While Honda as a brand elected to skip Auto Expo 2023, it had one motorcycle on display from its international line-up that grabbed a lot of eyeballs, the XRE 300.

The bike is capable of running on petrol as well as ethanol and was showcased at Auto Expo 2023 on the flex-fuel capable bikes pavilion.

The Brazilian-spec Honda XRE 300 is powered by a 291.6cc, single-cylinder air-cooled engine that is flex-fuel capable, which means it can run on petrol as well as ethanol.

It makes 26 PS at 7,500rpm and 27.6Nm of torque at 6,000rpm when run on petrol, while running it on ethanol (which is widely used in Brazil) bumps up output figures marginally to 26 PS at 7,500rpm and 28 Nm of torque at 6,000rpm. Contrary to the 6-speed gearbox, which has become the norm, the XRE 300 has a more old-school 5-speed gearbox (similar to the Royal Enfield Himalayan). While these underpinnings are much more basic than the competition, the Honda XRE 300's ace up its sleeve lies in its off-road credentials.

Most bikes in this category run a 19-/17-inch cast alloy wheel set-up, which lends them greater agility on the road but hampers them off it. The Honda XRE 300 runs on wire-spoke rims sized 21/18 inches and boasts of a massive 259 mm of ground clearance. This figure does come at the expense of accessibility, with the XRE 300 sporting a rather tall 860 mm seat height (even taller than the KTM 390 Adventure), although with a dry weight of 148 kg, it is significantly lighter than its competitors. Suspension duties are handled by a telescopic fork with 245 mm of travel and a monoshock with 225 mm of travel. Braking duties are handled by a 256 mm disc at the front and a 220 mm disc at the rear.

In terms of features, the Honda XRE 300 isn't a particularly decked out machine and comes with a simple LCD digital display (sans a gear position indicator) and full LED lighting all around. It is also equipped with ABS.

A few months ago, a Honda XRE 300 was spied testing in India alongside its primary rivals, the KTM 390 Adventure and the BMW G 310 GS. While this doesn't confirm its launch, the fact that Honda is benchmarking the XRE 300 against its rivals means that the company could be considering this model's launch in our market.