Cows come home, hell freezes over, fat lady sings, Honda brings SH to USA.

Sun, Mar 22, 2009

Scooter


With mouth agape, we read this news from Honda. The SH150i is coming to the USA as a 2010 model in just about 3 months. No, it’s not the SH300i that is completely dominating the Italian scooter world, but it’s better than say… nothing or worse, removing their three only remaining scooters.


Here’s some of the highlights:
  • Liquid cooled 153cc PGM-FI (Programmed Fuel Injection)
  • Air injection system, exhaust catalyzer and advanced digital mapping to reduce emissions.
  • CBS Combined Braking System front disc / rear drum.
  • 16 inch 100/80 front 120/80 rear tire.
  • Flat floorboard
  • Dual rear shocks
  • 30.9 inch seat height
  • 2 gallon fuel tank
  • 1 year warranty
  • Optional windscreen, trunk and backrest pad for trunk

Looks like Honda may be listening to their American fans after all!



Look for the 2010 Honda SH150i to retail for $4,499 in two colors, Metallic Red and Metallic Black.
Thanks a ton to Garrett Johnson and to Joe Alegre for the scoopage! A tad bit pricey, but still the best news I heard all day.

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20 Responses to “Cows come home, hell freezes over, fat lady sings, Honda brings SH to USA.”

  1. JK Schwehm Says:

    Looks a lot like the Piaggio Lt150 and the later model Piaggio Fly, both a lot less costly. Love Honda products but at two thousand more?? What does it have to cost so much more?

    Reply

  2. Louise Says:

    Sweet! How heavy is it? Any idea if it will be called something besides “SH”?

    I agree with JK, that’s pretty spendy, even for a Honda, but nice to daydream about on a rainy Sunday morning.

    Reply

  3. sanjuro62 Says:

    Way over priced. Shoot, give us a 200 or 250 in it for that price.

    Reply

  4. Anonymous Says:

    The price for this scooter is stupid high. Honda has priced this scooter at the same price as their recent, late lamented Helix, which is 3X better.

    Screw Honda. I’d rather buy a Vespa 150 for that kind of money.

    Reply

  5. Anonymous Says:

    I’ll take either SYM 125 or 200 for $800 to over a thousand less with a shield and trunk thank you.
    It makes the 300i look even more attractive for just a grand more twice the cc’s and a shield. In spite of their association with Carter Bro’s.
    Better yet, 1st I’ll try the Linhai 200, actually 175cc,16″r coming soon at less than 1/2 the price.
    No way anh-Ah I’m not paying Honda $4400 for a 150.
    I can hear Honda and their dealers now, saying; “We tried to give them a good scooter but they wouldn’t buy it.”

    Reply

  6. Dan Says:

    Hmm….$4499 is a lot of cash when you consider that Yamaha’s Zuma 125 is only $2999. The SH150 is worth a few hundred more for it’s liquid cooling and extra 25cc but $3499 is the most I can see them competitively selling it for. I guess with the dropping yen they are just biting the bullet and pricing it like they need to, to make money (if it sells).

    Reply

  7. Dan Says:

    Anyone else thinking engine swap into a Ruckus? 153cc of fuel injected, liquid cooled power would blow away a GY6 swap.

    Reply

  8. Dan Says:

    I wonder if this is coming to Canada? Honda sells their CBR125 motorcycle here for $3500 Cdn (about $3g US dollars). If they bring the SH150, I would expect it to cost about $5499 Cdn given the current exchange rate.

    Sure the SH150 has more underseat storage and an extra 25cc’s, but there’s no way a rational person would spend $2000 over a CBR125 for one. This would need to cost about $3700-$3900 in Canada to sell well alongside the CBR125.

    I understand the dropping value of the Yen is making things hard for Japanese manufacturers, but if they can’t afford to sell bikes at existing price points, they need to raise the prices of all their bikes consistently rather than introduce new bikes are much higher prices that other Honda’s.

    Perhaps they’ll delay announcing this in Canada for a bit, and then they’ll announce it at the same time they announce radical price increases for all 2010 models. Get your scoots now!

    Reply

  9. Sara Says:

    It’s a nice scoot, and I’d trade my vino 125 in for it, if not for that price- Gah!
    I had no idea Canada got the CBR 125, wish Honda would look at selling those here.

    Reply

  10. Dan Says:

    Okay last comment in a row…I promise.

    Forgetting about the price, this is an awesome scoot.

    Consider:
    - Coolant Temp Gauge (handy)
    - Liquid Cooled (nice)
    - V-Belt Wear Indicator light (very cool)
    - Fuel injected? (nice)
    - 3 piston 276mm front disc? (awesome)
    - twin piston rear drum brake (wtf? how does this work?)

    The styling doesn’t do it for me and the price is too high, but whoever does buy this scoot is going to love it.

    Reply

  11. Tim Says:

    Honda has lost its way when it comes to the scooter market in the US.

    Reply

  12. Leo Says:

    Big wheels are the trucker caps of the scootering scene now. Honda is trying to cash in on this trend. They’ll be importing Cubs here soon. Would anyone want to wager?

    Reply

  13. Tim Says:

    Importing Cubs? With SYM already in place and doing it? I doubt it. Plus they won’t be able to do it cheaper.

    Reply

  14. Dan Says:

    They won’t import Cubs. The SH150 is essentially a modern Cub. It’s just several generations newer.

    Reply

  15. Anonymous Says:

    15.5-hp and 300-lbs? Three hundred pounds? The SH300 with 27-hp only weighs 60-lbs more. Honestly, a bike with 15-hp should be under 200-pounds.

    Let’s see, the CRF150R has 23-hp… shove that engine into a Ruckus and I’ll be buying a Honda. I’m certainly not putting a deposit on the SH150, the DN-01, or the Furry.

    -scooter

    Reply

  16. Anonymous Says:

    You can buy a one-year-old very lightly used Scarabeo 500ie for $4,000 bucks and it comes with a windshield, remote alarm and seat release, integrated brakes, and 460cc fuel injection. $4,500 for a non-Vespa 150 is insane. The scoot market outside of the lifestyle-oriented Vespa is very price conscious. This won’t fly!

    Reply

  17. Ryan Says:

    Umm, way too much money. I’d much rather have a new Ninja 250. Read all of my thought about the SH150i at: http://www.scooter-news.com/index.php/news/1-latest/224-honda-brings-in-sh150i-for-2010

    Reply

  18. Dan Says:

    15.5hp for a 300lbs scoot is pretty decent. 150cc Vespa’s weigh close to 300lbs and they make around 11hp. Yamaha’s Zuma 125 makes 9-10 hp and weights around 270lbs.

    Keep in mind the CRF150 has to rev a lot higher to make it’s 23hp. Honda can do that with a dirt bike because they only hit these RPMs for a few seconds at a time. If you ran your CRF150 for hundreds of miles at whatever RPM it takes to make 23hp then it wouldn’t last very long.

    I actually expected less than 15.5hp, something around 12-13hp is good for a 150cc scoot.

    Reply

  19. Anonymous Says:

    I had this SH 150I in Vietnam…Its heavy..but amazing fast.handles better than the Dylan and @ 150. In Vietnam is about 8000 USD..considered the most expensive scooter there now..well,, the 300I took over already.

    Reply

  20. Anonymous Says:

    Bought it two weeks ago.
    Love it.

    Reply

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