Background**: I was keen on either a 125 cc or a 150 cc bike - basically a commuter bike and not a sports one. I decided to settle for a 125 cc bike which gives me a perfect balance between refined engine, power requirements and mileage.
I kept my budget between 50 K to 55 K(grand) for on-road prices. Within this budget you get a fully loaded 125 cc bike - electric start, front disk brakes, alloy wheels. The TCO(Total Cost of Ownership) is acquiring and running cost, and is low in 125 cc bike viz a viz 150 cc bike, and has adequate power punch packed in.
These are all 4 stroke, single cylinder, 125 c bikes. I have considered only Zeus from Suzuki stable and left out their lower segment Suzuki Heat motorcycle. Likewise I have considered HH(Hero Honda) Glamour as representative from Hero Honda family and left out HH Super Splendour from the shoot-out.
Here’s the 125 cc shootout:
First thing first - The Engine:
Bore x Stroke (125 cc displacement)
Yamaha Gladiator 54.0 mm x 54.0 mm
Suzuki Zeus 53.5 mm x 55.2 mm
Honda Shine
HH Glamour 52.4 mm x 57.8 mm
Bajaj Discover DTS-i 57 x 48.8 mm
Max. Power:
Yamaha Gladiator 10.7 bhp(8.0 kw) @ 7, 500 rpm
Suzuki Zeus 8.7 bhp
Honda Shine 10.3 bhp @ 7500 rpm
HH Glamour 9.00 HP(6.6 kW) @ 7000 rpm
Bajaj Discover DTS-i 8.47 kw(11.51Ps) at 8, 000 rpm
Max. Torque:
Yamaha Gladiator 10.4 NM @ 6, 500 RPM
Suzuki Zeus 10 NM
Honda Shine 10.9 Nm @ 5500 rpm
HH Glamour 10.35 NM @ 4, 000 RPM
Bajaj Discover DTS-i 10.8 Nm @ 6500 rpm
Analysis: A square engine is proven to be long lasting. Yamaha Gladiator is a square engine(both bore and stroke are 54 mm), just like legendary Yamaha RX100 was a square engine. Both Gladiator and Zeus have very refined engines, HH Glamour and Honda Shine follow next, and Bajaj Discover brings up the rear. The exhaust is a big let down in Suzuki which supresses its fine engine quality. All in all, Yamaha Gladiator is the leader in maximum power and torque. Suzuki Zeus lacks maximum power but has adequate torque(pulling power) still. Bajaj Discover generates quite a bit of power but at higher rpm, which means more wear and tear.
Lets talk about Gears:
Transmission
Yamaha Gladiator 5-speed constant mesh;Suzuki Zeus 5-speed constant mesh;
Honda Shine Constant Mesh, 4 Speed Gear;HH Glamour 4 speed constant mesh;
Bajaj Discover DTS-i 4 speed constant mesh
Analysis: Both Yamaha and Suzuki gearboxes are slick and world class. Only these provide 5 gears which translates in better fuel economy. The other bikes have 4 gears. These two are followed by HH Glamour and Honda Shine. Bajaj Discover’s gear box is quite poor in comparison.
Gearshift pattern
Yamaha Gladiator 1-down, 4-up; Suzuki Zeus 1-down, 4-up;
Honda Shine: 4-up; HH Glamour: 4-up; Bajaj Discover DTS-i 4-up
Analysis: The 1-down and rest-up arrangement is considered best. Again Yamaha Gladiator and Suzuki Zeus lead here.
The Physical Parameters:
Wheelbase:
Yamaha Gladiator 1300 mm; Suzuki Zeus 1240 mm;
Honda Shine: 1265 mm; HH Glamour 1265 mm; Bajaj Discover DTS-i 1305 mm;
Ground clearance:
Yamaha Gladiator 160 mm;Suzuki Zeus 155 mm;
Honda Shine 175 mm; HH Glamour 150 mm; Bajaj Discover DTS-i 175 mm
Dry mass(of top-end model):
Yamaha Gladiator 127 Kgs;Suzuki Zeus 114 Kgs;
Honda Shine; HH Glamour 129 Kgs; Bajaj Discover DTS-i 129 Kgs
Analysis: If you are short and travel within the city mainly - Suzuki Zeus is more appropriate for you. Yamaha Gladiator is best among this lot for its road hugging and cornering capabilities.
And the Rest:
Style and Looks:
Yamaha Gladiator is a sure head turner and is the best looking among the lot, followed by Suzuki Zeus.
Mileage:
A lot depends on riding style, whether its city trafiic or you are on a highway drive, lean mixture or petrol rich mixture . All these 125 cc bikes are expected to give around 55 to 60 kms per litre in city traffic, and 60 to 65 on highways. There are a lot of complaints for Bajaj after initial 5-6 months period.
Switches & Meters:
Yamaha Gladiator has top quality switches, Neutral gear indicator, Hi beam indicator, engine-kill switch. Suzuki Zeus sports gear indicator for all the gears. It also has engine kill switch. Honda Shine has good quality switches but engine-kill switch is missing. HH Glamour & Bajaj Discover are okay in switches department.
Fun:
No competetion here - all the way its just Yamaha Gladiator.
Customer Relationship Management(CRM): I found all these companies more or less at par. I had read about earlier problems with Yamaha. But personally, after getting a service done, I found just no problems - it was in fact quite comfortable watching the bike getting serviced and staff was quite attentive.
Worldwide, Honda and Yamaha are the top two bike companies. It seems the top management change in Yamaha India has had some positive effects. Now one Mr. T. Ishikawa is at the helm of affairs in Yamaha India after turning around Yamaha Thailand, alongwith his team. Yamaha is going to invest Rs 800 crores in next couple of years in India. Yamaha is going to concentrate on Indian and Chinese markets now. These details played their part in my deciding on Yamaha bike.
I came across a lot of complaints at various forums regarding Bajaj vehicles - Discover as well as Pulsars. Their average is reported to drop sharply or lot of complaints in gear box. Looks of a new Discover or a Pulsar are decent, metering etc is quite advanced vis-a-vis the competetion. But a bike is much more than just looks and meters. After you have seen rationally a pulsar which has done about 3 years or about 30, 000 kms - you will doubt your decisions to go for such a bike. Invariably after 3-4 years of use you find a Bajaj Discover or Pulsar in real bad shape. My assessment: Bajaj Discover/Pulsar is good for people who want it for 3-4 years only, then will take a new bike. I wanted a bike to last much longer so I opted for Yamaha Gladiator.
Final Rankings among 125 cc bikes:
Leader of the pack is: 1. Yamaha Gladiator
Distant second is: 2. Suzuki Zeus
Joint Third are: 3. HH Glamour & 3. Honda Shine
And finally 5. Bajaj Discover DTS-i
Yamaha Gladiator is most feature rich, and is the best bet among 125 cc bikes. In other bikes something or the other is lacking. Suzuki Zeus lacks in power punch. The fifth gear is lacking in all bikes except Yamaha Gladiator and Suzuki Zeus. Some bikes even lack the basic feul level indicator meter.
Best Regards