Adventure on a Scooter : For many though, the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the brand Honda, is the supremely popular Activa family of scooters, which has been reigning supreme in the Indian two-wheeler market for over two decades now. Although Honda derives most of its business in India from its commuters and scooters, the firm is going to be launching a range of premium, larger capacity models in the country in the next few years. Among them is a 160cc adventure scooter that goes by the codename K4LA.
In this category we now only have two products available in our market so far — the pleasant surprise which has been the Yamaha Aerox 155 and a recent homegrown addition which goes by the name of the Hero Xoom 160. Honda’s offering in this space will probably be based on the the international-spec ADV160, and insiders claim that it’ll arrive to India by 2026.Honda ADV160 engine produces 16hp, 14.7Nm torqueIt has a 780mm seat height and weighs 133kgIt comes with a single-channel ABS, riding on 14/13-inch wheels
Powering the ADV160 is a liquid-cooled, single-cylinder motor that displaces 157cc and makes 16hp at 8,500rpm and 14.7Nm of torque at 6,500rpm. The Honda ADV160 will be part of an exclusive club of just three scooters currently available in this displacement class offering a modern liquid-cooled engine — Hero Xoom 160 and Yamaha Aerox 155 are the other two.
Because the ADV160 is based on an underbone chassis, floorboard storage is also absent here, just like the Aerox and larger Xoom. However, the ADV has 27 litres of storage space under the seat.The basics are quite simple with suspension duties handled by a 31mm telescopic fork and twin shock absorbers from Showa while bikes feature a 240mm front disc and a 130mm rear drum
for braking duties. Like its Hero and Yamaha rivals, the ADV gets single-channel ABS as standard as well. One thing to note, though, is that the ADV160 runs a 14/13-inch (F/R) wheel setup, as opposed to the 14-inch units (at both ends) found on comparable rivals.
With a 780mm seat height and ground clearance of 165 mm, the ADV160 should be easily accessible for Indian riders and able to take on our road conditions. Weighing 133kg the ADV160 is 7 kilos heavier than something like a Yamaha Aerox 155, but 9 kilos lighter than a Hero Xoom 160. It does, however, have the largest fuel tank of the two mentioned above at 8.1 litres.
Whether or not this scooter will come with a unique design package for our market is yet to be confirmed, which is a common practice by Honda with its other products that also sell abroad. The ADV160 is a reasonably feature-rich scooter otherwise, with its list of go-fast goodies including a digital dash, keyless ignition, start/stop tech, all-LED lighting, an adjustable windscreen and a USB charger.
In the Philippines, the ADV160 is priced at ₱1,66,900 (around Rs 2.50 lakh) while its rival, the Yamaha NMax 155 is a tad cheaper at ₱1,51,900 (around Rs 2.28 lakh). Because it shares hardly anything with a Honda model sold in India, there’s no saying how the company will price the ADV160 here.