Bike Reviews in India

It Is light, quick and cheap. But is it a step in the right direction?
Words: Bunny Punia
Photography: Sanjay Raikar

I seldom ride a motorcycle on a test track with the transmission resting in the fifth cog. While riding through numerous tight curves where speeds fall below 50km/h, I was still not using my left hand or the left toe for that matter to downshift. Neither did I shift my body weight while taking turns. Instead, I sat upright like a typical commuter trying to experience the traffic negotiating manoeuvers of Bajaj’s all-new traffic buster machine, the Pulsar 135LS. Even with my weight and a few slightly uphill sections, the bike pulled cleanly from low speeds in the highest gear. I have to admit, I was beginning to enjoy riding the LS in this manner on the track before being flagged down by my colleague Ravi who was waiting patiently for his turn to hit the track.

But why was my riding so different in the first place? Apart from its blistering engine (for the capacity) and eye-catching looks, the LS is also about its ability to weave in and out of traffic effortlessly at low to midrange engine speeds. As our test ride session was scheduled at Bajaj’s racetrack, there was no better way to understand their new product than ride it in the manner explained above.

In the recent few months, Bajaj’s dominance in the premium commuter segment has seen a huge positive growth. The Pulsar model line-up comprising of the 150, the 180 and the 220 models has strengthened its presence in the market. But Bajaj wanted to provide something for young enthusiasts that would combine the best of both worlds – a 125cc machine’s efficiency and sticker price with a typical 150cc bike’s performance and looks. Hence, the birth of the Pulsar 135LS.

At first glance, you might mistake it to be the Hero Honda Hunk, at least I did. But once you notice the side and the rear profile, all similarities end. The front seems to use a FZ style headlamp stacked between sharp plastic panels and a smart little visor on the top. The tank looks like a typical Pulsar one but has neat side plastic shrouds with the four valve sticker – more on that later. The step seats are a welcome addition and the rear panels again remind you of the bigger Pulsar models, though they end very sportily with a twin split grabrail and a striking tail lamp. I particularly loved the fender less treatment at the rear, although to comply with government regulations, Bajaj had to use a tyre hugger – the first mod chop most youngsters will do once they get the bike. Another unique design treatment is the tapering exhaust that might not be to everyone’s liking. At 1995mm, the LS’ wheelbase is even longer than its own elder sibling, the Pulsar 150.

This bike, for the first time in the Pulsar range history, makes use of the engine as a stressed member in the box section chassis. An all-new swingarm was engineered for the rear and the bike sports tubeless tyres which are fast becoming a norm on Indian motorcycles. Though the bike has a longish swingarm, the steep steering angle made sure it behaved well around the test track, being over eager and enthusiastic to lean into corners and scrape the pegs without upsetting the entire balance. Even while gunning down the last straight at triple digit speeds, the bike felt reassuringly stable in spite of early morning crosswinds. I really couldn’t judge the behaviour of the suspension for Indian conditions due to the limited testing environment, though our readers should get that report in the next issue.

Now isn’t that a familiar console? Yes, the Discover 135 has the same one	Smooth and punchy – the 135cc mill impressed us

Coming to one of the main aspects of the LS -its engine. On paper, it might feel average for this segment with a 134.6cc motor, but dig deeper into its technicalities and you are bound to be impressed. To start with, this is India’s first indigenously developed four valve powertrain which enhances the engine’s breathing characteristics. This combined with Bajaj’s patented DTS-i tech gadgetry helps in giving the bike not only a punchy low and midrange, but also class demolishing top end performance. 13.5PS of power might not be tyre shredding, however when you factor in the bike’s impressively low kerb weight of just 122 kilos (which in itself is lower than all the other 125cc bikes from the competitors and hence the tag LS or Light Sports), you are bound to be surprised once the performance test data is revealed. A 0-60km/h timing of 5.18 seconds not only makes the 135LS the quickest in its segment, but it also ends up shaming most 150cc bikes out there. However due to it’s relatively lower engine capacity, as speeds climb in excess of 80km/h, the bike starts losing steam, hitting the ton mark at a shade over 19 seconds. Nonetheless, it still remains quicker than some bigger bikes and further goes onto hit a genuine top whack of 112km/h with the over enthusiastic speedometer registering in excess of 120km/h!

As I mentioned in the opening lines, the LS also impresses in the way it gathers speeds at low revs. The 30-70km/h roll on, for example, takes just 7.31 seconds in the third and 9.51 seconds in the fourth. The engine has the ability to pick up speeds from as low as 25km/h, however, compression knock is very evident especially with a pillion while pulling from low engine speeds. The motor, however, remains smooth and vibration free until you rev it close to the red line. The light weight of the bike also endows it with impressive handling capabilities and an experienced rider won’t find it difficult to indulge in peg scraping antics when the environment allows. The brakes perform well too and stunt junkies will appreciate the bike for its ability to roll on the front one easily.

