Oct 02, 2007 07:37 PM
13653 Views
Let me start with an apology. I know this review is in the wrong section. It should be in the rx100 section, but since I had already written one there, I could not post a new review there!!Anyway the Esc*rts Ace never took off!!
A bit of history before I start The first bike I ever had was a HH Splendor+. A really good bike that satisfied me to the core. But I had to leave my hometown Chennai and relocate to Bangalore. Had a lot of problems with the registration (Kannada police uggghhhh!!) So I bought a 2nd hand rx135 (2001 model)!!
No problems with rx135 really. It was the best bike I ever rode till date (yeah i've rode all the 4-strokers, 150cc). Wonderful power, pickup. The first to leave a traffic signal. And the mileage was an awesome 51 (with Extra Premium ONLY).
So I was coming to the shop to renew my Insurance. And there I saw this '95 model rx100. It was love at first sight. Though a good 6 years older, the paint was a lot more better than the 135. I sold the rx135 then itself and BOUGHT it.
After riding both of the best bikes (in my opinion) that India has produced, I could well form an opinion, or rather a comparison.
ABT THEM BOTH
Rx100 is the better starter of the two. Probably owing to the Catalytic convertor. The tone is music. In my opinion it is not one of those artificial sounds you get by putting a "doctored" silencer. It is THE original sound of a raw 2-stroke power puller.
When I first started the bike it used to spew out NASTY SMOKE when crossing 60 kmph. A look by the mechanics and it was set right. Some tuning issue. Otherwise I have had no other problems really with it. Of course the mileage is not something you can boast about. But then again, who bought the rx for mileage!! You gotta be kidding!! I get 41kmpl with Extra Premium and 35kmpl with all other petrols. And I am the FOURTH owner.
The electricals are quite good, since this one comes with a 12volt battery. Rx100 scores over 135 in aspects like the brakes and the stability. Better than the 135 in the rains and the highways. But 135 is better than the 100 in very crowded traffic conditions. And any day I feel that 135 has better pickup in the initial gears.
135 has the guts to race with all the 4-strokers. It has the pulling power capable of beating even the Karizma, but only till the 2nd gear. After that Karizma briefly says "Hi" to 135 and then you won't see him again. And I remember those memorable races I had with Pulsars all round the Inner ring road, Domlur!! Nice to hear the P150 straining itself only to know that the curves were coming and in the curves, no one can beat me!! The only vehicles better than the rx135 are the stock shogun and the stock rx100. Or a WELL maintained KB100.
THE FEEL
Everyone knows the "My Can" Ad. A teenager beating the s_it out of SRK and John Abe. Of course, age is something they can never beat the juvenile with. But this bike is something that we "uncles" can be proud about. It is a symbol of our glorious youth. The jolly 80s when everything jumped, the 90s when India was becoming the best IT destination in the world. Just watch any teenager when you tell him "I have an RX". The superfluous look gives way to respect. You get a feeling that no matter what technology says, OUR youth days were better than YOUR youth days!! During a certain discussion at office I heard abt all the latest gadgets we get in bikes nowadays. Leds on the switches, clocks, trip meter, lights to show which gear you are in!! (Faint-hearted souls!! Might as well get a gearless vehicle)!! While these things are good, you actually lose the real biking feeling.
Some reviews here in Mouthshut said something about this vehicle "polluting" the atmosphere and what not. Actually in truth there are much worse vehicles. What about lorries and buses, especially the "Government maintained" buses. Why can't they all be banned? And what abt the trains? Ok, let me ask you a question. The entire line from Coimbatore to Bangalore is electrified. Why do they still have diesel engines? Or atleast why can't they use electric engines wherever they have the electric lines? I am sure one diesel engine emits much more smoke than 100 rxs.
And anyway government is preventing such bikes from plying what with "Emission under control". And my bike is Emission under control.Such emission norms were what halted the progress of yamaha in India. I can bet anything that but for that, rx100 would have still been sold today, and it would have still been the #1 bike of THIS generation.
Such rules by the govt went on to derail Yamaha completely. Yamaha is but a whimper of what it was once upon a time. Government and its jealous feelings led to the death of a dear vehicle.FEEL LIKE GOD
I hope that at heaven, God will allow us to bring the rx100 technology, so I can ride everyday!!
