance is a whole 91mm taller than the CBF190X. Consequently, the seat height has also gone up. It’s 830mm tall, which, to give you a perspective, is 30mm taller than the Royal Enfield Himalayan’s seat, but still 25mm shorter than that on the KTM 250 Adventure. 

Unlike the 18-inch alloys, the CRF190L rolls on a larger 19-inch front and a smaller 17-inch rear spoke wheels shod with 90-section front and 110-section rear dual-purpose tyres. Braking is courtesy a disc up front and a drum at the rear, with single-channel ABS as standard. At 145kg, the motorcycle is 4kg lighter than the CBF190X. Honda also offers pannier bags and a crash guard set as optional fitments.

While Honda seems to have compromised on the engine’s performance, the Japanese bikemaker has made sure the CRF190L is equipped well enough to tackle trails and dirt roads much more effectively than the CBF190X. We wish Honda had made similar changes in the CB200X, considering it costs a whole Rs 13,318 more than the Hornet 2.0 and gets only revised bodywork, slightly different ergonomics and more rugged tyres.