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My experience buying the Honda Highness CB350 as my first bike

25th March 2023, 15:36 by Ananth Iyer

Overall loving the bike and hoping many more blissful miles on it.

BHPian mr_punks recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have been an avid reader of this wonderful forum since a few years now, finally got the courage to post my first ownership review. I apologize for any mistakes hereafter. I am 21 years old and an engineering student. Bikes and cars always fascinated me and coming from a family business related to vehicles it grew on me. I used to wander around the cars parked at my Dad's office checking out the minute bits in the interior. Trying to touch my feet on the pedals while sitting on the seat, turning the steering wheel and trying to understand the gear combinations of old jeeps were the only things I used to do when visiting my Dad's office. My dad had a Yamaha rx100 back in the day on which I proudly used to go to my school. That is the bike on which I learned to ride.

Coming to the topic of this thread

My First Bike-Honda Highness

Introduction

One fine evening my father called me and asked me to search for a bike which has a straight seat. Yes you read it right a straight seat. Honda highness was just launched at that time and I was drooling on its review on youtube. So the first answer which came from my mouth was highness. My father heard the name and asked me to show the bike, I duly showed him the bike on google and the deal was done. In the next few minutes I was on the call with Pranav from Honda Bigwing Worli asking him to send me a Performa Invoice so that I can check for loan eligibility from my bank. As we Recieved green signal from the bank, booked the bike on the very next day i.e- on 2 Feb 2022 by paying a booking amount of 5000/-.I had test drove my friends Royal Enfield classic but didnt like the Handling.It felt heavy while riding and the vibrations on the mirror, handlebar, tank were a no-no for me.Yezdi was not launched at that time and I didnt like Jawa that much for its low ground clearance and its sound(No offence to fellow Royal Enfield and Jawa owners)I had insisted them to give me a 2022 manufactured bike which they didn't more on that later.

Name of the bike booked -Honda Highness Cb350

Colour-Athletic blue metallic

Next few days went in completing the formalities from the bank and transferring the amount to the dealership.

All things done the bike was scheduled to be delivered just after the number plate arrival from the RTO. It arrived on 15th feb but We took delivery of the bike on 16th feb 2022. I was busy attending my online lectures so my father took delivery of the bike. I was so overwhelmed by seeing it for the first time. Immediately sat on it and took it for a spin in our society. Later after my lectures were over took it to Mahim dargah for seeking blessings. Thereafter spent the day wandering around it understanding all the features and admiring the beauty.

We took Engine Crash Guards, Fork Gaters and tank pad as accessories and extended warranty as well as RSA

Likes

Looks
Refined engine
Smooth and vibration free ride
Suspension

Dislikes-

Small spots of rust here and there
Service only at Honda Bigwing
Coming to the various aspects of the Bike

The engine-The engine is really refined and smooth.It doesnt feel out of breath even at 90-100 .Climbing steep slopes with pillion is effortless.It glides over road at 30kmph on 3rd gear without any jerks.I usually use engine braking while going down a slope and it is quite good

Riding and handling-The posture is really comfortable. I can easily maneuver it in dense Mumbai traffic. One cannot feel its weight even though its weight is Approx 180kgs. Riding is confidence inspiring and its traction control comes handy when rainy. It doesn't feel out of place when cornering and feels stable even at 110-120 kmph. It has Nisin brakes Callipers which does the work flawlessly. There were instances of hard braking and Abs worked perfectly

Quality of components-The paint fit and finish is really good.I love to see it sparkle when parked in sunlight. The quality of the switches felt premium although after Mumbai rains some amount of paint chipped from the switches. Brake pads went kaput after only 2400km which was duly replaced by my father.

Fuel efficiency-It gives 27.5 km/l in city riding. Occasional Highway trips were done by my dad and it returned efficiency between 30-40 km/l .My dad rode 800kms around the outskirts of Mumbai in 2 days for business purposes and he didn't feel any kind of Fatigue. My Dad prefers bikes instead of cars nowadays to travel in and around Mumbai due to traffic.

Miscellaneous Experiences-

Even after 1 year of owning it people still ask about it at signals. The most common question is "kitna mileage hai".I simply smile and answer them. It feels good interacting with people and the bike creates a sense of uniqueness in the herd.

There was one instance where I was sitting in my college parking with my friends and my bike was parked just in front of me. One gentleman arrived and starting looking at it from different angles. After some time I went and interacted with him. His first question was 'Is it imported?' I simply smiled and said a No. Rest half and hour went in chatting about the bike with him and now we are Friends.He has An ola scooter and we drag raced it against my highness.It was a memorable experience

One fine evening around 8:30pm I was waiting for my friend in front of his building. One Man around 35-40 years old walked out of his building just opp.my friends house and stopped for a sec looking at my bike.Rest 15mins or so went in chatting about the bike.He was looking for a bike for his son and had visited the Royal enfield showroom a day prior and he felt the bikes were Heavy.He checked the weight of the bike and clicked photos of it.He even called his wife and showed it to her.

Grateful to God for this

A coin has two sides, just like that there are bad experiences as well

The bike had fallen two times.First time my leg slipped due to mud on the road while turning it.Thankfully I didnt't get even a hurt but the bike suffered scratch on the crash guard.Second time it fell in our society due to children playing around it.No one got hurt in this incident as well

Accident- A taxi crashed on the silencer near Crawford market.Ijust left from the spot as these things happen. Small scratch came on the silencer that's it

One evening while grocery shopping near my house while I switched the ignition ON the instrument cluster did a full swipe and suddenly it shut off. All the lights went off and I was unable to start the bike. Called the RSA which arrived after Approx 1 Hour and took it to Worli Service station.Fault came to be a Faulty battery which arrived after 1 week due to some kind of shortage. They Put the new battery in but the problem persisted, so they did a thorough inspection. At the end they replaced the start switch under warranty and the problem was solved.

Coming to the ordeal-

As I said earlier that they gave me a 2021 manufactured bike instead of a 2022 manufactured bike.we came to know about this as we received the RC after 1 month or so.My dad confronted them about this.They said that there was conversation about the year of manufacture and as you are taking delivery in february you will get a bike which is manufactured the previous year as production of new models begins after feb.After this we filed a case against them in consumer court.They didnt come for the hearing of the case and eventually the court stated to settle the case in our favour on 11th jan 2022.This verdict was given sometime in november I think.Later as the date was near the representatives of Honda bigwing held a meeting with our Lawyer and the case was settled outside the court. They paid us compensation for it.