Hero Honda Glamour
List price Rs 44,926-49,022 (ex-showroom Pune)
Top speed 93kph 0-60kph 7.37sec Kpl 56.7 (overall)
For Best switchgear on any Indian motorcycle, build quality
Against Tardy Performance

If looks could thrill, the new Glamour has life cut out for it. But 125cc bike buyers also desire dollops of Performance to go with the show. Does the new Hero Honda make the grade?

“HANDSOME GLAMOUR LOOKS TODAY WHAT THE SUPER SPLENDOR SHOULD HAVE BEEN YESTERDAY.”

Hero Honda has over the years pulled off a motorcycling accomplishment like no other in Indian history. Sales numbers of the early CD100 model consistently escalated to shock even the parent factory — Japanese giant Honda — and more recently the Splendor and its many variants have ridden a titanic wave of strong sales. However, an ageing warhorse and increasingly aggressive competitors are not the best accompaniments for the future. Earlier this year, the Gurgaon-based manufacturer had launched the Super Splendor, a clichéd bid to cash in on the Splendor’s enormous brand presence. We tested that unexcitingly styled bike and came away disenchanted (April 2005). It seems like the market too has felt the same way because Hero Honda has already felt a need to launch a smarter-looking variant of the Super Splendor — the Glamour. Will the similar Quantum Core engine-equipped Glamour stand the acid test of the ultra-competitive Indian bike market? We find out.