Feb 23, 2009 04:41 PM
5587 Views
(Updated Jul 16, 2009 04:48 PM)
I was considering a bike for my daily commute to office. 70kms a day. (35 kms in the day + 35 kms in the night) 80% of the distance on National Highways NH & State Highways SH.
Roads are damn good. I own a RX 135 4speed second hand ( 1999 Model) Done more than 1, 25, 000 kms till date. Beautiful machine. VERY RELIABLE. I had already written the review in MS a few months back.
Here is the link for that review https://mouthshut.com/review/Escorts_Yamaha_RX135-151119-1.html. My usage is almost 365 days in a year. My RX didn't let me down even a single day in a span of 5 years & 6 months though in the 10th yr of service. I just love my RX 135. I looked @ the 150cc+ category which effortless cruises between 60 - 90 Km/hr. Let me tell you how I chose to the final contenders.
HH CBZ Xtreme - I was not convinced with the styling. So ruled it out. I liked the old CBZ. HH Hunk - Same as above. So ruled it out too. TVS Apache RTR/FI - Nice looks. But not comfortable with pillions though occasionally. ( mother & Wife).
Bajaj Pulsar 150/180 - I have a personal experience with one of my friends Pulsar 150. Engine sound not good after 20K kms. Doesn't even match my RX 135 engine. So ruled out. Bajaj Pulsar 200 - Liked it when I borrowed my friends bike for 2 days to commute. But a bit hesitant because of the 150/180 engine refinement. Still ruled out.
Honda Unicorn - I love it to the core. Beautiful engine. The engine never behaves harsh. What a marvel. This Was my reserved choice. If no other bike surpasses this, I would have def bought this. After my RX 135, this is one bike which I wanted to own.
Yamaha FZ16 - Beautiful looks. No kick Starter ( How Realiable is it). Many say only good for City. Pillion seat not comfortable for hefty ppl. Even this was on my desirable list. Yamaha R15 - Not for daily commute. Very sad. HH ZMA - Liked it. Was a temptation because of the better power to weight ratio than the unicorn. From the stable of Honda.
Bullet Machismo 350cc - My younger brother had one. So myself done 15K kms on it. Not happy as it is too heavy and terrible vibrations post 80KM/hr. So of all the above mentioned bikes, I finally narrowed between Unicorn / FZ / ZMA. I ruled out FZ later because it didn't have a kick start. Moreover pillion comfort is less. So it was between Uni/ZMA. I took my time to decide.
Read many reviews, compared the fuel efficiency of these two on the highways when cruising between 60 - 90 kmph. I don't ride the bike to itz merit & not to the limit.I am not much bothered abt 0 - 60 Kms in sec & Top speed. But effortless cruising. Uni is 65K on road in Chennai & ZMA is 81K on road. So it was 15K more. You are paying 15K more for better excitement. Again ZMA is also a Honda Product. And finally went for it.
Got my Karizma full black yesterday. I take pride in owning a Honda product as I did when I was owning an Yamaha RX 135. ZMA No doubt it was & is one of he show stoppers in midst of R15, FZ & CBF. Done around 100 odd kms on it. One thing which is annoying me is the gear shift. really very hard. Though down-shifting is somewhat convincing, I had been literally struggling to up-shift the gears. particularly 2nd - 3rd & 4th - 5th.
When comparing the gear shifts to a new bikes on Yamaha Gladiator / Honda Unicorn. I think HH should improve gear shifts on new ZMA. This is not acceptable when a new 125cc/150cc bike surpasses it. Hope that improves as I move on. Nothing much to complain as it is premature to comment on any aspect of the bike at this stage. Happy reading & riding. Elango.
