Here I am writing my own review on Hero Honda CBZ Xtreme 2012. Firstly I shall give u my riding background; I was using Hero Honda Splendor (1999 Model Black) for the last 13 years. I had no issues with my splendor, a great bike of its era; although I must say that I used to maintain my bike very promptly and efficiently. Splendor was a great bike. Just recently sold it for Rs 15000 after using it for 13 years; now thats a very good return on a used bike. After using the bike for 13 years I had only 2 years left after which I had to again register my bike and do the passing with the RTO (which actually cost around Rs 6000). Hence thought of purchasing a new bike. This time wanted to go for a 150 cc bike. Being a satisfied Hero Honda user I always had CBZ Xtreme as my favourite choice. Still I checked out Bajaj Pulsar, Yamaha FZ, Honda Unicorn & Dazzler.
Finally eliminated Bajaj Pulsar as I have seen many 2 year old bikes of my friends which actually looks 10 year old (and they maintain their bikes reasonably well), Honda Unicorn was eliminated as there was no tubeless tyres, no digital meter and personally did not like the looks (However, Unicorn is the best performer in 150 cc segment), Yamaha was eliminated because of the rear seat, which was a little cramped and not spacious for my wife to sit on it one sided, further my 3 yr old kid cannot find a space to adjust on it. Hence selected CBZ xtreme after my own research. I bought the new CBZ Xtreme for Rs 80500 from Fort Point Mumbai on 11th May 2012. The bike has some great features like digital console meter with analog tachometer & Fuel gauge. Double disk both front & rear (rear is optional). Both the disk brakes are very efficient and provides precise braking; initially I was a little worried to go for both tyres disk brakes as I thought that it would be susceptible to skid; Well I must advise everyone to go for double disk, the disk are very well manufactured and placed correctly, there is no feeling that the bike would loose the rear end or skid. The step seat (rear seat separated from the rider seat) not only provides great looks but is also wide enough to easily accommodate female pillion seating one sided. and of course both the seats are wide and long enough for my kid to hop on to. Now coming to the heart, 150 cc engine straight derived from the Honda Unicorn is silent and slightly tuned to generate higher bhp. CBZ Xtreme delivers 14.4 bhp which is best in its class. The engine is silent and provides good acceleration and most importantly responds to the riders need as and when needed. The mileage is something that I need to check on. I filled up the tank upto the breeze and it accommodated 13 litres, I have travelled 250 kms since then. The rear and front tyres are not that wide as in Yamaha but do a good job. The rear tyre is tubeless and the front tyre is a normal usual tyre ( I still dont know y Hero honda has done that).
The kick missing in the bike; well I’m not sure wether this one is a good idea or not but I prefer to have a kick as a secondary option. The hero honda technician says that one need to maintain the battery well and the self start will never give any hassel (need to wait & watch on this). To my surprise I find the bike very very heavy, the kerb weight is 150 kg but feels like 300 kg, however once the bike is in motion controlling & handling is no issue. The bike is also very tall u feel like seating on it and not seating in it; ok for me though as I m 5`11. Low heighted guys just simply dont go for CBZ xtreme. It certainly is very very heavy and tall too. The alloy wheels is an eye catcher neatly cdesigned in twin spoke type, which I personally like it a lot. The suspension is the best feature of the bike front suspension are taller than other 150 cc bikes and are telescopic with great shock absorbing abilities. The rear shocks are Gas Reseroir type shocks, which are very very capable and u can ride along over usuall mumbai roads filled with potholes without feeling any bumps. Hats off to the technicans for developing the shocks especially the rear ones...great job. There is one such feature known as "hemet lock" well forget about helmet it cannot even lock a polythene bag. A completer waste...still dont know the use ot this feature and y hero technician has done this blunder. The tank has been twicked by adding another plastic cowel in the front to give more aero dynamic and great looks and I think this was a good add on. The indicator lights have been integrated in the main fron ferring and as for the rear indicator light it has been integrated in the tail ligt console. The integration is done neatly and efficiently The front head lights are useful and does its job alrite however, I find that the front looks of the bike could have been a little better. The rear tail lamp has LED lights which looks magnificient and gives great cosmetic look to the bike. The rear grab rails is useful and looks great. The silencer of the bike is a pretty long and huge, its been provided with heat shield covers which does its job well. Overall the bike is a complete value for money when u get step seat, digital console meter, self start, ATFT Engine, GRS shock absorbers, double disk and LED tail lamps. Would write again after the first service...Happy & safe riding..