It is a month now, with my Suzuki SlingShot Plus (Black Color with Disk Break, Alloy Wheel, and Self Start).
Taken it from Bangalore, KH Road (Double Road) Suzuki, on Jan 2011. (With waiting period of a week).
On road price: Rs.56, 250.
I decided to buy my first bike and I was looking for a decent office commuter bike with good comfort, mileage, good handling and a bike which I can buy without burning my packet.
The following bikes were in my list:
Honda Shine (125 CC)
Honda Stunner (125 CC)
Yamaha SS125
Honda Twister (110 CC)
Yamaha YBR 125
Bajaj Discover 150
Bajaj Pulsar 135 LS
I had gone for test rides and also I read lot of reviews to choose the bike. So I’m sharing my hunting experience with you guys, so that it may help you in choosing a bike.
Somehow I didn’t like any bike from TVS and Hero Honda. The reasons to avoid TVS is bad Controlling, bad breaking, TVS tire, Stability. My brother has TVS Victor, so with that experience I excluded TVS (My brother and one of my colleague also had the same opinion). I did test drive of Super Splendor, but I couldn’t feel mush difference compare to Splendor Plus and also the look is not so great.
Honda Shine (125CC):
I liked the plain look of the bike and the decent mileage (60KM/L).
But I have removed it from my list because of the following reason
High price in this category (Rs. 62, 000) that too without any great features/gadget.
Vibrates above 60KM speed (One of my friend has this bike, he told it is starts vibrating even in 55KM speed)
Thin rear tire. Read many review about bad breaking and controlling because of the thin tire.
Long waiting time (2 weeks to 1.5 months depends on the variant and color)
Service is not good (May be because of high volume of sale)
Honda Stunner (125 CC):
I liked the bike because of good reviews. But I removed it from my list because of the Over Price and the Stepped up back seat (Not comfortable for pillion rider).
Yamaha SS 125:
I liked the look of the bike very much (that too the rear views). I almost decided to go for that. Price also competitive (Rs. 58, 000).
But because of the following problems I have moved out:
When I went to Showroom, the sale guys were interested to sell the YBR 125. Whenever I asked anything about SS 125, they were telling ‘better go for YBR 125’.
Poor pickup in low RPM (especially when riding with pillion)
They stopped the production and delivery for 3 months in 2010. But from Dec 2010 they again started booking. But no vehicle in showroom (Not even show piece). The show room guys don’t have any idea whether Yamaha is going to stop the model.
Long waiting period (1 month to 2 months)
Honda Twister (110 CC):
My friend told me about this bike (Known for good mileage).
I took a test ride. I didn’t like the bike at first look itself, because of the following reason:
Body is full of plastic
Very small bike
Thin rear tire (Skids While Breaking)
Suspension is not good
Little costly for 110cc Bike (Rs. 57, 000)
Yamaha YBR 125:
When I went to Yamaha showroom to enquire about SS125, the sales guys suggested this bike.
Nothing great in this bike while comparing other bikes in this category.
It is new model, but the showroom guys doesn’t have any bikes for test ride :(
Since I couldn’t get a bike for test ride, I removed it from my list.
Bajaj Discover 150:
I added this bike in my list because of the mileage and price (Rs. 57000 for 150cc bike).
But after the test ride and reading some reviews I removed it from my list. Because:
No Joy in riding
Seat is so hard and not comfortable
Build quality is not so great (for that price it is ok, but comparing with other bikes its quality is not good)
Not much Colors to choose from
Looks very similar to Discover 100cc bike.
Bajaj Pulsar 135 LS:
I added it in my list because of the price and the digital console. Pulsar for 63, 000 :).
But I removed it because of the look. It is good for college students, not for office commuters.
Pillion seating is not comfortable.
Finally Suzuki SlingShot Plus:
When I started to think about buying bike, my colleague bought Yellow color SlingShot. He told it is so comfortable and easy to ride and mileage also good. But when I looked the bike for first time I didn’t like the look. So I didn’t add this bike in my list at all. But after checking other bikes, once I had chance to ride my colleagues SlingShot. I liked the ride very much, and then I added it in my list. But I was still not happy about the look. After the SlingShot Plus released, I was ok to go for the bike. By the time my colleague completed 2 services and he told he is getting 60-65 KM/L mileage (for city ride -Bangalore). So finally I went for this bike because:
Competitive Price (Rs. 56, 000) - Suzuki bikes are the cheapest bikes after Bajaj.
Waiting time was less (1 week).
Good service. I had visited two times to the showroom for doing idealing setting change, I got good service. Even my colleague also felt the same (he completed 2 services)
After 1 month of owning the bike I liked the bike very much. Few good things about the bike:
Good Pickup (with pillion)
Smooth Gear Change
Great Handling
Good Seating Position
Good Gear Ratio (No need to change the Gear very frequently – good for City Ride)
Smooth Engine
Now I’m getting 56 KM/L mileage in City (Bangalore), still not yet completed first service. So I expect at least 60 KM/L after services (Hoping :) ).
This is my first review in mouth shut, so if there is any mistakes please excuse. Most of the points are my personal opinion / personal view. So if you have any different opinion about my review please put it in comments. If you like this review and if you find it useful, please rate it. Thanks.
I will update the review once I complete my first service (with updated mileage). And I will add some pictures very soon.
Update:
Completed the first service 10 days ago. I’m satisfied with the service. After first service I’m getting around 60 KM/L mileage in City (Bangalore).