Hoodibabaa!! Hell, I really don’t know what that means. But, it’s nice to hear it and the sound of the word rings a chord with the way the bike sounds. The Kawasaki Caliber 115 is both nice to look at and also hear the engine throttling. Let’s say, it’s not a power bike, I mean if you are looking for Power in the likes of Bajaj Pulsar, then forget it! But, nevertheless, it’s a mean bike with a soft and aesthetic look to it. It seems like an evolution of a KB100 and the older version of the Caliber.
This Kawasaki machine is a beauty to behold. With a new sporty look to it, it’s a bike for the new generation. The perfectly contoured 14 litre fuel tank with beautiful decals and an Aluminum die cast grab (that’s become a standard accessory to all the bikes of late) along with a dazzling Optoprism Halogen Headlamp with a stylish Fairing create a sensational look for this bike. Even the Silencer adds to the good looks of the bike with ’’Kawasaki’’ etched on the protection shield of it. The bike comes with very good colours and matching decals. At present, the Kawasaki Caliber is available in 6 colours - Gold Green, Flame Red, Star Blue, Gun Metal Blue, Ash Black with gold and red decals and Ash Black with silver and green decals.
With an overall power of 9.5 bhp @ 8000 rpm, the 111.6 cc 4-stroke, single cylinder engine is also fuel efficient. Though, the company has promised a mileage of 90 kmpl under standard test conditions, I have found it to give only about 75-77 kmpl in the city and around 80 kmpl during a long drive which I feel is a good bargain compared with other bikes of the same class. With the prices in petrol steeply increasing every now and then as per the whims of our bureaucrats, this is one feature that is to be underlined and opted for. Of course, if you belong to the genre that would like to prove its mettle on the race track, forget about this bike and go for a meaty, fuel guzzling power bike. As for this bike, the top speed you can reach is 100 km/hr, which I feel is more than enough on our crowded streets unless you are on the race track. There is also an ’’optimum riding indicator’’ that shows the optimum RPM at which you can squeeze that last drop of fuel.
The bike has been provided with 130mm drum brakes which was the only area where I was a little dissatisfied. Of course, the brakes were really good and you could skid to a stop suddenly but providing disc brakes as standard equipment would have been really good as this is being provided by almost all bikes now. The suspension was good and the anti skid seat helps you to stay put in your seat even when you brake suddenly. I found the turn signal lamp switch to be very innovative. You just press it once to cancel it-sort of using a Joy stick. The bike is very stable and you could easily take the sharpest of turns and still stay in your seat and control of the bike. All the features provided on this bike have been meticulously planned and credit has to be really given to Bajaj for coming out with a good bike.
If you don’t need too much power and are looking for a sporty looking bike with good fuel efficiency and the works, then I recommend you to go for the Kawasaki Caliber 115. With a price tag of Rs. 45, 700 ex-showroom (depends upon the place of purchase), it’s a breeze on the pocket too! Yeah! HOODIBABAA!!! HOODIBABAA!!!