Hero Splendor to turn 20!

A fascinating history of the machine that changed the face of biking in India

Hero Splendor entered the market at a time when Bajaj and Kinetic Honda ruled the market. Sooner rather than later it became a household name.

Always promoted by means of taglines that, in one way or the other, highlighted the basic idea of 'Feels like family', Splendor is a bike that succeeded in establishing itself as a trustworthy member of countless families, not only in India but across the entire world over the long years of its existence.

It was almost two decades ago, in 1994, when the Golden Duo of Hero Honda launched a sleek and (though not very stylish) smart motorcycle model in the Indian bike market and provided Indian buyers an option that was worlds apart from the big, bulky and boxy rides like Bullet and Rajdoot that pretty much summed up the entire Indian bike market back then.

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In a marketplace crawling with brawny street fighters, Hero Honda Splendor, with its shining red paint, lean body style and modernistic bikini fairing, came as an exciting new option for city commuters that comprised everyone from college students to small businessmen to office executives.

Powered by a 97.2cc, air-cooled, 4-stroke, single-cylinder, OHC mill, Hero Honda Splendor held the capacity of churning out peak 7.4bhp at 8000rpm along with a maximum torque of 7.95Nm at 5000rpm.

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While its decent power ratings made the Splendor perfectly suitable for daily commuters, what really had the Indian buyers embracing this newbie with both arms was its fabulous fuel-economy of 80.6kmpl.

That and its exceptional handling qualities, the immense riding comfort that it offered, the strength that its sturdy tubular double cradle frame encompassed and, of course, the excellent refinement that its Honda-sourced engine displayed.

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In fact, so great was the momentum that this bike picked up in the market only a little while after it was launched and by 2000 Splendor emerged as the largest selling single two-wheeler model on the planet!

One of the biggest success stories that the Indian bike market has ever seen, Hero Honda Splendor kept winning millions of hearts as it went on through one year after the next in its famous red attire, its unbelievable success inspiring other renowned bike-brands like Bajaj and TVS to unleash their personal versions of commuter motorcycles in the Indian market and expand the pool of alternatives for the buyers.

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It was in this new atmosphere, where the competition was not composed of some muscular beasts like it once was but of sleek beauties belonging to a class quite similar to itself, and the attention of the audience was just beginning to slip towards the other available alternatives, that India's beloved Splendor once again drew all eyes to itself by coming out in a new facelift version Hero Honda Splendor Plus.

Not much different from its immensely popular predecessor, Hero Honda Splendor Plus was built on the exact same structure and housing the exact same machinery as the original Splendor under an outfit that added some really exciting new traits to the ageing attire of the previous version of Splendor and brought its illustrious bloodline the one thing that it needed to maintain its stronghold on the market over the days to come -- an attractive makeover.

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2003, the year that brought the launch of Splendor Plus, also witnessed the laying of yet another milestone for the Splendor range: for the third time in a row (2000, 2001, 2002), Hero Honda Splendor had emerged as the World's largest selling model, yet again proving its dominance in the bike market.

As the Splendor brand went on achieving higher standards of success, crossing the 5 million mark in 2004 and the 11 million mark in 2009, new models kept on making their way into the famous clan.

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Hero Honda Super Splendor, the only 125cc member of the entire Splendor series, broke cover in 2005 with a bigger 124.7cc, air-cooled, 4-stroke, single-cylinder, OHC engine capable of generating peak power and torque outputs of 9bhp at 7000rpm and 10.35Nm at 4000rpm respectively.

Two years later, another 100cc model, called as Hero Honda Splendor NXG, joined the Splendor range featuring a similar 97.2cc powermill tuned to put out a peak 7.7bhp at 7500rpm.

In 2008, a year after the Splendor NXG was launched the bike became the first entry-level model in the history of Hero Honda to be equipped with a power start feature.

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The youngest and the most dynamic of the Splendors, Hero Honda Splendor PRO, was welcomed in the famous bike family in the year 2010 along with a new version of the Super Splendor.

Targeted at the vivacious youth of the country, the Splendor PRO came out flaunting several exciting features like a redesigned instrument console, stylish body graphics and sporty alloy wheels with the same 97.2cc engine of Splendor Plus sitting under its attractive new hood.

Meanwhile, the new facelift of Super Splendor had also become a lot trendier than before to fall more easily in tune with the modern buyer.

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Unfortunately, the year that saw the launch of these enticing new models was the same year by the end of which the legendary alliance of Hero Honda also came to an end, to be known today by the separate names of Hero MotoCorp and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI).

Their marvellous range of commuter bikes that was once known as Hero Honda Splendor is today called as Hero MotoCorp Splendor. But, although the name of this motorcycle series has undergone a change, its charm only grows far and wide, just like it used to before 2011.

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