2021 Honda CB350RS launched in India at Rs 1.96 lakh, deliveries from March
The 60 year old Honda 'CB' lineage isn't new to India, but in recent times it has created headlines with the Honda H'ness CB350. This single-cylinder motorcycle, aimed squarely at the likes of the Royal Enfield Classic 350, caters to the modern-retro genre of motorcycle. Built on the standard street bike body style, the Honda CB 350 has gotten off an excellent start in India, despite Honda bottlenecking the deliveries by limiting the CB350's scope to the handful of Honda Big Wing dealerships (50 touchpoints so far) in India. Nevertheless, Honda seems to be rapidly expanding the CB350 now with the launch of the CB350RS.
Interestingly, the presentation of the Honda CB350RS was conducted in what looked like a café cum customisation workshop setup, showing off coffee mugs, metal, wood and leather - and that sort of sets the mood for what the CB350RS is all about. The RS is the café racer derivative of the Honda H'ness CB350 and wears a contemporary styling. Honda conservatively says "RS" stands for Road Sailing.
The CB350RS features two colour options - red and yellow. The seat has a ribbed design for the rider end, which should enable better comfort and grip. The rider geometry is slightly forward biased too, given the sportier intent of the CB350RS, but surprisingly it doesn't get clip-on handlebars which would have been more apt for the CB350RS.
The headlights receive a black bezel, in place of the chrome seen on the CB350 Highness and the dome housing itself has a chunkier design. The CB350RS also features a skidplate, fork-sleeves and shorter mud flaps.
The motorcycle also features an upswept, powder-coated black exhaust (with a different sound note than the CB350), road-biased dual-sport touring tyres, and a stubbier tail section with a longer muffler and an underseat taillight.
The CB350RS is powered by the same 346.36cc single-cylinder unit with an output of 20.78PS at 5,550rpm and 30Nm at 3,000rpm, mated to a 5-speed gearbox. The suspension components, wheels, brakes, instrumentation and fuel tank size remain unchanged compared to the Honda H'ness CB350.
The pricing for the Honda CB350RS is Rs 1.96 lakh (ex-showroom) and bookings for the motorcycle have opened today, with deliveries scheduled to start in March.