Ladies(the few of them who care about choosing the bike they sit on) & GentleMen,
A war is going on . The battle is being fought hard and them empire is slowly but steadily crumbling to pieces. No I have not written a book or movie review here. This is the scene in the 100cc Indian Motorcycle market. The fate of the empire is unsure.
As usual the rankings will come in the end and as people will know my bottom up approach from my 125 cc comparison, I am going to be very fuzzy here. So that the rankings are a bit of a surprise.
Well we first come to the emperor though and discuss his empire . Hero Honda(HH as I call it). The empire has many able fighters in its lineage . Some like the CD-100 with variants still in production are more experienced than most other bikes in production in India except for the Royal Enfields which are a class apart. And then of course the empire has the services of its loyal and humble Splendor which has been tweaked to give the sharper Passion which fights this battle along with Splendor in the form of their+ versions. The emperor has had a mighty and lengthy reign but the rebellion led by TVS and Bajaj with fighters like the Star variants, CT-100 and Platina are causing quite a stir. Then of course their is the lone fighter Libero fighting solely for Yamaha and though it seems to be leading a lost cause it has seen slight hope with its rich international fame.
Lets see the capability of the various Brands in terms of their individual units:
TVS:
Star Variants: A trusted reliable bike based on the Max 100 is making waves with its descent pricing and varied offerings. It has been launched with alloys in the form of the Star City and is now "INDIA’s FIRST 100 cc MOTORCYCLE TO GET A SELF START". This may prove to be a sharp weapon considering the derogatory traffic conditions prevalent in most Indian cities. The comfort of thumbing the starter is appreciable in slow moving traffic as you can comfortably switch off the bike without a second thought even for a halt of one minute to save that precious fuel. Gives a descent mileage and figures are common with any other in the segment at 70-75 KMPL in city. The bike has great sober looks and the tail light with its LED resemblance looks cool. The tank of 16 litres gives the bike a long range advantage and the sharpish head gives good look and descent lights. The only thing against this bike is its slow performance. The running stallion of TVS is surely gaining ground otherwise.
YAMAHA
Libero: The Six spoke wheel of Yamaha is led to the grounds by this classy bike. The bike has trademark Yamaha high quality fit and finish and with the recent addition of alloys it is the meanest head turner of the segment with its looks. But all is not well with its pricing and efficiency. Though the Libero has been thtough many avatars, the most recent being G5 City Cruiser, the bike does not give the mileage promised. The price tag it carries makes it sensible to go for a bike in the higher segment 125 cc and rather buy any of the bikes their at almost the same price.
Crux: This is the plain jane warrior targetted in numbers to give dents on the rural market of other brands, but the international brand value it brings along with it proves the price to be on the higher side. Though it was targetted for
higher sales than Libero it seems to be losing out.
BAJAJ
The underdog has fought well and come to the forte. CT-100 now in its reformed avatar as the Platina is leading quite an on slaught and the empire is falling apart in the face of this attack. The sheer numbers in the sales figure of Platina & CT-100 in the recent times speak for themselves. The engine on these bikes gives quite a punchy performance and Bajaj’s Spring in Spring suspension is a real comfort on the road. The efficiencty figures are on par with the other bikes in the segment though the engine is not as refined as say the TVS Star and seems a bit noisy at higher speeds. Overall the bike is an awesome looker and real value for money considering all the things it packs in including a Black painted engine, clear glass indicators, alloy wheels and superb stickering and balanced paint finish to top it with a proven Exhaust Tec engine.
HH
Hero Honda has its time tested Splendor+ defending the fort here. Well but strangely being the emperor they are still only defending. And as we all know the strongest defence is an offence. But HH does not seem to be aware of this and they are satisfied to churn out pre historic bikes from their production plants and then put these bikes in show rooms where they can rust to dooms day. Well HH never does anything different and it probably never will. And the icing on the cake is given by the fact that most HH bikes are still pricier compared to the newer models of other vendors except for the Yamaha’s Libero. Well people may still be buying HH but its not going to last long now. The only thing godd for HH may be the fact that Bajaj has already decided to quit the 100 cc segment soon enough. What HH does not realize is that by the time Bajaj quits their will be no market for the segment. And with HH having flopped in all other segments this may be he end of days for the company except of course it seeks out some redemption soon. I still see more Pulsars(newer designed DTSfi inspired) on the road and still have not seen a CBZ Xtreme. I think HH is sealing itw own coffin. An HH bike has nothing new except for the new tag of being out of a factory.
So lets have the ratings then .
1.) TVS Star City: Sober Looks, Snazzy new sticker job in the Electric Start version.
2.) Bajaj Platina: High Value for Money Package . But a Bajaj cant still win. They are a scooter company for God’s sake.
3.) HH CD Deluxe / Bajaj CT-100: Well at least they have some value for money.
4.) HH Splendor/Passion+, Yamaha Libero: You have the extra money to buy these losers, go ahead and buy yourself one of the 125s instead.