There’s a beast in this underbone.

That’s what instantly popped in our minds when we first revved the Honda RS150. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here.

A quick inspection of the Honda RS150 showed the obvious: it’s a bigger version of its predecessor, the RS125. But the differences didn’t stop there.

The RS150, known in other countries as the Honda Sonic 150, boasts of a more aggressive look due to its stylish fairing. It has a monoshock instead of the usual pair of shock absorbers, disc breaks in front and the rear, and its headlight resembles a head of a Gundam robot.

So I swung my leg over, pushed the starter button, revved the bike and heard it growl. It wasn’t a regular underbone, so I went easy on the throttle as I brought the bike to our the basement parking.

Panel, handlebar

From a rider’s point of view, I immediately noticed Honda RS150’s integrated digital meter panel. All of its indicators like speedometer, trip meter, RPM, gear indicator and fuel indicator are digital. It’s nice especially the speedometer as it would give us an accurate reading of our running speed.

At the left side of the bars are the headlight’s high beam, low beam, the horn button and the turn signal switch. Newbies might be confused at first by the signal switch because it’s positioned below the horn unlike the older bike models.

At the right side of the bar is the starter button. You won’t find any headlight switch on this one because the latest Honda models are equipped with the automatic headlight on (AHO) feature.

To help curb the rising number of bike thefts in the country, Honda equipped the RS150 with an auto secure key shutter, which covers the keyhole once you lock the handlebars.

Looks

One thing I like about the Honda RS150 is the styling. For one, it looks bulkier than the RS125 because of its sporty and aggressive fairing. By its look alone, you’d know the bike was meant to run fast.

It also sports a futuristic headlight, which comes with LED lights for brighter coverage of the road while riding at night. One plus factor for the headlight is the “mecha” look. It resembles a head of a Gundam robot and this will surely appeal to anime loving riders.

Power

No I'm not talking about that big bike, but I believe that the power that emanates from the RS150’s engine will make this motorcycle a big hit. The RS150 cradles a MotoGP-inspired, liquid-cooled 150cc DOHC engine. Its six-speed, fuel-injected sports engine has a maximum of 11.5 horse power at 9,000 rpm and maximum torque of 13.5Nm at 6,500 rpm, arguably the most powerful among bikes of its class.

Which is why I was surprised when the bike darts forward with just a light twist of the throttle.

I also noticed that the bike doesn’t like to run slow at it grumbles at low speed (25-25 kph). It’s more comfortable doing crawls at 30-40 kph and cruising speed of 60-70 kph. It happily obliges when you throttle it further to the 100kph mark. It wouldn’t take much for a capable rider to bust the 140 kph limit. We advise riders to be extra careful when testing the topspeed.

Such powerful engine tends to generate heat so Honda included an advanced radiator with electronic fan that automatically clicks on when the engine temperature hits 103 degrees.

With the speed though comes adequate stopping power. As mentioned before, the RS150 is equipped with not just one but two disc brakes (one in front and one at the rear). These brakes are important components for a speedy bike like this one.

Comfort, fuel consumption

The handlebars, by the way, are narrow clip-ons. These allow the rider to tuck his shoulders while running the bike, therefore limiting the drag at high speeds and adding to the bike’s quickness.

Like other racing type of bikes, it is more comfortable to use in short rides. Doing extremely long rides on this baby can cause slight fatigue on the shoulders and the back. But if you’re still young (physically, not at heart), that wouldn’t be a problem.

The RS150’s front telescopic forks and rear monoshock are capable of handling some abuse. They ensure good to excellent shock absorption provided you won’t ride the bike directly to an open manhole.

The Honda RS150 has a fuel tank capacity of 4.3 liters and I’ve been riding it 52 kilometers per day from legal to extra-legal speeds. It gave a fuel consumption of up to 35 kilometers per liter, which is not bad considering the pace I was travelling.

It also allowed me to cut the usual 45-minute travel time to the office by 15 minutes and saved 30 minutes back and forth. For those who already have families, the extra 30 minutes with your kids would mean a lot.

So at P94,900 per unit, I’d say the beast in the Honda RS150 is worth the price.

The RS150 comes in three colors: Black, Winning Red and Space Magenta Metallic.