In a recent interaction with our sister publication, Autocar Professional, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) President and CEO, Tsutsumu Otani revealed that the brand is evaluating the expansion of its off-road range of bikes in India. Up until the recent launch of the XR300L and XR300 Rally, there was a dearth of genuinely capable off-roaders from the company – aside from private imports – and this recent statement could pave the way for more models to make their way to India.
- Honda has dirt bikes ranging from 50cc to 450cc globally
- Honda BB Racing field CRF250R and CRF450R in the ISRL already
Honda evaluating expansion of off-road bike range in India
Company’s CRF range spans a wide range of bikes, both road-legal and otherwise
Earlier this year, Honda had announced its intentions to enter the off-road racing scene in India. Recently, it took the first step on that journey and became the title sponsor of the Honda BB Racing team that competes in the Indian Supercross Racing League (ISRL). This team – like most others in the championship – fields both 250cc and 450cc machines, namely the CRF250R and CRF450R, respectively, now supported officially by Honda.
When asked about the potential of more off-road motorcycles from Honda in India, the company’s CEO said, “There are different categories of off-road motorcycles, including motocross and enduro. Honda is considering models in these categories.” This potentially opens the door for multiple models – both road legal and not – to join Honda’s Indian two-wheeler lineup. Internationally, the company has as many as seven different CRF dedicated off-road bikes ranging all the way from the beginner-friendly CRF50F to the professional racer-spec CRF450R and we could potentially see some of these come to our market.
This could also mean that there is still potential for the road-legal CRF300L and CRF300 Rally to enter our market. The 286cc liquid-cooled single cylinder engine they use has already been localised for use in bikes like the erstwhile CB300R and current Rebel 300. However, given the sophisticated equipment these bikes pack (think aluminium swingarm, USD fork and liquid-cooled engine), they will likely cost much more than the current XR300 models and Honda may not see sense in having two different 300cc off-road models on sale here.
Honda is not the first Japanese player to enter this space, Kawasaki has long been selling a wide range of dirt bikes under both the KX & KLX banners. For a time in the past, even Suzuki sold a limited number of RMZ dirt bikes in India. Bajaj-owned KTM too has a range of properly focused off-road bikes on sale in our market so the addition of Honda to this list can only mean good things for the Indian off-road enthusiast.
Currently, no specific models have been pinpointed as being evaluated for India and it remains to be seen how many models Honda brings when it does.
