Aug 02, 2009 09:01 AM
22205 Views
(Updated Aug 17, 2010 01:31 PM)
I brought a second hand Bajaj Super(1982 model) from our family friend in 1993. It has a 4-speed gearbox. The old head lamp was rectangular in shape and now is fitted with a round headlamp(smaller than Chetak).
I had used it throughout my college life and continued using it daily until 2007 when I bought the Bajaj Discover 135 cc DTSI bike.(Will review this bike soon!)
The Bajaj Super is still running like new. The piston and bore were changed in 2005.
Since I am a fan of Ferrari, I had the scooter repainted in red color. Looks truly Italian! Only Italian style that is missing is white wall tyres!
The red color turns a lot of heads when going on the road. Initially people thought that a shade of red on a scooter will look ridiculous. But when they saw the finished product, they were stunned! Now I can see more and more people having red scooters in Hyderabad!
The scooter was repainted using Y2K type of color which costs 1400/- per liter(in 2004) but the color is so good that a single coat(about 500 ml) is enough. It is also more scratch resistant and there is no need for regular polishing to retain the shine. Polishing once a year is more than enough!
Had the paint job done from my friend who paints only cars but also does 2 wheelers for his friends.
The mileage of the scooter is between 33-37 kmpl in city conditions and goes up to 40-44 kmpl on highways. One cannot expect more mileage from a 145cc scooter whose engine was designed more than 50 years back.
The main advantage of the scooter is the storage space. With a front and rear dicky, it’s the best vehicle to go for shopping. I could carry all the parts of an entire disassembled 10 feet dish antenna when we did a project work in college!
Maintenance of the scooter is simple and the spares are available at a reasonable rate. I do most of the maintenance work at home.
The drawback of this scooter is the headlamp. The original headlamp that was rectangular in shape was as good as a parking light! When the scooter was repainted, I procured a handle that had a round head lamp. Although the beam quality is slightly better it is still not that good despite using a Lumax reflector.
Many people had advised me to fit a Chetak handlebar that has a bigger headlamp but I did not as it would have looked odd. The Super has 8 inch tyres and is a bit smaller than the Chetak having 10 inch tyres, hence the bigger head lamp would have looked odd.
The other drawback of the scooter is your shoulders start to ache when you drive for a longer duration or on highways. Could be due to a single shock absorber suspension system. I thought this was something to do with a bent fork but even straightening the fork did not help. I never face this issue on my bike.
Anyway I still use the scooter whenever I need to carry some stuff along with me.
