My take on the Unicorn..Part 2. Review on Honda Unicorn 150 cc

Thank you to all those of you who have given me your feedback and comments. I hope to keep answering them as they come. My intention was not to write a review again. This is a followup to an issue that I purposely did not mention in my earlier review as I was waiting to see what would happen. But after seeing what happened, I felt that I just had to write this review too to inform all of you of the same.

Now that your curiosity is really stoked, here goes for Part 2:

Within a month of purchasing my Red Unicorn in November 2004, I noticed that there was a tiny 2 mm round spot on my petrol tank where the paint had come off. There was no fading of the paint. Instead the paint just came off in a round dot. As you may expect, I was disheartened. I've never seen the paint come off in any bike like this. But I thought it was because my cleaning cloth had some sand grains on it and this may have done it.

I left this alone for a month to study it. Now, I am a stickler for maintenance. I check the oil level, clutch play, brake fluid, chain gap, engine sound every 2-3 days. I wash and wax my bike with only imported Carnauba waxes and use the softest autogels to wash the bike. So with the wax on, I expected the paint to stick on the tank. However, I noticed that after a month, another 2 spots appeared where the paint vanished in 2 mm spots from the tank!!

I was really disappointed by this time and contacted Pratul Honda although this is not where I purchased the bike from. I could not go back to the dealer from where I purchased the bike since they were too far away.

Now comes the service part from Pratul Honda. They had a look and immediately booked a complaint in front of me and sent a mail to the Gurgaon office. The very next day, I was called by the Honda representative from Gurgaon. I spoke to him and mailed him the photos of my petrol tank with the spots where the paint came off. What I must mention here is that the Honda representative kept trying my office, house and my cell number till he got in touch with me. I've never seen such superb followup happen.

As soon as I sent the photos, the company immediately told Pratul Honda the same day to change my tank without any further questions asked. All this happened within 2 days. The next morning I received a call from Pratul Honda apologizing for the inconvenience caused to me and they requested me to bring my bike over the the service center. I did so and they've given me a brand new petrol tank all done in 1 hour!!

Now, let me say that I've traveled quite extensively to the Middle East and the UK. I've seen customer service there and used to wonder why we cannot have such a service available in India too from any manufacturer. For what Honda has done for my bike, this is a true testament to their commitment on their products. Most companies do not realise that the true brand building and advertising comes from satisfied customers in the after-sales servicing. Honda has totally shocked me by taking up my case with such urgency and making sure that I am not troubled in anyway.

I will now say with utmost faith that I will always continue to purchase products from HMSI if I can afford it. If this had been any other manufacturer, I would've had to argue, bargain, negotiate and run around some 10 times before getting anything done. But Honda didn't say anything. They accepted that something was wrong and changed my tank under the warranty agreement. They've also given me the assurance that ANY problems covered by the warranty will be looked at immediately and replaced, not repaired.

So....I don't care if the Unicorn is slower than the Pulsar or the Fiero. I don't care if the petrol tank cover is bulbous and funny. I don't care if the horn sounds puny. If Honda is able to do this much for me to keep me satisfied, I will ALWAYS trust them. This commitment from them is something I care about

BTW, my new tank is now almost 2 weeks old and is in fine condition. I've waxed the bike again and spoken to Pratul Honda. They've asked me to keep them informed in case anything happens again so that they can take care of it under warranty. A small point here is that when I gave them my bike for changing the tank, there was about 2 litres in it. They told me that due to the vaporization during transfer, I will lost about half litre. My new tank had 1.5 litres petrol in it. Small things but important to me.

Today, I am very happy to say that I bought the Unicorn. I feel quite secure knowing that their full support is always available.

Other few points that I forgot to mention in my earlier review:

The seating position is the best till date. Straight up, no back pain even on long rides.

My current mileage is still 55 kmpl when I drive hard and fast.

The bike shines when you wax it properly. The metallic hue and microgranules really show up very well.

I've carried a friend of mine who's almost 100 kilos on it up a slope. No hassles at all and no tappet sounds from the bike even in 3rd gear.

Bike's done about 2000 kms now. No problems, no hassles, no issues. Just fill petrol and ride.

So if you guys have any other questions to ask me, please feel free to do so.

Kudos Honda!

From one loyal customer.