[Divya Sharan]

Hi all,

Posting my ownership experience with the ZMR in 2 years.
I have clocked 22,180 kms as of now.

It was a well thought decision to opt for the Karizma since I always wanted to tour on 2 wheels. I guess, the touring bug on 2 wheels came from my grand pa! He toured all of Bihar and UP on his Jawa.

I ruled out Pulsar 220 from my list as people said Bajaj bikes go bad after 2 years (as if it were a fruit). I was so mis-informed. P220 is a great bike and all bikes have niggles. All machines require maintenance!
Then, I liked Yamaha R15 as it looked like a Dhoom bike (faired). But, I was disappointed that it was not meant to tour long distances because of the aggressive riding stance.
Initially, I was about to book the ZMA, but I was shown this bike by my dad in the showroom. He found this one look better than the older sibling. Well, looks are subjective; but I always wanted a Dhoom bike and I was happy.

So, I read across many forums and reviews about the bike and booked it after almost a month of decision making.
It cost me exact 1L OTR. Got the seat cover, bar grips and 4 liters petrol complimentary.

Run in phase:-
1. Followed a mix of motoman's method and conventional method. Never crossed 6k RPM till 500 kms and got 1st service done.
2. Shifted to Shell AX7 semi synthetic 10w40 after 10k kms and Mobil1 FS 10w40 after 15k.

Let me post the first pic I clicked when the bike was brought home. [Jan 9th, 2011]



I used to read through forums regarding Karizma's excellence in touring and that it has a gem of an engine. After all, it is a detuned CRF 230!

I did many trips on the bike while I was in Chennai. Visiting places (Yercaud, Pondicherry, Bangalore, Tirupati, Vellore, Gingee etc) was a norm.

Putting a few pics from my trips.





















Recently, got transferred to Bangalore. Have plenty of places nearby, but the hectic schedule hasn't yet let me tour for long distances.

I have managed short Nandi trips (Nandi hills) for 5 times though!

The bike is all stock except for:
1. Pirelli Sport Demon rear tire (110 mm)



2. Osram Night Breaker 55w halogen HL.

Low and high beams.





3. 20 SMD LED pilot lamps.

Note the difference!



No issues found with the bike so far. Running with stock battery.
Air filter replaced twice @10k and 20k kms, Spark plug replaced @ 12k kms, front brake pads replaced @ 15k kms, rear still stock.

Mileage - 39-40 kmpl in city and 46+ on the highway.

Let me put the pros and cons of the bike.

Pros:
1. Excellent relaxed engine.
2. Ample low end torque.
3. Very comfortable sofa-like seat. (rider as well as pillion)
4. Touring friendly seating position.
5. Adequate dual horn OE fit from factory.
6. Awesome mileage for a 223cc mill.
7. Decent gearbox. No gear slips so far!
8. Decent brakes.
9. Crisp throttle response due to FI.

Cons:
1. HL needs upgrade. Very poor lighting with 35w halogen. Reflector is good though.
2. Thin rear tires don't provide confidence in corners. Also, stock MRF skids in rain.
3. 6th gear is sorely missed. I wish they'd kept the 6th cog from CRF while designing this engine. Would have help retain the mileage as well as provide a higher top end. 126 kmph for this bike seems tad too less.
4. Very bulky at 159 kilos. Fairings could have been designed better. Its terrible during maintenance.
5. RVMs have a mind of their own. Its a design flaw and almost all ZMRs require RVMs to be tightened at regular intervals.
6. Vibrations between 4k-5k RPM in 4th and 5th gears around the footpegs.

After 2 years, I can say I'm more than satisfied with the machine.



Happy riding!

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Motorbikes Section. Thanks for sharing!

[Schoudhury]

Originally Posted by Divya Sharan

I have clocked 22,180 kms as of now.

I ruled out Pulsar 220 from my list as people said Bajaj bikes go bad after 2 years (as if it were a fruit). I was so mis-informed. P220 is a great bike and all bikes have niggles. All machines require maintenance!

