The Bajaj Freedom 125 packs a 2-kg CNG tank and 2-litre petrol tank to go with its 125-cc motor
It is a ground-breaking moment not only for Bajaj Auto, but the entire motorcycle space, as the world’s first CNG motorcycle is here. Called the Freedom 125, it is priced from Rs 95,000 and goes up to Rs 1.10 lakh (ex-showroom) and is offered in the NG04 Disc LED, NG04 Drum LED and the NG04 Drum variants.
The main talking point is, of course, underneath the skin. The 2-kg CNG cylinder is positioned horizontally under the seat. There is also a 2-litre petrol tank for when CNG is running on empty. This setup is mated to a 125-cc engine producing 9.5 hp and 9.7 Nm. There may be a common cap for petrol and CNG but the filler nozzles will be different as the CNG requires a pressurised storage setup and different mechanism to refill compared to a petrol setup. Bajaj has revealed a claimed combined range of 330 km with the CNG accounting for over 200 km of that range.
Other highlights on the Freedom 125 include a telescopic front fork and a linked-monoshock rear suspension setup with a disc brake at the front and drum at the rear. As far as looks go, there is a premium-commuter theme featuring a rather large LED headlight, a flat single-piece seat which is 785 mm long, a triangular side panel that looks like it’s got an upright riding geometry, alloy wheels, and a single-piece grab-rail. Another feature is the LCD instrument console with Bluetooth connectivity. It’ll be offered in a total of seven body shades: Carribean Blue, Ebony Black-Grey, Racing Red, Pewter Grey-Black and Cyber White, which are limited to the Disc LED and Drum LED variants, while the Ebony Black-Red and Pewter Grey-Yellow shades are offered only for the base Drum variant.
Considering the Bajaj Freedom 125 CNG’s price point, it doesn’t have any direct rivals but can be an alternative to 110-cc petrol-powered bikes such as the Honda Shine 100, Hero Splendor Plus, TVS Radeon, and the Bajaj Platina 110.
Leave a Reply