Refined to the point of disbelief.

Disbelief in the Indian context. Forget about raw figures and power and torque curves; what’s striking about the Unicorn’s mechanical package are the refinement levels that are way better than anything we’ve seen. Kick the engine (for now there is no electric starter though the primary kick mechanism allows you to fire the engine while engaged in gear) and she settles into a clean idle at 1400rpm without the need to finger the choke. Though a touch noisy when revved hard the complete isolation of vibrations (save for a few vibes through the handlebars when revved to its limit) is incredible, so too the refined and creamy power delivery. Maska, that’s what we call it in these parts.
The Unicorn employs a 149.1cc four-stroke mill that features near square bore and stroke dimensions of 57.3 x 57.8mm. Running a relatively mild 9.1:1 compression ratio the mill breathes through a Keihin constant velocity type carburettor with a 24mm venturi. The digital ignition uses a throttle position sensor to alter the ignition maps depending on various openings to deliver an ideal balance between Performance and efficiency, similar to that seen on the Yamaha Fazer. To keep the motor compact an offset crank has been used while the cooling system employs new thought in the adoption of a two-way air jacket on the cylinder head that ensures more efficient cooling of the engine.
The unit develops 13.5PS of power at 8000rpm and 12.75Nm of torque that peaks at 5500rpm. This is a neat and simple engine that makes do without twin spark plugs or numerous ignition maps and instead relies on good old-fashioned engineering and strict quality control to deliver strong Performance. Power seems to be everywhere in the rev range, such is the torquey nature of the powerplant. Honda has wisely tuned the engine to give her tons of low down grunt and then matched it to gearing that allows relaxed cruising at 100kmph with no unruly vibrations to shake your fillings loose. Of course this means that she is neither the quickest accelerating nor the fastest bike in the segment but in terms of real world Performance the Unicorn strikes the best balance.
The five-speed transmission again sets a new benchmark for Indian motorcycling as a whole. Slick, precise and without a single false neutral, this is the best shifting ‘box we’ve come across and sets the standard for the rest to follow. Hard as we might try, never did she find a falsie and never did she baulk before slotting into the next gear and this is allied to a clutch that’s light and progressive making her a breeze for beginners and experts alike. An absolute joy to use.