Honda CB400F and CB400X showcased internationally

Honda two-wheelers have showcased two motorcycles for the Chinese market – street naked and an adventure tourer – that will go on sale in the coming months. The motorcycles will be sold via CKD route, does that mean Honda India could also consider the assembly for our market?

Honda two-wheelers has showcased two motorcycles at the Auto Shanghai 2021 show in China. One is a street naked motorcycle, the CB400F, while the other is an adventure-tourer, the CB400X. Both the motorcycles will be launched in China in the coming months and will be sold via the CKD route.

Honda CB400F

The styling of the CB400F is very close to its 500cc sibling, the CB500F. However, the styling details such as a redesigned fuel tank panels, rear cowl, and even the headlamp assembly are different. Overall the CB400F sports a more aggressive styling when compared to the CB500F. The motorcycle gets 17-inch wheels on either and the motorcycle tips the scale at 188kg.

Honda CB400X

The CB400X is the more adventure bias sibling of the CB400F and is positioned below the Honda CB500X that was launch in India recently. The design elements of the CB400X are very similar to the CB500X, however, the smaller capacity adventure-tourer gets a few tweaks in the styling elements. Honda will launch the CB400X in two variants for the Chinese market, a standard and a touring. The latter variant will come equipped with panniers, top-box, and crash guards. The CB500X gets a 19-inch wheel up front and a 17-inch wheel at the rear. The standard variant of the Honda CB500X tips the scale at 195kg.

Both the motorcycles get a 399cc parallel-twin motor that puts out 42.25Bhp and 37Nm of torque. The gearbox on offer is a six-speed unit. 

Will Honda consider launching the motorcycles in India?

Honda has recently launched the CB500X in the Indian market for an ex-showroom price of Rs 6.87 lakh and introducing the CB400X at a marginally low cost will not be considered a wise move. Therefore Honda India could continue with only the CB500X in the Indian market.

The Honda CB650R was recently launched in the Indian market for Rs 8.67 lakh ex-showroom. That made accessing a middleweight Street naked Honda motorcycle on the more premium side, as the motorcycle is more expensive than the Kawasaki Z900. Also,  Triumph Street Triple R costs only Rs 17,000 higher than the Honda CB650R.

To counter this, there is a very slim chance of Honda offering the CB400F in the Indian market that will be positioned below the Kawasaki Z650 and alongside the Benelli Leoncino 500. Also considering the fact that Honda CB300R has not been on sale and the company has shown no signs of reviving the product in BS6 avatar for the Indian market.

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