I did want to buy a Bullet Electra, but it came up to about 95 K, and when Bajaj launched this one last year at 70K on road, I jumped at the offer as a compromise. The bike looked big, stylish, with wide tyres, perfect for my long distance trips.
I was so sadly mistaken. Let me start with the looks, the bike looks big, but in Bangalore, there are women riding this bike. And not big fat women, thin and frail girls. Lets make and excuse and say the girls are spunky. What next?
The bike gives me about 40 - 42 in the city, and over 50 on highways, nothing to compain there. for 70K, I get a torquey engine, electric start, disc brakes, so overall, great value for money. The lights are amazing, beats the small cars. But the good things stop there.
The worst thing about this bike is the comfort, or lack of it. 1st, for some reason, the shocks are kept at the lowest adjustment, and when I wanted to change the adjustment to the highest position, the showroom guys just could not do it. It moved just one notch higher. Just imagine, with a spring that hard, and if you are riding long distance solo, what it does to your back and behind. I did a trip to coorg from bangalore recently, and beleive me, I had to stop 4 times till mysore, on the smooth expressway. pillion riders, after one ride, never offer to ride with you. This bike is a sure way of losing your girlfriends, and after some time, your spinal disc.
The handling is not too great either. The front tyre is thin, same as the pulsar’s. If you brake when the bike is on a slight tilt on a relatively smooth road / tarmac/ concrete, you’ll lose the front end in the blink of an eye. many times, I lost it, and then with an herculean effort managed to not let the bike fall to the ground. Once, I just slipped on some hay on the road to bhimeshwari, I was at 20 km/hr and no braking. The bike just decided to lie down, and I found myself sitting in the same riding posture, but with my already sore bum on the ground. You have to look at the aquila or the bullet and see the difference, you’d notice how big the front tyres also are.
Also, the claimed top speed may be high, but its best speed is 70 km/h. Try pushing it to even 80-85, the bike whines, and the engine gets unbelievably hot, hot enough to burn you.
Other small issues are the lack of an engine kill switch, which is very irritating at a traffic signal. there is no fuel gauge, which should have been included in a bike thats supposed to be a mini cruiser. Also, within 2 months of buying, the bendix of the ES started to mesh wrongly with the flywheel, thus sometimes giving out heartwrenching shreiks when using the ES. More, the bike sounds like sissy. It looks big enough, but if you hear it, you’d think it was the old fiero. It will get you some looks if you put on saddlebags and maybe a windshield, but otherwise, forget it.
Also, Bajaj says we should service it at all Pro Biking service centres for warranty to remain valid, but its all bullshit, service is shitty everywhere. I had a problem with my indicators, they would go off automatically, and it took six months and physical threats for them to change it under warranty. Once, the Khivraj guys broke my side panel lock during servicing, adn I had to pay for the new one. Last service, the charged me Rs 75 extra for wheel alignment, but they forgot to tighten the chain. How is it possible? Bajaj should do something about the service.
Its pretty nice to ride though, and very easy in city traffic too. If you are the types who would always be in the city but want a different bike that you could gaze at and maybe do the trips to about 50-100 kms out of station on super smooth roads, this is the bike for you. If you are a die hard biker, this bike will thrill you with the reliability and fuel eficiency, but kill you with the discomfort (unless you load a saddle bag filled with stones at the back). Choice is yours. I’m not selling this one, but I am getting my brother to sell his CBZ and use the money to buy a Bullet electra.