Honda Winner and Yamaha Exciter - new race in Vietnam

Honda may have to work hard to make Winner compete on par with Exciter in the segment that is the strength of Yamaha's model.

The first motorcycle exhibition in Vietnam (Vietnam Motorcycle Show 2016) marked a new phase of the market. At this time, sales are no longer the top goal of each company, instead, market share is preparing the foundation for the transition to product portfolio.

Honda Winner 150 launched at Vietnam Motorcycle Show 2016.

This strategy was clearly demonstrated by Honda when it unexpectedly introduced Winner 150, a model competing in the underbone sport segment that Yamaha started with Exciter more than 10 years ago. Originally focusing on durability and neutrality for a variety of users, the step into the sporty, strong personality segment required many challenges for Winner 150 and Honda.

The 150cc manual clutch motorbike assembled by Honda will be sold in the Vietnamese market from next June. Similar to the Exciter, the Winner is designed with straight and cut lines, giving a strong feeling to the small-sized motorbike.

The detailed design of each part clearly distinguishes Winner and Exciter. The overall shape of the Honda model is a development from its younger brother Wave RSX, while the Exciter is completely different, unrelated to its younger brother Sirius.

Both underbones use a warrior-style front with a sharp shield and neatly integrated turn signals on both sides. The headlight shape is the minus point of the Exciter because it is too simple like a popular motorbike, but the Winner is more attentive, adding a V-shaped cut like a superhero's face.

Winner scores points over Exciter in headlights, but Yamaha's model does better in the fairing. Yamaha's designers created a tight, long fairing for Exciter like a large-displacement sports bike, while their Honda colleagues were modest in only breaking the fairing a little bit, still looking quite similar to the one on the RSX.

Winner also has a minus point in the front fender which is a bit long compared to a sports car, but is more optimal when moving in the rain. At the back, Winner is slim when combining the turn signals and taillights into one cluster while Exciter separates them. With this arrangement, Winner has the advantage of moving in narrow spaces and Exciter has the advantage of a balanced appearance.

Honda also seems to be keeping up with the trend of sports car design by using many plastic details painted with carbon fiber, a series of materials used for large displacement motorcycles. Customers may feel familiar with Winner to be ready to get acquainted because the design is similar to RSX, on the contrary, Exciter will attract people by discovering new things.

The headlight cluster on the Winner is LED, while the Exciter is halogen. Two-wheel disc brakes, exhaust pipes, sport rims, analog clock combined with LCD, and single rear shock absorber are common features on the two Japanese models. The Winner's tubeless tires are 90/80 front and 120/70 rear; the Exciter's are 70/90 and 120/70 respectively, with the front tire being smaller than the Winner's. The Winner's fuel tank is slightly larger with a capacity of 4.5 liters, while the Yamaha's is 4.2 liters.

The engine on the Winner 150 is a DOHC twin cam, 150cc single cylinder, PGM-FI electronic fuel injection, liquid cooled. Compression ratio 11.3:1, capacity 15.4 horsepower at 9,000 rpm, maximum torque 13.5 Nm at 6,500 rpm. 6-speed gearbox.

The Exciter's engine is also 150cc but has a single cam SOHC, liquid-cooled, electronic fuel injection, 15 horsepower at 8,500 rpm, and maximum torque of 13.8 Nm at 7,000 rpm. 5-speed gearbox.

The power of the two vehicles is similar in both power and torque. The maximum power of the Winner is reached at a slightly later rpm than the Exciter, but the torque is reached earlier. In theory, these numbers show that the Winner accelerates from a standstill faster, but reaches maximum speed slower than the Exciter. However, the difference in numbers is not large, so in reality, it depends on the structure of the frame, tires, shock absorbers as well as the aerodynamics of each design to evaluate the performance of each vehicle model.

Honda Winner 150 will be available on the market from June, the price has not been disclosed. Meanwhile, Yamaha Exciter 150 has been available since late 2014, with the traditional advantage of 11 years of dominating the Vietnamese market in the underbone sportbike segment. The price of Exciter 150 is 45-45.5 million VND.

According to VNE