The Splendor moniker is back; this time with 10 more cubic centimetres than its original. But, does it make a compelling case for itself?
At first glance, this bike looks very attractive. The black and blue colour scheme melds well and adds a seamless flow to the design from headlight, across tank to tail. The blacked-out engine, wheels and exhaust, lend an upmarket feel, and the chrome exhaust tip gives it great character. We are looking at Hero’s new Splendor iSmart 110, which is the first bike to be completely designed at Hero MotoCorp’s sprawling R&D facility in Jaipur. And, we like what we see.
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It is obvious that a lot of thought has gone into the sculpted fuel tank, colour-coded mirrors, shapely headlight, angular indicators and split grab-rail. These add edginess to the design.
I threw a leg over and was greeted by a blue back-lit instrument console featuring a large analogue speedometer in the centre, flanked by a smaller analogue fuel gauge and a digital display for odo- and trip-meter. The lights for neutral, high beam and turn indicators are accompanied by an innovative side-stand warning light in red, and the whole console is clear and easy to read. Thumb the starter button on the right switchgear and the engine immediately purrs to life and settles into a smooth tick over.
One of the first things I noticed was the lack of an on-off switch for the headlight. Yes, Hero has gone the globally accepted route of having the headlight permanently on when the engine is running. We feel this is a step in the right direction.
Setting off, the tractable 109.15-cc two-valve engine feels smooth and the gearing encourages you to shift into fourth very soon. The bike feels torquey enough to pull sweetly from 30 km/h in top gear, and although gentle vibes start creeping in at just over 60 km/h, the engine doesn’t feel harsh at all till above 80 km/h.
Like its predecessor, this motorcycle is also equipped with the idle stop-start feature, meaning that a kill switch was not missed. Come to a stop at a signal, slot into neutral, and in five seconds the engine goes silent; all you have to do is pull in the clutch and the engine starts up without fuss even before you engage first gear. This technology helps save fuel.
The relaxed, upright riding position, common among commuter motorcycles is very comfortable, while the suspension is pliant enough to soak up most road irregularities while not feeling too soft. The bike feels light and although the 80-section tyres look skinny, I didn’t find them lacking in grip.
During our performance test, the Splendor iSmart 110 covered the quarter mile in 21.25 seconds with a terminal speed of 94.29 km/h, accelerating from 0 to 80 km/h in just 12.03 seconds. The top speed achieved was 99.880 km/h, while the bike accelerated from 30 to 70 km/h in 10.51 seconds when slotted in third and 12.78 seconds in fourth. In real-world riding conditions, this is more than enough oomph for a commuter in this class, and we were greatly impressed with the 64 km/l urban fuel-efficiency figure that was achieved. The bike’s frugality was enhanced on the highway, where we were able to ride 78 km on a single litre of fuel.
Hero MotoCorp has done a fine job with this motorcycle, and we think it is the right recipe to increase competitiveness
in the 110-cc commuter bike segment.
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