Am back to MS after a gap of 3-4 years. Earlier, I just used to read reviews related to Bikes and cell phones. To my pleasent surprise, the website has become more sleek.
*INTRODUCTION
Coming to the main purpose of the review: My CBZ Extreme Bike. Prior to purchase of this bike, I had practically reviewed all bikes, bike makers, visited LML, Bajaj, Honda, Hero Hona, TVS and Yamaha showrooms to test ride 125-150 cc bikes. All this lead to great confusion as in this age of competetion there is no clear winner.
The Purchase
Finally, by the grace of god, I purchased Red color CBZ Extreme(Jan 2007) Model. Lets go through the whole experience in short paragraphs below:
Looks and Appearence: I selected the RED color. Although it is striking, however I feel that Black/Silver would have been a better option. Blue is a complete waste. Although I must say that colors are mere perceptions which vary from Individual to individual.
Appearence: The appearence of this bike is such that it invariably invokes strong responses. Some people call it a revelation while some call it rubbish, design wise u can say a bit undercooked. Personally, I like the looks of this bike(Original was even better).
Engine and Performance: As u all know, it is a 150 cc engine. I find that power wise it is a adequate bike. My style of riding is such that I rarely take it beyond 66-65. All I want is good initial pick up and it does provide the commuter that luxury. Performance of engine is exemplary, this is one thing U can trust about Hero Honda. That is the reason they enjoy a very high brand equity. The engine is noiseless and trouble free so far.
Comfort - This is a touvhy issue. The seating position is challenging I must say for the pillon rider. My wife, Mother have never found the seating position to be comfortable. The split tail grab makes it even more worse for them. Till date, not even a single person has been comfortable being a pillon rider on this bike. As for me, it is fine, but due to its egronomics, I would say that one feels tired after 30-35 kms at a strech. Moreover, it lacks that power in shockers to completely absorb the pot holes on the road.
Maintainence: I would say that so far I have been lucky in this aspect. Earlier, I used to get it serviced by HH mechanics. But now it just goes to a local mechanic after 2000 kms for routine servicing. I must add that the chain gets loose quite often and has to be fixed else it makes a cranky noise. So far, I have just had to change the chain sproket once and that is the only major expense of 500-600 which I have had to make. Here I would also like to add that the Headlight could hav been better because sometimes I struggle for beam. I think TVS bikes have the best beam lights. The tail light(LED) is a charm though.
Mileage- Haha ha. Everyone keeps an eye for mileage. Since most of us are from middle class backgrounds. I am getting a mileage of around 50. I use it for commuting to my office which is roughly 30 kms one side incuding 16 kms of highway. So am happy with it and the best part is that the mileage is consistent. Earlier I used to fill extra premium bt now I have reverted to normal and there is no change in performance and mileage.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, I would say that this bike has met my expectation. Hero Honda has met my expectation and I thank god that so far my hard earned money has not gone waste. I sincerely hope that this review which has been written after riding this bike for close to 28, 000 kms would be of help to MS users.
Cheers,
Ashish Singh Anand*