Will HMSI Launch The Honda XRE 300 In India?

The big rumour doing the rounds this week in India is that Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India is getting to ready to launch an all-new 300 cc motorcycle. The motorbike in question is the Honda XRE 300, and some reports suggest that HMSI has even registered the name in India. We tried reaching out to Honda officials, but so far there's no confirmation of any such development. The latest speculation is that HMSI may be getting ready to launch the Honda XRE 300 in India, as part of its latest strategy to introduce some "fun products" in the Indian market. So, then, will Honda introduce this dual-sport bike? And is there a market for such a model in India?

The Honda XRE 300 is on sale in Brazil since 2009

First of all, what is the Honda XRE 300? The Honda XRE 300 is a dual-sport motorcycle which is sold in Brazil, since 2009. Mechanically, the Honda XRE 300 is powered by an air-cooled, four-stroke, single-cylinder, 291 cc engine which produces just over 25 bhp power and 27.6 Nm of torque. The engine is mated to a five-speed transmission and is offered in three variants in the Brazilian market - the standard XRE 300, XRE 300 Adventure and XRE 300 Rally. ABS is also offered as an option as is Honda's combined braking system. In Brazil, the XRE 300 is priced at between 16,190 - 17,990 Brazilian real - that is approximately between Rs. 3.2 - 3.4 lakh. But for any real market advantage in India, we'll need to see it priced around Rs 2.5 lakh.

The XRE 300 is sold along with the smaller XRE 190 in Brazil, but it's the XRE 300 which is of importance to us. We'll call it dual-sport and not "adventure" bike, because it's more of an off-road oriented motorcycle than a long distance adventure bike. Yes, adventure bikes are in essence dual-sport motorcycles, but with more long-distance intent and two-up comfort than just off-road prowess. In this case, the Honda XRE 300 leans to the former type, rather than with any serious touring capability. But that shouldn't stop anyone from using it as a touring machine, will it?

The Honda XRE 300 has a massive ground clearance of 259 mm

Just a glance at the specs and equipment is enough to understand that the Honda XRE 300 is tailor-made for terrain such as Ladakh, Spiti, the North East and the remote, north-western corner of Nepal. Heard of Muktinath? Google it! The roads of Ladakh will look like a walk in the park. But we digress. The bike in question here is made to take on rough terrain. So, it has wire spoke wheels, long travel suspension (245 mm front fork travel, 225 mm rear shock travel) and massive ground clearance of 259 mm. Got your attention yet? How's this for reference - the Royal Enfield Himalayan has 200 mm front suspension travel, 180 mm rear wheel travel, and ground clearance of 220 mm. And to top it all, the Honda XRE 300 has a kerb weight of just 146 kg (153 kg for the ABS version).

As motorcycle enthusiasts, it makes perfect sense to us; after all, 300 cc motorcycle, and that too, one with the qualities we have talked about, is just what is missing in the entry-level performance segment. But then, product development strategy is seldom undertaken with just enthusiasts in mind. If you look at HMSI's motorcycle launches over the last couple of years, each product has been well thought out, well researched, keeping in mind prevailing market trends and developed after considerable market research. So, does a 300 cc bike make sense? Definitely, if you look at it this way - the Indian two-wheeler industry grew around 6.9 per cent in sales over the past year. And it's the entry-level performance motorcycle segment, spanning bikes with engine capacity of between 250 cc to 350 cc that has been growing the most. It's a segment largely dominated by Royal Enfield so far, and it's a segment which has shown the maximum year-on-year growth, growing by nearly 25 per cent in the past year alone.

Honda patented the XRE 300 in India recently

So, is the Honda XRE 300 coming to India then? It's early days yet, and difficult to predict. Only a handful of dual-sport, 'enduro' type motorcycles have been launched in India over the past 2-3 decades, and most of them haven't been quite successful. The first one to be launched was the Kawasaki Bajaj SX Enduro in the early '90s, based on the two-stroke 100 cc Kawasaki motor. Unlike the Kawasaki KB 100 RTZ or the even more popular four-stroke Boxer, the SX Enduro failed to make a mark. More recently, Hero MotoCorp introduced the Impulse. The Hero Impulse had dual-sport capability, a Honda-sourced reliable engine and decent performance. Even that failed to click and the Impulse was taken out of production.

The Indian market is yet to warm to up dual-sport bikes

As things stand today, the Indian two-wheeler market still hasn't quite warmed up to dual-sport bikes, more specifically, small displacement, 'enduro' bikes. If at all, a 300 cc bike is in the making at HMSI, it's more likely to be a completely new, street-oriented model based on the XRE 300. And if we're proven wrong, and Honda does launch the XRE 300, well, things are going to get very interesting indeed. And looks like it may be time to make space for one more bike in my garage.