Honda CD70 – A Story of Love and Hate!
Guest Author: Aamir Sohail
Well, what can I say about Honda CD70 which hasn’t been said already but, as once said by Harvey Dent in Batman, you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain. The same can be said to some extent about the Honda CD70. Almost every Pakistani can say that they he has rode this bike during his life.
Benefits of Honda CD70
Honda CD70 ticked and still ticks all the boxes for an average Pakistani for what he wants in his motorbike. It has a good fuel mileage,70-80 km/l, a Long Bench Seat to accommodate a whole family of 4-5 even more if you are adventurous enough (Most of us are). And best of all, Low Maintenance Cost, which is surprising seeing how beat up and ill-used the ’70s are on the road with no head, brake or even indication lights.
What We Do With Honda CD70?
Talking about indicators, I think motorcycle manufacturers should skip fitting them on bikes because, first of all, no one uses them. If someone accidentally does, no one will acknowledge them on the road and drive right on the side, you want to turn to. That and Rear-View Mirrors too, which surprisingly still come stock with a new CD70, but are the first thing to go after the purchase, only to come back to the bike when it is to be to be sold.
And lastly, the most crucial reason for its sales even to this date, which Atlas Honda even boldly flaunts as a feature of this bike, its Cash Deposit resale value. Even in bolder letters, Atlas Honda’s full form of CD and in 2022 model clearly shows why this bike sells so much compared to its low-priced Chinese counterparts from a million other companies in Pakistan.
Expectations Vs Reality
The Big question? What changes do the millennials want from CD70? Who gives it a bad reputation every time Honda releases a new sticker every year. Millennials want everything with no regard to how much it will cost. Atlas Honda released the CD Dream to appease this very segment of YouTubers, Tiktokers, but Atlas forgot one essential thing. Our younger generation is much more informed and knowledgeable about automobiles due to the constant internet access in recent years.
Being a Millennial myself, I want my CD70 to have LED Headlight, Indicators & Rear Brake light, and a Digital Speedometer, to name the least things that will make the CD 70 stand-out, not to mention Alloy Rims and a Self-Start Motor. But being a realist, I must say that such additions to the CD70 will make it much more expensive and out of reach of the average Pakistani. Moreover, the LED headlights part is still unavailable even in bikes, which are much more costly than CD 70.
My Suggestion
So, my Verdict is if you want upgrades in CD70 in terms of performance, just get a CD100. And if you wish to upgrade CD70 in terms of technology, buy the CD70 and get the upgrades yourself; they will cost you much cheaper than the premium price Atlas will charge you. And we also won’t like when we have to pay Rs100k+ for some light upgrades.
What Atlas Honda Should Do?
That being said, Atlas should learn a lesson or two from Yamaha Pakistan, how they listened to their customers and made one after another positive change in their YBZ line-up and generated good sales, which culminated with YBZ-DX, the most customer focused bike of Pakistan. Be it Forward Shift Pattern Gearbox, Alloy Rims, Disk Brake, etc. The way to move forward is to listen to the customer instead of treading the old pattern because the coming generation will not fall for the same tricks of Rebadging and Rebranding the same engine or chassis again and again (CB125F *wink*wink*).
