Hero Splendor iSmart 110 Review
Hero Splendor iSmart – First Impressions
Team GaadiKey was happy enough to kick start the year 2017 by test riding the legendary Splendor motorcycle from Hero MotoCorp. The story of Splendor is not today’s or yesterday’s or last year’s, the bike has built its brand since its inception which happened in year 1994 giving a breath-taking competition for then-rivals Kinetic Honda and Bajaj scooters. The original Splendor powered by 100cc engine succeeded Hero Honda CD100 and Hero Honda Sleek and has seen many generations with timely updates in the form of Splendor Pro, Splendor Plus etc. We are now in the era of 2017 and Splendor continues its domination in Indian 2 wheeler industry, even today, with record sales figures.
We received the all new 110cc Splendor iSmart motorcycle for a test ride from Hero MotoCorp and what follows is the review and verdict of the bike:
First Impressions
Hero Splendor iSmart 110 gets a modern and updated design and body graphics. The bike which we got was of “Sports Red” color that has a solid attractive looks. You can notice the stylish Splendor logo, dual body colors, analog-digital instrument cluster, the always on AHO headlight, a dedicated switch to operate the patented i3S technology that is available only in this motorcycle. We were impressed at the first glance.
Design and Looks
Splendor iSmart 110 stands-off from the other Hero motorcycles. The design and looks of Hero Splendor iSmart 110 is very fresh and entirely different from any other older versions of Splendors. The design team of Splendor iSmart 110 has done a great job in its department – it is pretty neat, simple yet elegant.
The all new Splendor iSmart 110 gets a dual tone rear view mirror, new rear tail light and a much curvier fuel tank in the front. Hero has added a split grab rail for this bike.
The anologue-digital instrument cluster of iSmart 110 is simple and feature-rich and comes with new features like side-stand indicator and carries other trip-related information. The speedometer is analog, the digital display and indicators are accessible and rider-friendly when it comes to readability in both day and light conditions.
Splendor iSmart 110 is offered in 6 attractive colors – Sports Red, Leaf Green, Excellent Blue, Heavy Grey, Red & Black, Silver & Black.
Engine and Transmission
Splendor iSmart 110 is powered by 109.15cc air-cooled, 4-stroke single cylinder, OHC engine which comes with i3S technology. This 110cc motorcycle from Hero churns out a maximum power of 9 bhp at 7500 rpm and gets torque of 9Nm @ 5500 rpm. The engine is mated to a 4-speed manual transmission gearbox.
Special mention to i3S “On/Off” switch at the right-side of handlebar (Do not mistake it for Engine kill-switch). If the i3s system is ON, the engine shuts off as the motorcycle comes to idle for more than 5 seconds – this feature helps you to save fuel that unnecessarily gets burnt in city traffic conditions where most time is spent waiting for traffic signal to turn green. Holding the clutch, triggers the engine to start again – we were thrilled to observe this feature in an entry-level 110 motorcycle, the one which you might probably expect in high-end cars.
Ride and Handling
Coming to the riding department, the motorcycle is as smooth as butter in handling the chaotic traffic on street. Splendor iSmart 110 offers a pretty solid stability, manoeuvring ability is great – thanks to motorcycle’s light-weight Kerb weight of 115 Kgs.
During our test the motorcycle performed well in both city and highway roads. In the highways, once you attain the speed of around 60-80 Kmph, you might experience that you would want more power – given that we are riding a motorcycle from 110cc segment – you cannot expect more. To compensate, you will be rewarded with a bonus of fuel, as the engine is optimised to deliver a great fuel economy (Upto 75 kmpl). We got a fairly good mileage of 55-65 kmpl. You can achieve much better mileage numbers if you are maintaining a steady speed under 40Kmpl. The top speed claimed by Hero is 87 kmph, you can surpass 95 kmph on highways ( with lots of vibrations).
No complaints at all, the iSmart 110 was smart enough to shut off its engine during traffic signals in City. The ease at which you can ride this motorcycle cannot be expressed in words.
Not only city, the motorcycle is good for long commute as well. For some one who travels a lot (average 150 to 200 kms) the bike is blessing as it has a larger fuel tank capacity of 8.5 litres that includes a reserve capacity of 2 litres, – so you need not worry about refuelling your motorcycle again and again.
Brakes, Suspension and Comfort
The all new Splendor iSmart 110 comes with tubeless tyres with alloy wheels – so you may not worry about frequent punctures. The motorcycle misses on disc brake, as it is only equipped with 130mm drum brakes both in front as well as rear wheels – so you will have to be bit careful while applying brakes in rainy and wet conditions. For normal use, the brakes does its job and gives a good feedback.
Hero Splendor iSmart 110 has a pretty good ground clearance of 165mm that makes you not think about your motorcycle floor hitting the wrongly designed speed breaker. The telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers in the front and the spring-armed hydraulic shock absorbers at the rear offers a pretty good comfortable ride.
The motorcycle is good for riding with a pillion rider as the seats are wide and is comfortable to host another person without any issue – the split-grab rails comes to the rescue as well.
Dimensions
Following are the dimension details of new Hero Splendor iSmart 110:
Verdict
Who should be buying this motorcycle? The all new Hero Splendor iSmart 110 is aimed at people who crave for fuel efficient motorcycle and at the same time who wishes to use some modern features. Splendor iSmart does not disappoint in any department, be it looks, fuel economy or in the terms of modern features – it is fully packed with features like automatic engine-shutoff (i3S technology), new and modern analogue-digital instrument cluster and is also complaint to new standards like AHO ( Automatic headlight On).
The ride quality, handling and stability of Splendor iSmart 110 is excellent. It is a good commuter motorcycle with modern tech features to own. The all new iSmart 110 is priced at INR 54,030 (Ex-showroom Bangalore).
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