All said and done, no matter how good a bike is, a lot boils down to its sticker price in India. Most top of the line 125cc bikes in the country retail at around Rs 50,000 (ex-showroom). The Pulsar 135LS, with extra grunt and a bigger bike feel at almost the same price, translates into more bang for your buck. Not to forget that in spite of all that segment shattering performance, ridden sanely, the bike still manages 60km to a litre in the city and close to 80km on the highway. Icing on the cake? You bet!

Adhish Alawani takes the Royal Enfield Classic 500 on a 900km ride to the Nilgiris and comes back with mixed impressions
Photography: Adhish Alawani & Sanjay Raikar

I have never been a Royal Enfield guy and have always struggled to digest the fact that people can actually be hardcore fans of the Bullet. I have often wondered why some people have always preferred Bullets as compared to the more advanced machines of the era. However, the Royal Enfield Classic shown at the Intermot show in Germany last year, had such an impact on me that I longed to ride it ever since.

The reason for this was simple – the design and styling of the Classic. True to its name, this bike has a classic, mid-twentieth century character to it. The designers at the Royal Enfield house worked hard on the Classic to give it post-WWII looks. The round headlamp, the small tail lamp mounted on the flat plate at the rear, the big fenders, the typical retro fuel tank, the company’s characteristic triangular airbox, the traditional instrumentation console with classic English font for the readout, the green colour and the minimal graphics on it gives this motorcycle the feel of those immortal ‘50s bikes. The company has, in fact, painted the complete frame of the Classic in the body colour. Royal Enfield, in particular, has tried to replicate their own J2 model that had grabbed the fancy of many in its days. The most evident similarity between the J2 and the Classic, noticed at first glance, has to be the single saddle with springs. The company is providing the pillion seat separately with this bike and those who need it can attach it to the motorcycle easily by themselves. The long, straight pipe exhaust comes as a stock fitment with the bike. A more stylish and louder silencer is available as an option at a premium. Royal Enfield has shifted to 18-inch wheels, which in the case of the Classic, comes in the form of spoke wheels further adding a retro feel to the motorcycle. Look at the new Royal Enfield Classic 500 from any angle and it definitely reminds you of the 1950s machines.

But it was not just the styling and looks of the new Classic 500 that made me yearn for a ride on it. The company claims to have taken a huge leap forward with regard to the technology used in their latest machine; the most important of the lot being UCE (Unit Construction Engine) and EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection). Basically, in the UCE, the clutch and the gearbox are integrated in the crankcase itself making it a compact engine. Use of the UCE has also helped in reducing the weight of the engine by 4kg. However to retain the characteristics of the Classic, they have maintained the bike’s overall weight by compensating for the saved kilos elsewhere – for example, the huge fenders. The EFI optimizes the air-fuel mixture and makes sure that the bike is in a perfect state to operate over a wide range of altitudes and temperatures. UCE and EFI are being used by other manufacturers for years now and finally Royal Enfield has adopted these technologies to make their products better.

My wish to ride the Royal Enfield Classic 500 was fulfilled when the company offered the bike to a few journalists, including me, for a ride from Chennai to Bangaluru via Coonoor – a distance of over 900km in two days. The route was chalked out in such a manner that it covered the smooth and straight national highways, the twisty state highways and almost a 100km of uphill/downhill ghat sections in the Nilgiri mountain ranges. The first leg of the ride from Chennai to Krishnagiri took me on the long straights of the NH46. The first few kilometers before getting out of the city were enough to indicate the humongous amount of torque offered by the 500cc single cylinder engine powering the Classic. A gentle nudge at the throttle made sure that the bike surged ahead most willingly. The 41.3Nm of peak torque starts acting up right at 4000rpm, giving the bike a very strong low and midrange kick. As for the top end, I could manage a speedometer indicated 125km/h on the highway. The motorcycle feels amazingly smooth at 80km/h. In fact, the sweet spot to ride at on the highway would be around 90-95km/h when the vibrations from the engine are yet to creep into the handlebar and the footpegs and you are doing a sufficiently high speed to munch miles at a stretch. However, it is not the easiest bike to ride beyond 100km/h. Being retro styled, you cannot expect it to have any kind of aerodynamics and that is where it suffers. A hint of wind is enough for the Classic to get into weaves at three-digit speeds. A point to be noted about the top speed here is that I was riding the bike with the stock exhaust. Later, I got an opportunity to ride the one with the optional exhaust and to my surprise, I could hit the 140km/h mark on the speedometer. A huge difference, isn’t it? Performance runs on the bike with the optional exhaust revealed that it sprints from standstill to 60km/h in a mere 4.57 seconds and does a top whack of 131 km/h (true). Also, the thump and the looks of the optional exhaust are a lot more alluring than that of the stock one.

