The Honda XR150 is a dual-sport motorcycle that has both electric and kick start, offers smooth power delivery and has a low seat height. Most riders find the seat to be comfortable for long trips and the bike to be reliable and easy to ride as well as maintain.
10 Things we Love about the Honda XR150
1. Reliable
The XR150 is a Honda and, as we all know, they are extremely reliable. So long as you carry out the basic maintenance and use good fluids you will have little trouble. Gone are the days when you couldn’t find anyone in the countryside in Vietnam to fix this strange bike and parts were nowhere to be found. You can get most things fixed and use parts from many of Hondas wide range of bikes to repair the XR150.
2. Low Seat Height
The height on the seat is 82cm which is quite reasonable and most riders can handle this just fine. Bear in mind that the seat itself is quite wide and this may result in you losing a cm or two of inside leg length. However, as the bike is quite light at 129kg, it is still quite easy to maintain balance on most road surfaces, especially tarmac.
3. Electric/Kick Start
Well, sure, electric start is pretty standard on every bike but many do not have a kick start for those times when you kill the battery. It can come in handy in extreme situations and it is such a simple thing to add to the bike that we don’t see why it wouldn’t be there. At 150cc you could argue that she will be easy enough to bump start but if you have tried that in 40C with 90% humidity, you’ll agree with us that a kick start lever is welcome
4. Gentle Power Delivery
What little power she does have, 12bhp, rolls on smoothly and is easily controlled through the throttle. You will not find that she jumps and jerks around or give you any big surprises. Therefore, riding slowly while looking at the scenery, or even with one hand whilst you are taking a photo with your phone (don’t try this at home!) is quite easy. This steady roll on is apparent throughout the gears and she may be vanilla but when you have a lot more to deal with in the form of mayhem on the roads, vanilla is quite welcome.
5. Adequate Suspension
For most 90% of your route on tarmac you will find that you get a smooth ride and you are not going to bottom out the suspension. Yes, the rear is a little soft and if you go full guns, then you are going to get some hefty bumps. However, if you know you are going to ride that way, you would probably not choose the XR150. For getting between villages on most tarmac and dirt in Vietnam you will find she soaks up the bumps quite well.
6. Comfortable Seat
The height of the seat, discussed above, means she is easy enough to get on. Now, the width and softness of the seat is such that the XR150 is quite comfortable for a longer journey. If you compare it to say a CRF, it is chalk and cheese. I would wager you can manage about half the distance on a CRF seat. What is more, the pillion seat is also quite wide and soft, which makes for a much happier pillion.
7. Easy to fix (simple)
Those that bemoan the lack of dashboard information, or things like ABS and traction control have, perhaps, never had these things malfunction in the vietnamese countryside, thus rendering their motorcycle useless. This refreshing lack of technology means that on the rare occasions that something goes wrong, it can usually be fixed by a backyard mechanic. Then, you simply continue your trip.
8. Lightweight and Nimble
Overall, the balance on the bike is great and she is very easy to handle. As noted above she is just 129 kg and the geometry is such that you can throw her all over the road around potholes, dogs, pigs and buffalo. There is no issue with zig zagging and that can be a life saver when you are both in the countryside and the city traffic in Vietnam. The only caveat here is speed. So, long as you are neck haring along at breakneck, you will find the XR150 will easily chop and change direction at your whim.
9. Decent Riding position
This is something that we feel is true but that can also be improved. This is because the riding position is somewhat upright and that can be maintained for a long distance. However, we like to install handlebar risers (see our blog on 7 Superb Mods for the Honda XR150) in order to make the seated and standing riding positions that little bit extra comfortable.
10. Excellent Range
You have a 12 litre tank on the XR150 and Honda claim that she will run around 2.1 litres to 100km, so figure that out. Realistically, you will need to fill once a day at most and it is likely that you could go two or more days without needing to fill. I usually tell riders that they can expect over 300km on a tank. This is just to be conservative. You should also note that there is a 2l reserve tank on the bike. You can see how to operate this in the blog I wrote ‘3 Things you MUST know about the Honda XR150’.
