I Mohan, from Hyd, have researched a lot before buying my bike(Zeus), all my room-mates also bought bikes in the last 5 month span. Here’s my list of best bikes based on experiences, feedback, etc etc.
100 cc Segment:
Topper is Hero Honda Splendor+ and Passion+, good mileage, most reliable, good endurance, service is good, long term bikes. Next is TVS Star city, but a year old owners complain lower mileage after super mileage in 1st year. Hero Honda is still king of 100cc. Platina is having electrical problems and mileage is only 55 kmpl. So if it’s 100cc just go for Hero Honda.
125cc Segment:
I Own Zeus and I have ridden all 125cc bikes, my closest alternative was New Glam125 which looks far stunning than my Zeus, but Glam has only 4 gears. Overall Glamour/Zeus/Super Splendor are good bikes, best for long term. Honda shine is also nice choice. My room-mate has one Discover which belongs to his brother, the bike gives lots of problems and requires regular maintainence.
150cc Segment:
Actually I wanted to go for Unicorn, believe me friends Unicorn is still the risk-free bike in 150cc. I have friends who own Apache and Pulsar reporting serious complaints within six months. Pulsar are good in numbers but it’s reliability and quality is bad. Both Apache and Pulsar are short term bikes. If you want best return for your money invest in Honda Unicorn/Hero Honda Xtreme/ Achiever. All these bikes last longer and are true value for money. In looks n features Apache/Pulsar are good. Last week we went for long drive and I drove Xtreme for 20 kms, it’s smooth, stress-free/relaxed and yet powerful. Unicorn has new competition from Xtreme.
Karizma Segment:
NO BIKE (including P180/P200/P220) can come close to Karizma. It’s an experience of riding an imported/costly bike. Frankly, it’s worth every penny you pay on Karizma. My next bike would be Karizma. Lookwise, reliability, speed, performance, styling, Karizma rules in 150+cc segment.
So good bikes according to me at present are **Splendor+ / Passion+/ Zeus / Glamour / Super Splen / Shine / Unicorn / Xtreme / Karizma.
Thanks
Mohan