After almost 500km, we finally hit the mountain ranges. By now, there were a few things crystal clear to me. Firstly, the Classic 500 has a torquey and powerful engine that will let you cruise comfortably at slightly under 100km/h. Secondly, you can go beyond that speed but it is not recommended. Thirdly, the seat is not comfortable at all. I was trying to find the most relaxed spot on the seat to sit on for almost all the while with no success. At the same time, I would like to mention that the handlebar-seat-footpeg geometry has been perfectly optimized thus making sure that you don’t get exhausted even after hundreds of kilometers on the tarmac. Coming back to the mountain twisties that we hit in the last 70-80km of the ride, I wasn’t expecting a lot from the heavyweight, retro architecture motorcycle around the corners. Boy, was I wrong! The Classic is quite planted and stable around the bends. Partial credit for this goes to the MRF Zappers doing their duty on the Classic which do not give even a hint of low grip when leaned over.

I also noticed the weird positioning of the odometer between the needle and scale of speedometer. Minor thing, but when you are traveling at speeds between 60km/h to 100km/h, you cannot read all the digits of the odometer. So either you have to raise the speed or reduce it in order to read all the digits of the odometer. How irritating! Secondly, the brake pedal most often scrapes the ground in the tight right handers when leaned over giving you the jitters and disturbing your concentration. The vibrations in a Royal Enfield are its trademark characteristic. And even if the rider is okay with that, there are practical issues. For example, it is hard for you to make out what is in your rear view mirror because of the vibrations. Though a Royal Enfield is mostly used for touring there is no option of luggage carriers on it yet. However, I believe that the boffins at the factory are working on it. Apart from these few minor issues that can be addressed in the future, the Classic 500 will prove to be a success for the company. Royal Enfield has moved ahead in terms of technology, fit-finish and styling. The last but a very important point about the engine is that it did not leak even a drop of oil from anywhere during the 900+ km trip – worth applauding.

 

 

The all-new VFR1200F is coming to India in a few months. Bunny Punia sheds more light on this iconic bike

Even before I thumbed the electric starter, I knew this wouldn’t turn out to be a very long test ride that too on a road that this bike will seldom be seen on. Nevertheless, with a chance to experience one of the most awaited motorcycles in the history of Honda, I wasn’t really complaining. A few minutes later, with my left hand free, the big sweet sounding V4 motor was changing through the gears effortlessly on its own, downshifting quickly without abruptions as I slowed down for the tight curves on Honda’s HSR (Honda Safety Riding) track in Kumamoto. What you see on these pages is the all-new VFR1200F that, hold you breathe, is slated for an Indian launch during the third quarter of the 2010 calendar year.

The VFR series from Honda has a long history. First launched in the 1980s, the bike was available in various engine configurations of 400cc, 700cc and 750cc. The model line-up went on to become one of the most iconic models for Honda, but the company was losing market share rapidly to the competition. Hence, the plan of developing an all-new VFR with a more powerful engine and modern tech gadgetry came up. Apart from the 50 percent increase in cubic capacity, the new VFR comes equipped with something that will set the trend in times to come – a dual clutch transmission.

I got a chance to ride both, the conventional manual as well as the DCT variant of the VFR. Needless to say, the latter is a boon for those who will end up using the bike in its natural environment, long distance touring. The rider has one less thing to worry about – shifting gears – and hence can concentrate more on the biking experience as well as enjoying the vistas around. The engine has been updated from the previous 800cc unit to a new 1237cc motor that belts out 170 ponnies along with 129Nm of torque. This was primarily done to rival the likes of BMW’s K1200 range. However, once seated, you don’t really feel the big engine thanks to a 76 degree layout of the cylinders along with a shift to the SOHC instead of the DOHC set-up. These features have allowed for a more compact engine construction.

Even though HSR’s track didn’t have very long straights, exiting the long sweeping left before the back straight hard saw the digital speedometer register close to 190km/h quickly. The DCT, when left in the automatic mode, changed its shifting frequency depending on the rider’s inputs. However, enthusiasts don’t have a reason to complain as the rider can manually shift up or down with a flick of a button on the left yoke. Even when left in the A/T mode, the rider can choose from the D and the S modes. The D mode offers excellent fuel economy and is suited for daily riding whereas the S mode delivers sportier shifting characteristics for enthusiastic riding. Hard braking saw the VFR shed speed with a reassuring force, and occasionally with a bit of pulsing from the handlebar lever or the foot pedal, as the combined ABS system kicked in. Even though the bike weighs in at a porky 267 kilos, it carries itself pretty well. While following Tohru Ukawa’s (ex-MotoGP and Suzuka 8-hour winner for Honda) lines through the tight bends, it wasn’t really difficult to get the VFR down with the pegs millimeters away from the tarmac.

Though my experience aboard the new VFR lasted for less than an hour, it was more than enough to judge Honda’ flagship sports tourer pretty well. The bike has Honda’s typical rider friendly nature, a sweet throttle response, a great sounding engine and very comfortable ergonomics for serious touring. It might boast of controversial styling (I do like it though), but there is a lot more to this bike than just its looks. The production of the bike is already in full swing though commercial sale begins abroad in a few months. A thumbs-up to Honda for their concrete plans of getting the bike to India around July-August this year. Although we don’t know about the DCT variant as of yet, the manual version due to its lower sticker price will debut here for sure. Watch this space for more!