Bike Purchase: Mixed Feelings For Indian Bike Scene


Thread Starter #1
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Hi Guys,
Back after a long break. looking forward to purchase a new bike. totally confused right now as i have a budget as well as capacity and speed restrictions too, that is already been set by home minister as well as the Bill is passed with full support from all family members which states
1. Bike need to be in range of 150cc to 200cc max
2. price need to be 1 to 1.2 lacs max on road
3. Quick sprints not allowed on that bike and obviously those days are gone for me as i am 38 now ( But still love to revv hard and move fast but securely this time)
4. easily serviceable at any part of punjab, haryana and himachal (Chandigarh too)
5. Will not be used for long drives alone. (Lets See.....)

So all those points are covered with following bikes listed below

Apache 160,180,200
pulsar 180,200, 220
Hero has a new smart boy at their stable Xtreme 200 s and 200r
although impulse is also there but not to my liking
yamaha fz and fazer
suzuki gixxer
honda hornet and xblade

others are not considered as they are either higher with engine displacement or cost a bomb to me
love to get a yamaha mt 150 but price let me down

--now lets start with honda- Nice engines, pocket friendly but horrible A$$ coupled with overdone face design with same old technology and nothing new mechanically
--Suzuki is nice but 1.05 lacs for 150cc make me look for a better option
--hero stable have serious offerings but xtreme 200 and newly launched 200 s with fairing are good options
also 1.07 lacs is also a good price but hero what about performance ( Bad repo about newly developed products **Karizma ZMR, Impulse, xtreme 150, achiever)
--Bajaj Do have good product lineup, using a chetak from a long time now and the product is awesome. same goes for pulsar that i bought and used for 10 years
but modern days pulsar 200 is fast as well as pulsar 220 and 180 too. but still am i interested to buy a bike that is designed 17 years ago and still following the same design language, comon
bajaj do some changes other than great engines, make them standout with a new design language like your own dominor itself.
--TVS Diito what i said about bajaj. Nice bikes, great engine but yet again we dont need a gentle giants on steoroids, we need new generation with all new DNA, forget the racing dna and collaborate the racing DNA with on road performance and design too, as your own apache 310. do it with apache 160 and 180 also. Redesign everything right from scratch once again and yes you have the potential to do that, You already have done that in the past after fiero to Apache and that too more than a decade ago. Stop sticking to the old design language and just pump up the new life in your machines.

Sorry guys for such a long discussion, OOPS Sorry as it started to lookout for your views and ended up as my own views about today motorcycle scenario. I know these bike are the bread and butter earnings for the company but one cannot eat bread and butter continuously for more than a decade. when they will wake up? when? declining motorcycle sales for semi premium and premium motorcycles for brands like bajaj and TVS, Hero was already out of it as their business is completely on commuter bikes, and honda too is in the same league. Yamaha do have good product and Plans, suzuki need to work and improve a lot. rest you guys decide,

again which bike to purchase please suggest me.
 
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Gixxer SF is good I own it and ridden for about 4K kms but performance is not thrilling and more bang for buck is new xtreme 200s (although I'm skeptical about the quality and reliability of new Hero products). I would also suggest to look at AS 200 from Bajaj. Its VFM and has serious performance and good looks with a lovely visor. Would suggest to skip AS150 as it is under-tyred. Fazer 150 is underpowered so would suggest rather to skip. Apache 200 new one is good but I don't like its look much. Honda bikes are too boring in this range except the Hornet but doesn't come with a fairing and performance is also okish. Please skip xblade, its just too commuterish.
 
Thread Starter #3
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Thanks for your input Abhishek. i also feel the same about hero 200s. Overall seems to be a good package but questions about reliability and quality still hit my mind. Also what about dominor, my friend used it for 18 months and now selling it off as he is going abroad. asking price is 1.10, Should i go for it or just stick to the plan of getting a new bike?
 
Thread Starter #5
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Thanks for reply @Abhishek and also for the advice. I am now not considering the bike as i need a good daily commuter with decent mileage as well as long tours are not planned. Looked at hero 200 but the seating didnt suit me as well as the bike feels a bit harsh. also its not rev happy engine as ns 200 or apache, leave alone the R15. gears are satisfactory but swiches and plastic quality not up to the mark, although not identical to splendor or other commuter bikes but still quality wise they were same. Saw few bikes in used market but nothing to my liking. eyed 1 2010 black FZ which ran only 12k but needs a lot of TLC. May be next time get any better choice.
 

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