Today we will compare two bikes in the 125cc engine category – the Discover 125ST from Bajaj and Honda CB Shine. The Discover 125ST is the more recent entrant to the market having made its way only in the mid of last year while Honda Shine has been around for around 3 years now. While both bikes are in the 125cc segment, Bajaj has had the luxury to extensively study the market before launching their new 125cc Discover. Consequently, they have been able to offer quite a few better specs in comparison to the peers.
The Discover 125ST arguably offers the best power in the 125cc bike segment. According to company brochures, the Discover 125ST delivers close to 13PS max power at 9000 RPM whereas the CB Shine only offers around 10.3PS @7500 RPM. The difference is not much in terms of torque though. While the Discover 125ST claims to offer a max net torque of 10.8 Nm at 7000 RPM, the corresponding value for the CB Shine is 10.54Nm at 5500RPM. The price of the lowest available variant on CB Shine is Rs. 54,782 while the price of Discover 125ST is Rs. 55,500 – both ex-Delhi. So as you can see, no one winner here. I shall tabulate all the major specs for a side-by-side comparison below.
Mileage Comparison
Let us first start with the manufacturer claims. According to Honda Motorcycles, the CB Shine can deliver about 65 kmpl under standard test road conditions. In comparison, the Discover 125ST delivers around 67.5 kmpl under similar conditions. Do note that the fuel economy that you derive on real world conditions may be vastly different.
To check how the two bikes fare on city roads, let us look at what third party blog and customer reviews have got to say. On MouthShut, both bikes have received a 4/5 rating for fuel consumption. The reviews have been extremely positive for Discover 125ST with the lowest reported mileage around 48kmpl and the highest over 60kmpl. The average is around 55kmpl. In comparison, the lowest reported figure for CB Shine is around 42kmpl while the average reported figure lies between 50-55kmpl. So the Discover wins by a slight margin on this one.
We do not have many other common sources that have reviewed both the bikes. Let us first take a look at websites that have reviewed the Discover 125ST. MotorBeam in their test reports around 55kmpl on city roads that goes up to 60kmpl on highways. ZigWheels reports a much better experience having seen around 62kmpl just on the city roads. The highway mileage is reported to be 77kmpl which seems quite unbelievable and I would term this is an exception and not a rule. BikeDekho in their review report a much lower figure. On city roads, the reviewer was able to see only around 50 kmpl although on highways this was much better at 65kmpl.
With Honda CB Shine, the story is not very different. The official review on BikeAdvice notes that the fuel consumption could improve after servicing although in their test, the reported figure was around 50 kmpl on city roads. The figures are slightly better on the Yahoo user reviews where the number lies between 55-60 kmpl on an average. The FE on highways though was noted to be higher at 62kmpl.
There were a couple of more sources that reviewed the CB Shine from a fuel economy perspective. IndiaGarage users claim to be seeing between 50-55 kmpl on city roads and 58-62kmpl on highways whereas the reviewer on MaxAbout reports 58kmpl on city roads and a massive 73kmpl on highways – again, this appears to be an outlier and do not expect your bike to reach this level of efficiency.
Here is a snapshot of what various reviewers of these two bikes have said. From the outset, the fuel consumption do not appear to be too different on both the bikes. Considering that the prices are not vastly different either, I would pick the Discover 125ST over CB Shine considering a better power on this bike for the same economy. What will be your pick?
Spec Bajaj Discover 125ST Honda CB Shine
Displacement 124.6cc 124.7cc
Max Power 13PS @9000 10.3PS @7500
Max Torque 10.8Nm @ 7000 10.54Nm @ 5500
Kerb Weight 124.5kg 120kg
Fuel Tank Capacity 10L 10.5L
Ground clearance 170mm 157mm
Price (ex-Delhi) Rs. 55500 Rs. 54782
It's a Very interesting post. Hope you will write another post! Honda Shine price
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