Mahindra 2 Wheelers Centuro Wide 01

Comprehending the needs of the motorcyclist in India looking to purchase a 100cc motorcycle, is as much a dark art as is designing a trellis frame for a motorcycle. The masters of this art are undeniably the folks at erstwhile Hero Honda (now Hero MotoCorp) who sell, sell and will probably continue to sell. While the formula is a simple one, other manufacturers who’ve attempted similar strategies with equally reliable engines have failed to bite off significant chunks from the ‘Hero Honda’ share of the market. As tough as it may be, cracking the 100cc segment which generates hold-your-breath-in-anticipation volumes is the priority for any motorcycle brand in India. Mahindra 2 Wheelers has jumped ‘over the hedge’ and stepped outside the well trodden path with the Centuro, a radically different approach to enticing customers away from the big H. We take a look at the design and technology aspects of the Centuro in this story before we get around to doing a full review when the motorcycle is launched.

Anti Theft System with Engine Immobiliser

Mahindra 2 Wheelers Centuro Key Fob
Every new product needs one big feature that can drag people from the street to the showroom. The Centuro’s would be ‘Central Locking Anti Theft System’ with an Engine Immobiliser and a remote 128 bit encrypted flip key. Once the prospective customer in the showroom, a much longer discussion on why the Centuro is different from the other motorcycles in the market could tip the scales in favour of Mahindra.Mahindra 2 Wheelers Centuro : Flip Key

The term ‘Central locking’ can be misleading here as you cannot actually lock the motorcycle remotely with the key fob. The encrypted key ensures if a duplicate key is used to attempt to unlock the bike, the engine immobiliser ensures that your bike cannot be started.

The topmost button on the key fob garnished in chrome, flips out the key and the other three buttons bring us to the next set of features on the Centuro.

‘Find Me’ lamps

Mahindra 2 Wheelers Centuro 'Find Me' lamps

The first two buttons activate the ‘Find Me’ lamps, a pretty nifty feature to help you find your Centuro parked in, say a shopping mall parking lot. The first button activates the Find Me lamps and audio feedback from the motorcycles whereas the second buttons keeps things quiet and it is only the lamps that are activated. The last button is used to power on a LED on the side of the key fob.

..a feature that is only slowly trickling into mainstream cars

Follow me home headlamp

Mahindra 2 Wheelers Pantero Centuro Unveiling : Fuel Tank

8.5 BHP @ 7500 RPM and 8.5 Nm of peak torque at 5500 rpm

Mahindra 2 Wheelers Pantero Centuro Unveiling : Petrol Tap

Mahindra 2 Wheelers Pantero Centuro Unveiling : MCi-5 engine

Mahindra 2W Centuro HeadlampThis is something I can definitely see myself using. The follow me home lamps, or as Mahindra calls it, the ‘Guide lamps’ will be a great help when you’re carrying tons of gear and have to park in a dimly lit lot before heading up. This is a feature that is only slowly trickling into mainstream cars and Mahindra deserves a pat on the back for bringing it to the Centuro.

Powertrain

The Centuro and the Pantero will be powered by Mahindra’s new MCi-5 engine. The 106.7cc engine makes 8.5 BHP @ 7500 RPM and 8.5 Nm of peak torque at 5500 rpm. The MCi-5 engine has a bore of 52.4mm and stroke length of 49.5 mm. Regardless of the nifty features on offer on the Centruo, the engine and its ‘mileage’ is what will be the deal breaker in this segment. The fuel tank has a a capacity of 12.7 litres, a liter lesser than that of the Pantero. In our review of the Pantero we found the engine to be comfortable for zipping around the city. The engine does get vibey at the extreme reaches of the speedo, but 60 kph in 4th gear is not bone shattering and that is all that matters in a city commuter.

Mahindra 2 Wheelers Pantero Centuro Unveiling : Engine LeftMahindra 2 Wheelers Pantero Centuro Unveiling : Engine Right

The gearbox is again the newer one with the 4-up shift pattern which we found to be much smoother than the previous iteration on the Stallio.

The Centuro also claims to have best in class ground clearance of 173 mm, which is slightly higher than that of the Pantero (165mm).

Styling

Mahindra 2 Wheelers Centuro 01

Mahindra has played a card here that might not exactly be in their favour. Remember the double barrel tubular frame on the Mojo? Mahindra hopes to capitalize on the ‘mojo’ of the Mojo and has used two horizontal gold bars to draw attention to the otherwise uninspiring design of the Centuro. This indicates one, the Mojo is after all coming sometime in the future, two, Mahindra is pretty confident that the Mojo will be successful if it thinks it can borrow design elements from the Mojo on to lower segment offerings.

We aren’t big fans of the exhaust either, but this should do. The ‘belly-pan’ isn’t actually a whole unit, but two plates slapped on either sides for aesthetic purposes only.

The Centuro is 2031 mm long, which is nearly 31mm more than that of the Pantero, though both motorcycles share the same wheelbase of 1265mm. The Centuro also has a 5mm lower seating height of 800mm.

Mahindra 2 Wheelers Pantero Centuro Unveiling : White backlit dashboard

White backlit dashboard looks good in the dark. It has an in built ‘Service Due Indicator’ and ‘Distance- to-Empty Fuel calculator’ and several other features. Mahindra says the DTE calculator works by estimating fuel quantity in multiples of 100ml to give a more accurate distance to empty reading.

Will the Indian consumer buy into this concept of having additional ‘premium’ features on a 100cc segment motorcycle to set the motorcycle apart from the rest of the crowd? Will Mahindra be able to keep the costs competitive with all these additions? We think the pricing might be on the premium side, while the Pantero will continue to be the bare knuckled 100cc fighter priced competitively. We look forward to seeing if the Centuro can make inroads into this segment, do come back for a comprehensive review when the Centuro is launched .

Mahindra 2 Wheelers Pantero Centuro Unveiling 017
Mahindra 2 Wheelers Pantero Centuro Unveiling Rear
Mahindra 2 Wheelers Pantero Centuro Unveiling 015

Technical Specifications

Engine Single Cylinder, 4-stroke, Air cooled, Mci-5 engine
Displacement 106.7 cc
Bore X Stroke 52.4 X 49.5 mm
Maximum Power 8.5 PS @ 7500 rpm
Maximum Torque 8.5 Nm @ 5500 rpm
Starting System Electric Start / Kick Start
Transmission: Gear Box Constant mesh 4 Speed
Frame Double cradle steel Tubular structure
Suspension: FRONT Telescopic , Coil spring
                       REAR Coiled 5-step adjustable
Brake:           FRONT Drum – 130 mm
                       REAR Drum – 130 mm
Tyre Size:     FRONT 2.75” x 18”
                       REAR 3.0” x 18”
Battery:        Electric Start 12V / 6 Ah (maintenance Free)
                       Kick Start 12V / 2.5 Ah (maintenance Free)
Headlamp 12 V – 35W/35W – Halogen
(Multi-reflector)
Tail lamp LED Type
Speedometer Digital / Analog
Dry Weight 111 kg
Kerb Weight (90% fuel filled) 120Kg
Overall Length 2031 mm
Overall Width 735 mm
Overall Height 1111 mm
Seat Height 800 mm
Wheel Base 1265 mm
Minimum Ground Clearance 173 mm
Fuel Tank Capacity 12.7 liters
Other Features White Twin Pilot Lamps -LED Type +WOW features