Underbone motorcycles, known as cubs or kapchais, are ubiquitous on Malaysian roads. Most motorists have a love/hate relationship with kapchais, usually along the lines of loving to hate them.
But it cannot be denied that kapchais serve a useful purpose as lightweight, short distance, urban transportation. Fuel efficient and nimble, kapchais serve thousands of commuters as daily transport in Malaysian towns and cities.
To that end, all the Japanese major offer a range of underbone bikes in various capacities. Typically, most fall into the 100 cc or 125 cc engine range, and the 150 cc machines with manual gearboxes falling under the ‘supercub’ category.
Honda is the most recognisable of the kapchai brand names for non-riders, with almost everyone either having ridden, or knows someone, who has a Honda kapchai. With five products in the cub category, it’s easy to see where Boon Siew Honda (BSH) – Malaysian distributors for Honda motorcycles – has its priorities.
The latest release from BSH is the 2016 Honda Future FI, in the 125 cc class. Designed for the young rider wanting a sporty machine, we put it through the paces in our review.
Cubs are pretty much designed as urban transportation, and the 2016 Honda Future FI is no different. Light and low to the ground, the Future FI is meant to suit a multitude of roles, first among which is short-range trips.
Sporting a 124.9 cc air-cooled, single-cylinder engine with PGM-FI, the Future FI breaks no new ground in that regard, relying on a formula that has been around since your grandfather bought his first kapchai. Producing a claimed 9.27 PS at 7,500 rpm, and 10.02 Nm torque at 5,500 rpm, performance is, shall we say, adequate.
Since its role is primarily for riding in towns and cities, we found the Future FI to be nippy enough to deal with urban traffic. Cycling through the four-speed, centrifugal clutch gearbox, we found a lot that we were familiar with, in terms of riding an underbone bike.
Accelerating through the gears leaving a traffic light, there was enough zip in the engine to leave traffic behind, though not for very long. It is an unfortunate truth that the performance capability of most small cars on the road today will leave smaller motorcycles behind.
So, the key to riding the Future FI is to keep the speed up, and slow down for nothing. Which brings us to the brakes. Now, while we are certainly not expecting Brembo performance from the front and rear version we tested, braking was found to be, well, enough.
With a single rider on board, a moderate squeeze on the front was enough to bring the bike to stop, until we remembered what the weight bias on a kapchai is like. Stomping on the rear brake was then more than adequate to bring the Future FI to a very quick stop, and enough to lock the rear wheel on wet roads.
Tyres on the 17-inch wheels were quite entertaining, and provided enough feedback and grip for city riding. Start attacking corners aggressively though, and the suspension quickly put its hands up in surrender, with an 87-kg rider on board.
The front forks were under-damped, while the rear shock absorbers were overly so, giving a rather bouncy ride through fast corners. It was a bit like trying to herd a drunk sheep wearing green wellys.
But, pay the high speed shenanigans no mind. With a top speed brushing the 127 km/h point – we tried, in a normal riding position, no superman on a seat heroics here – the Future FI is, primarily, designed to be ridden comfortably at about 90 km/h or so.
At this pace, the engine put out the minimum of vibration, and everything was quiet and harmony, even the suspension. Pushing the bike to the limit is not a kind thing to do though, and the Future FI made its discomfort known very quickly with a buzz in the handlebars.
Seated on the Future is very much the standard kapchai seating position, and the seat was padded to minimise vibration, somewhat. While we didn’t take the bike anywhere far, confining our riding to surface streets in and around the city, we didn’t notice anything untoward, except that the padding was a little firm, but presumably would bed-in over time.
Lifting the seat revealed an 18-litre compartment that would swallow a single helmet, or miscellaneous gear. The Future FI’s 5.4-litre fuel tank is located right behind the compartment.
Riding with a full fuel tank didn’t show any appreciable difference to the handling. We didn’t conduct any real fuel consumption testing on the Future FI, simply because in the five days we had the bike, we didn’t empty the tank.
Let’s just say you’ll be filling the tank up for about 130 km of travel, and leave it at that. Which is, in most cases, quite good for an urban bike, calling for a visit to the petrol station once a week or so.
Instrumentation on the Future FI was quite basic, with a speedometer/odometer in the centre of the fascia, and a fuel gauge to the left and gear indicator to the right. Lighting was ok for night riding, but by no means brilliant.
The 2016 Honda Future FI comes in single- and twin-disc brake versions, and three colours – Candy Scintillate Red, Mariana Purple Metallic and Vital Metallic Blue (as tested). Pricing for the Future FI is RM6,072 for the single-disc, and RM6,358 for the double-disc. Prices include GST.
So, who needs the 2016 Honda Future FI? For urban transport, daily trips and short commutes, the Future FI performs admirably well, and the EFI is a plus in ensuring reliability. The bike certainly designed to be convenient and easy to ride.
For a rider looking for a kapchai that has a little more “get-up-and-go” than other offerings in the market, such as the 109 cc Honda EX5 Dream, the Future FI would be a suitable choice. As for the author, well, if he was looking for an easy runabout to do short trips, this would be high on the list.
