The Honda 150SS concept bike that appeared at Thailand’s Bangkok show earlier this year is nearing production and appears little-changed from the original.
The bike is clearly aiming at the Thai and Indonesian markets but its styling is attractive to European eyes as well. The water-cooled 150cc single-cylinder engine is less appealing in the West; a learner-legal 125 would make more sense.
Honda has shown the production version to dealers already. Now spy shots of a finished machine are appearing on the internet, taken as Honda filmed an advert. They reveal that the bike is keeping most of the concept’s styling cues. The main change is the wheels; the concept had carbon disc wheels while the production bike has conventional alloys. Normal mirrors also replace the concept’s rear-view camera.
But the upside-down forks remain, as does the trellis-style frame and the distinctive round headlight. The production version even comes close to matching the concept’s blue, silver and black graphics, although the spied bike had a pale blue tank rather than a silver one. There are gold forks on the final version rather than the concept’s grey.
Will we ever see this bike, or a version of it, in Europe? It’s unlikely. But Honda’s willingness to take a local-market concept and transform it into a production machine gives hope that European-focussed ideas may get the same treatment. In particular we’re thinking of bikes like 2015’s CB650-based CB4 and CBSix50 concepts, or last year’s CB1100TR. Those bikes shared a similar overall style to the 150SS. So if Honda’s opting to adopt that look for future models, their chances for production have increased. Here’s hoping.
One element of the 150SS that may not reach production is its name. Some sources suggest that the showroom model will adopt a more familiar ‘CB150’ badge. All will become clear in the very near future when the bike is officially revealed.
