With its Centuro, Mahindra entered unchartered territory - the premium end of the commuter motorcycle market. This is an area that Hero’s Passion and Honda’s Dream Yuga reigned supreme in. Mahindra has made a real effort to ensure this bike stands out from the other two.
On the outside
The Centuro is pretty big for its class. Mahindra has added some nice elements, like the angular headlamp, well-shaped fuel tank and smart LED brake lamps. The twin gold pipes under the tank and overdone graphics on the side panels do a bit of tackiness though. The Centuro offers a lot of features for the price. The instruments are dominated by a large tachometer that reads up to 12,000rpm. There’s a digital display for the speedometer, odometer, trip-meter, clock, service indicator, economy mode and even a handy distance-to-empty readout. The bike even gets a multifunction flip-to-open key with 96-bit encryption so you can’t use a duplicate key to start the bike. Tap on the key and your bike’s lights will flash, making it easy to locate in a crowded parking lot. It even comes with follow-me-home lamps that keep the lights on for a couple of seconds after the ignition is switched off. The palm grips are comfy, the mirrors are large and the well-finished switches come with a pass-light flasher.
Power torque
There’s no mechanical difference between this bike and the Pantero that Mahindra launched earlier. It uses the same single-cylinder, four-stroke, air-cooled and 106.7cc engine as its sibling. Peak power is 8.4bhp at 7500rpm. Performance feels just about adequate, although the engine is on the noisier, gruff side. The four-speed, all-up gearbox is largely smooth.
Is it worth your money?
City commuters will like the comfort afforded by the upright seating position. The Centuro is not suited to quick, sporty riding though, not by any stretch. While the Centuro is a good effort from Mahindra, it’s some way off from its rivals as far as engineering is concerned. But with so many features for the price, the Centuro does offer a good value proposition.
