The Achiever is an Ambition clone, being conjured up almost entirely from the latter parts bin, with the pros smartly eclipsing the cons. The power plant transplant from the Unicorn which happens to be the best there is in the country, could be defined as masterstroke. But she isn’t a bike you fall head over heels at first bite.
Much was expected from Hero Honda’s new 150cc offering, considering this new bike was going to replace the iconic CBZ. The CBZ after all, was the first Indian bike offering that could actually carry off the sporty tag in style. From her seating position with rear set foot pegs to disc brakes up front, from her looks (for that time) to of course, that fat (100/90) rear tyre; all spelt sporty intent. With a 150cc plus power plant and a power output of almost 13PS, it was something the Indian biker had been yearning for, for long.
However a lot of water, as they say, has flowed under the biking bridge since then. The Bajaj Pulsar not only captured the hearts of most enthusiasts but the top perch of the sales chart too. The CBZ distant cousin, the Honda Unicorn with her mono shock novelty too has crowds thronging HMSI showrooms. But what has really helped these bikes garner niche positions in the 150cc segment is the right combination of power and fuel efficiency, not to mention the far-from-astronomical price tags.
Hero Honda therefore would come out with a stunner, and a stunner in every sense of the word. Our disappointment therefore was to be expected, when we saw the Achiever in flesh! Not only does the bike resemble the now defunct Ambition very closely, the new bits (read the front fairing and the instrument cluster) failed to raise too many goose bumps too. Hmm but that, of course, was before we spent a good four days astride the bike during the course of this road test.
Road Test
As far as no single bike maker in the world has EVER sold four lakh bikes in one month! Hero Honda has done it, in Oct.2005, and THAT’S an Achievement. So Hero Honda launches Achiever, which is the Honda Unicorn engine in different clothes, and unlike Unicorn, highly Rural-Idealized or rural zed. The market feedback dept. and design dept. of HH appear to share an excellent equation. Thus Achiever comes with twin rear shocks as opposed to Unicorn’s mono-shock. 30% of highly net-savvy, I also know that in the rural areas this percentage is over 80%. I know this because I spend a week every month trekking on foot in the remote areas of four districts around Pune. I know the rural bike scenario very deeply.
Point is, Hero Honda also knows this. They’ve done their homework. Further proof comes from the fact that Achiever comes with a 130 mm front drum brake option, which Unicorn does not. Again, I know that 80% of rural folk DON’T WANT disc brakes. So Achiever will fill in the RURAL gap left by Unicorn. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Achiever outsells Unicorn in rural areas.
So, in case you didn’t know, the Achiever engine is the same 149.1cc (bore x stroke==57.3 x 57.8 mm) Unicorn engine with a miniscule difference in power. While at 8000 rpm the Unicorn claims 13.3 bhp (=9.9 kw), at the same (8000) rpm, Achiever claims 13.4 bhp (=10 kw). I know 17 technical ways of achieving this difference but I don’t know even one reason why they need / want this difference. Gear and sprocket ratios are the same, so on-road behavior would be same because wheel and tyres are same at 2.75 x 18 front and 3.oo x 18 rear.
Apart from the twin-shocks and drums, all other differences appear visual, which is fine and necessary. But for those who do not know much about Unicorn, let me mention other details about HH Achiever. There are apparent air-scoops in the front below the fuel tank for looks differentiation. For other visuals, just look at any old HH Ambition photo and you will know.
Built on a 1290 mm wheelbase (50 mm less than Unicorn), the Achiever kick-start version weighs 139 kg, which is five kg less than Unicorn. Fuel tank capacity is 12.5 liters as compared to 13 liters of Unicorn, while usable reserve of Achiever is 2.3 liters as compared 1.3 liters of Unicorn. Thus reserve capacity of Achiever is larger, again because of lack of petrol pumps in our rural areas, which makes it more rural-friendly than Unicorn.
Electrics are same, ending with the same multi-mapped digital CDI of Unicorn. Headlight is 12v-35w. Achiever is available in both kick-start and self-start versions, backed up with the same 12v–2.5 Ah battery for kick-start and 12v-7 Ah battery for self-start version. The engine block, kicker and silencer are same while side panels and pillion footrest sub-frame are differently adorned. The instruct-console (dials) is also different. The achiever has only two dials, but is more useful. The speedo-odo dial at left includes a trip meter, which the Unicorn does not have, while the right hand side dial, which is the taco, includes the fuel gauge.
Which brings us to the final question: Price? The on-road price of Unicorn (kick-start) in Pune today is Rs.53,339/-, while that of the Achiever (kick-start) is Rs.54,490/-. Does this mean that brand equity of Hero Honda is higher than Honda’ If so, then how come the self start version of Unicorn at Rs.56, 659/- is Rs.207/- more than that of Achiever at Rs.56, 457/- ‘Strange’ Not so, because rural folk don’t want self-start and since rural penetration of HH is far more than Honda, the rural folk would not crib FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE!
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