2. Osram Night Breaker 55w halogen HL.


3. 20 SMD LED pilot lamps.

Karizma was one of the bikes that i was eyeing when i wanted to get a powerful 2 wheeler in 2008 .
But some how i got myself a pulsar 200 .
You seems to have done few highways drives, so wanted to check, how is stability of the bike during highways runs.

And regarding the Bajaj Bikes going bad after 2 years, i can assure you thats the not the case. My pulsar 200 still runs like charm even after 4 years.

Here is a shot of my Pulsar 200 after 4.5 years .



Regarding the 55w bulbs, i think the stock bulb is 35w, so putting a 55W bulb will it not effect the headlights ?
Also did you use a separate relay for the bulb upgrade ?

Anyways , drive safe and keep the thread updated .

Cheers

[Divya Sharan]

Originally Posted by Schoudhury

You seems to have done few highways drives, so wanted to check, how is stability of the bike during highways runs.

Straight line stability is very good, the bike feels well planted till 120 kmph post which the fairings do less to shape the windblast away from the rider.

And regarding the Bajaj Bikes going bad after 2 years, i can assure you thats the not the case. My pulsar 200 still runs like charm even after 4 years.

I agree with you. Though I don't repent my decision now, but people generally misguide others when it comes to BAL products.

Regarding the 55w bulbs, i think the stock bulb is 35w, so putting a 55W bulb will it not effect the headlights ?
Also did you use a separate relay for the bulb upgrade ?

No relays needed. One can always upgrade from 35w to 55w in a Karizma. The reflector is too good. Post 55w, you may fry your HLs!
ZMR has a very powerful alternator which can hold upto 238W of load. The bike in stock form uses only 180W, hence you can play with the ~50W buffer power.

[snowmane]

Hello,

This response may seem to be a bit off topic, but I could not find any recent active Karizma Threads and making a completely new one is still not allowed for me.

So, I hope this gets cleared by the MODs.

Coming to the question, I have decided to purchase the Karizma R version in Ebony Grey Color.

However the problem that I am facing is that no dealer is ready to give me this color. All that I am getting is that we keep only Black/White since all the other colors are slow moving and so not worth keeping in inventory.

Has anybody got any idea about this? Or are these two three dealers just trying to clear off their stock by telling me cock and bull stories?

Please advise.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by snowmane

Coming to the question, I have decided to purchase the Karizma R version in Ebony Grey Color.

However the problem that I am facing is that no dealer is ready to give me this color. All that I am getting is that we keep only Black/White since all the other colors are slow moving and so not worth keeping in inventory.

Has anybody got any idea about this? Or are these two three dealers just trying to clear off their stock by telling me cock and bull stories?

Please advise.

The Black/White may be the only ones they have in stock and fast moving colours, the dealer might be trying free up his inventory. From my experience, if you need a particular colour, the dealer orders one and you're made to wait until it arrives at the dealer's. Look around for a few more dealers, if none are obliging, shoot a mail to Hero, they will be more than willing to help you out.

[snowmane]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

The Black/White may be the only ones they have in stock and fast moving colours, the dealer might be trying free up his inventory. From my experience, if you need a particular colour, the dealer orders one and you're made to wait until it arrives at the dealer's. Look around for a few more dealers, if none are obliging, shoot a mail to Hero, they will be more than willing to help you out.

Hello,

This is very ironic. Why will I buy some color that they want to sell when I already want the grey one.

Besides I really do not think that the white one is fast moving.

I told both the dealers that I am willing to wait for a month or even 45 days so that they can place the order and get that particular color. They are not ready even to take my booking.

And, I already sent a mail to Hero, but sadly I guess the break up with Honda has left them in a disarray and they have not got back to me yet.

Now, the other interesting thing to note is that, I had gone to a Bajaj showroom recently and the staff there was quite enthusiastic, eager to help, whereas here they made me feel like I was trying to sell them something.

With this attitude, Bajaj will surely overtake these guys, they already have a robust in house R&D unit and their high end bikes are pretty good.

