Honda CB350 H’Ness vibration test: Does it vibrate more than a Royal Enfield Classic 350? [Video]

Honda’s latest offering for the Indian motorcycle market is the CB350 H’ness, a bike that’s aimed straight at the Royal Enfield Classic 350 – the current best seller in retro motorcycle segment. Now, the Royal Enfield Classic 350, like most of its long-stroke engined siblings, is known to vibrate quite a bit. While people used to Royal Enfields find the vibrations manageable, others riding the bike for the first time do complain about how vibey the motorcycle feels. Naturally, a big question in most peoples’ minds about the Honda CB350 H’Ness is whether the motorcycle vibrates like the Classic 350. The video below will answer this question.

As the video clearly indicates, the Honda CB350 H’Ness is quite smooth at the low end and the mid range of the rev band. To demonstrate this, the Youtuber has placed a bottle on the motorcycle’s seat, and the bottle does not even move until the revs reach a point over 3500 rpm, which is well beyond the mid range of the Honda CB350 H’Ness. Once the rpm rises to nearly the top-end of the CB350, some amount of vibrations come through, and the bottle placed atop the seat begins moving.

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From the video, it’s also clear that a Honda CB350 H’Ness rider will feel that the engine at idle as the long stroke design comes through, giving the rider a feel of the ‘thump’. At cruising speeds though, the thump will only be heard through the exhaust rather than being felt on the Honda CB350 H’Ness’ body. This is expected to make the motorcycle fatigue-free at cruising speeds of 80-90 Kph. Most if not all riders will welcome this.

Launched last week, the Honda CB350 H’Ness is the Japanese motorcycle maker’s first stab at the retro-motorcycle segment. Priced at 1.85 lakh, the H’Ness is about Rs. 23,000 pricier than the Royal Enfield Classic 350, and about Rs. 20,000 pricier than the Jawa Forty Two. The CB350 is powered by a 350cc, long stroke single cylinder air cooled engine that makes 20.78 Bhp of peak power and 30 Nm of peak torque. A five speed manual gearbox with slip assist clutch is standard.

Braking on both wheels is handled by hydraulic disc brakes, which gets dual channel ABS as standard. The Honda CB350 H’Ness weighs 181 kilogram and the seat height of 800mm will suit even shorter riders. Honda sells this motorcycle exclusively through BIGWing dealerships, which means that it’s not accessible across India. Royal Enfield, in comparison, sells the Classic 350 in ever nook and corner of India, making the motorcycle a lot more accessible.

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