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I think you (the author) got it a bit wrong about the targeted audience of the Honda future. It is not targetted for short city ride (that is for the ex5 and alpha) or younger people (there is the honda dash for that). The future is designed for regular long distance commute, like those working in Singapore and staying in JB, or other similar commutes. Honda even has a tagline “hero penjelajah jauh” (long distance hero) for the honda future. The large fuel tank (for a cub) gives a distance of about 250km. The seat is also larger and wider than usual cubchais for more comfort during long commutes. In my opinion this article strays quite far from what this motorcycle is actually meant and designed for.
PT writers all car drivers…
good for people like john. Malam malam they can go racing at kesas. Then day time, spend whole day sleeping
err this one can’t even race to begin with
your sure your brain functioning correctly?
afaik rempit use and prefer 2 stroke motorcycle, i didn’t remember they like 4 stroke motorcycle
If the top of the line cubchai like honda rs150 and normal honda future brakes and suspension are not up to the standards enough, I wonder which cubchai is the benchmark with the perfect brakes and suspension?
Nice review..Pity there was no fuel consumption test.. Nevertheless I guess this bike can go 150 kms between fill ups..
the previous model which is carb is roughly 200 KM
if FI probably can squeeze few more KM
Fuel consumption tested by me. Friday 14 Oct get the bike, fill it to the brim. Travel from Bangi to Senawang.
1. Monday 17 Oct, RM 2.21/73 km or 60km/liter.
2. Tuesday 18 Oct, RM 2.99/100km or 65km/liter.
2. Wednesday 19 Oct, RM 2.59/109 km or 75km/liter.
Commuting from Senawang – Bandar Baru Bangi – Senawang using PLUS highway. Constant speed of 70km/h or not more than 80km/h.
It’s not a conclusive FC because I have not perform my 1st service yet. So far so good.
Does tis coversuit can fix to old modal. Future 125 se
Thank for this comsumption review!!!
i like it’s rather wide, somewhat large seat. good for my big butt. :-)
i’m 100kg, btw. this one is a must have in every home for quick runaround errands.
Thank you sir for the review
But like me, significant number of kapchai riders now riding cross cities with mileage amounting to 100km – 200km on a single day. I’m currently rode 130 – 150km per day on my trusted 100cc Kriss
Previous version of this bike were acknowledge as the comfortable ones for long trips due to bigger seats
So I guess, this bike is the most affordable for a commuting intercity that is
The reality for some of us is that living expenses are increasing. And I am contemplating riding again to the office to save toll and parking.
Just looking for something with enough power to keep up with the flow on the highway and zippy enough for town.
Something like this looks a good fit, along with those 150cc scooter.
informative review, thanks mohan. kapchai`s are the major urban transportation especially in big cities in msia. would love to read kapchai/small scooters comparison test from your guys soon.
Thanks
if this is the future, i dont think we can expect much….
my son rides future the earlier carb spec.
handling is easy and acceleration from standstill is almost outstanding.
fuel consumption is excellent too with its 4.2 litres fuel tank; at high speed (110-120kph) it can do about 180km per tank (45km/L) but at city speed ride (70-80kph) it can easily do 250km (about 60km/L).
the seat is super wide but is on the hard side for comfort. difficult to last 1 hour ride without feeling numb at the bottom side.
based on other motorcycle media , the review of this honda isn’t that good especially the body fairing that tend to crack and vibrate when it clocked enough km on the road.
Riding a bike with a vibrating fairing is a seriously annoying problem. I experienced that in my Wave125 1st gen, (it went through 3 accidents so…forgivie lah)
kapchais are for people that didn’t make it in life.
So your measure of success in life is how long you got stuck in traffic? In that case let me clap for you
like your parent or grandparent is it??
everyone must start from somewhere..what a joker
so soichiro honda, who obviously made honda and create the motorcycle division is person who didn’t make in life?
how odd
Add rm3k+ …get honda 150rs….70% more hp,better look,doch,6 speed and can go more than 200km fulltank…also can tapau any lc even y15zr….but u have to wait lor !
Add more 20k. Get Perodua axia, more seats, more HP, longer distance. Got air conditioning, has a roof, don’t get caught in the rain. You don’t say?
Saya dah naik dah Future Fi. Setakat nie ok lagi. Sudah 6 bulan saya bawak. Sekarang jarak perjalanan sudah sampai 10000 km. Alhamdulillah. Saya selalu balik kampung guna motor Honda Future fi from JB to Melaka.
Minyak JB to MElaka dalam RM 15.
Jimat giler…
Top speed : 110 km/j
Kalau turun bukit boleh cecah 120 km/j
Erm..my 7 years wave 100 can reach speed 115km/h -120km/h in normal riding position..sometimes can reach 125km/h depend on wind direction
Can I get the key switch picture
mr paul tan ( as in the review author ) and folks..i’ve been riding the first model of honda future 2012 for nearly 5 years now..i lived in ampang and my office situated in jalan ipoh,kl..so far my bike gaves me quite a satisfaction for its fuel saving..once i put in full tank,and it stays for nearly a week ( that is if i oftenly goes out during working hours )..i’m happy for that..it only has a slight weakness,that is the pick up whenever going up high slopes,it might get a little slower..buti still consider honda future is the best bike i ever had..going to put it to a little test for long distance,when i’m supposed to be shifted to putrajaya soon..hope my honda future would carry on serving with high distinction
future fi i cant get sport rims,so hard to get parts.everything has to standard parts only but so far engine is perfect if always serviced thx honda