On a interesting observation, do you think Hero is going the Kinetic way?
Wherein they will die a slow death, maybe in the next 10-15 years.

I am now going to try to talk with some dealers who are located very far from where I stay just to check if they have anything in stock. Maybe I can get HH Karizma and not just Hero Karizma.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by snowmane

Hello,

This is very ironic. Why will I buy some color that they want to sell when I already want the grey one.

Some dealers are of the opinion that since you want the ZMA, you won't go anywhere else. So I guess they hope you'll buy the Black/White out of desperation or something.

And, I already sent a mail to Hero, but sadly I guess the break up with Honda has left them in a disarray and they have not got back to me yet.

They take a while, they took around 10 days to reply to my mail. They reply late, but they do reply. Or contact them here:

ZONAL OFFICE
Hero MotoCorp Ltd.
No - 294, 2nd Floor, 6th Main,
Off 100 ft Road, HAL 2nd Stage,
Indira Nagar, Bangalore – 560038, India.
Tel: +91-80-25207258, 25207259, 25582436, 25321139
Fax: +91-80-25594036
Email: bangalore@heromotocorp.com

Now, the other interesting thing to note is that, I had gone to a Bajaj showroom recently and the staff there was quite enthusiastic, eager to help, whereas here they made me feel like I was trying to sell them something.

With this attitude, Bajaj will surely overtake these guys, they already have a robust in house R&D unit and their high end bikes are pretty good.

On a interesting observation, do you think Hero is going the Kinetic way?
Wherein they will die a slow death, maybe in the next 10-15 years.

Bajaj definitely sells more bikes in the 150cc and above segments I'm sure. They cater to the youth while Hero keeps launching new iterations of it's older bikes. For now, they're just milking the Honda engines for as long as they can use them. R&D, Hero is starting now, but they have the resources to rope in the best in the business. And Hero going the Kinetic way will be known in 2014 itself, when they need to stop using Honda's engines.

I am now going to try to talk with some dealers who are located very far from where I stay just to check if they have anything in stock. Maybe I can get HH Karizma and not just Hero Karizma.

A high possibility. I'd recently been to Prakash Motors, Karnataka's highest selling Hero dealer, they still had some Hero Honda CBZ Xtremes in stock. So I suggest you look at some more dealers.

[snowmane]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Some dealers are of the opinion that since you want the ZMA, you won't go anywhere else. So I guess they hope you'll buy the Black/White out of desperation or something.
======
A high possibility. I'd recently been to Prakash Motors, Karnataka's highest selling Hero dealer, they still had some Hero Honda CBZ Xtremes in stock. So I suggest you look at some more dealers.

Thanks a lot for this info.

I agree with your point that Hero wont go the Kinetic way, however just like Hero, Kinetic too had got good market share and also plenty of resources, but they were not able to actually channelize it and the last minute partnership with Hyosung and other companies did not really work out for them.

I have heard that Hero has roped in some really good guys for R&D and also put in 400Crore odd rupees into a very ambitious project in Jaipur, please correct me if i am wrong.

And, I want to purchase the Karizma R version, not the ZMA, like I said, the fairing on the ZMA seems out of place.

One question though, if Hero is still using Honda engines, why is the logo of only Hero present on those new bikes?

Also, what effect do you think will the spare parts quality have post 2014 when Honda goes out completely?

Please advise.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by snowmane

I agree with your point that Hero wont go the Kinetic way, however just like Hero, Kinetic too had got good market share and also plenty of resources, but they were not able to actually channelize it and the last minute partnership with Hyosung and other companies did not really work out for them.

Probably, but Hero has already started looking for new partners. And given Hero's market share, it's bound to find takers. Erik Buell has already forged alliances with Hero and the first Hero bike without any bit of Honda in it will be launched in 2014.

I have heard that Hero has roped in some really good guys for R&D and also put in 400Crore odd rupees into a very ambitious project in Jaipur, please correct me if i am wrong.

True that. It will be India's largest two wheeler R&D Center.

And, I want to purchase the Karizma R version, not the ZMA, like I said, the fairing on the ZMA seems out of place.

The Karizma R and ZMA refer to the same bike actually.

One question though, if Hero is still using Honda engines, why is the logo of only Hero present on those new bikes?

I guess that's part of Hero's new rebranding exercise. And post the split, I doubt they're allowed to use the word Honda on their products and it is trademark of HMSI.

Also, what effect do you think will the spare parts quality have post 2014 when Honda goes out completely?

None actually. As a matter of fact, Hero has improved it's quality after the split. The brakes are now from Bybre, which offer much better bike than the ones on my Hero Honda Hunk. And the handle grips feel much more grippy now when compared to my HH Hunk. I doubt spare parts quality should be of concern really.

[snowmane]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Probably, but Hero has already started looking for new partners. And given Hero's market share, it's bound to find takers. Erik Buell has already forged alliances with Hero and the first Hero bike without any bit of Honda in it will be launched in 2014.



True that. It will be India's largest two wheeler R&D Center.



The Karizma R and ZMA refer to the same bike actually.



I guess that's part of Hero's new rebranding exercise. And post the split, I doubt they're allowed to use the word Honda on their products and it is trademark of HMSI.



None actually. As a matter of fact, Hero has improved it's quality after the split. The brakes are now from Bybre, which offer much better bike than the ones on my Hero Honda Hunk. And the handle grips feel much more grippy now when compared to my HH Hunk. I doubt spare parts quality should be of concern really.

Sorry for my ignorance on the ZMA thing, my bad.

As for the quality, lets hope they are able to even better it as they work with a new technology partner or develop their own R&D.

Will keep you posted as to whether I am able to find a dealer willing to sell me a grey ZMA. Lets hope so.

Thanks.

[motomaverick]

Nice and crisp review of a bike that started the 200cc segment long time back with the ZMA. I had one light gray colored 1st generation Karizma, sold it in 2010. Now i miss the bike, more for its touring capabilities.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Hi there. Thanks for sharing your ownership experience.
Karizma as a product has been a very accomplished bike.

Would you please post some review on the Pirelli Sport Deamons that you are running on your bike. I am planning to get these tyres hopefully this weekend. Also which tyres you are running on front. Any reviews on them.

I somewhere read that somebody who had sport deamons reported that he experienced loss of grip after around 3K Kms.

Thanks and cheers.

By the way here is my 6.5 years old Karizma

[snowmane]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Some dealers are of the opinion that since you want the ZMA, you won't go anywhere else. So I guess they hope you'll buy the Black/White out of desperation or something.



They take a while, they took around 10 days to reply to my mail. They reply late, but they do reply. Or contact them here:

ZONAL OFFICE
Hero MotoCorp Ltd.
No - 294, 2nd Floor, 6th Main,
Off 100 ft Road, HAL 2nd Stage,
Indira Nagar, Bangalore – 560038, India.
Tel: +91-80-25207258, 25207259, 25582436, 25321139
Fax: +91-80-25594036
Email: bangalore@heromotocorp.com

Hello,

I got a response from a local dealer after I made contact with Hero.

This dealer states that I am more than welcome to book the ZMA with color of my choice. The only issue is that I will have to wait for the machine to arrive once they order it.

Now, this is interesting since this is the same guy who had told me that no matter what happens we wont sell you that particular color and wont your booking.

Will go to the shop today and check the availability now.

Will keep you updated.

Thanks for the advise.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by Divya Sharan

Hi all,

Posting my ownership experience with the ZMR in 2 years.
I have clocked 22,180 kms as of now.

Nice review there. I've ridden a ZMR once but the front brakes were absolutely worthless. Since I've ridden only 1 ZMR, couldn't compare it and sent a benchmark as such. Do the brakes leave a lot to be desired?

Originally Posted by snowmane

I got a response from a local dealer after I made contact with Hero.

This dealer states that I am more than welcome to book the ZMA with color of my choice. The only issue is that I will have to wait for the machine to

Good to know. As I said, Hero takes care of their customers very well. It's these dealers and service centers that ruin their reputation.