A new Aviator or the same old Pulsar ? Please help.

[sary]

Hi Guys,

I own a Pulsar 180 CC, 2002 August model, with 29000 Kms on the clock. The ownership experience has been good so far. I service my bike regularly. All the equipments are fully functional including the electrical fittings. The bike carried Goa registration and later in June 2005 I relocated to Bangalore. I used this bike on Bangalore roads until I was cot twice by Traffic Police for not paying Karnataka road tax. Had to pay Rs.100 to get off. Finally I decided to pay the life time road tax and have the bike registered with KA number. The road tax paid was close to around Rs.2800.

Early this year, I changed the chain of my bike since it was loose and slacked. The Battery had to be replaced since the original battery was not capable to serve the self starter. Also got new tyres (with tube) for around 2500 rupees. Soon after I discovered that the head light and a side light was out of order, on consultation with Bajaj service I discovered that the wiring was merely cut off near handle bar (behind the head light). With great difficulty I found the 2002 model Pulsar wiring kit and fitted one with a total spend of 1100 rupees (900 Full wiring kit +200 Labor).

Yesterday, when I was on my way to office at whitefield, I found that the Accelerator cable got jammed on Kagadaspura main road. I had to pull off my bike to a near by mechanic. I asked the guy to fully service my bike and to put a new Accelerator cable and as a prevention I also asked him for a new clutch cable as it felt bit hard.

Now, I discover that the portion of the tank attached to seat has got rust. The petrol has started finding its way out and leaks whenever I park my bike on side stand or if the roads are pot holicks. The mechanic told me, a total of Rupees 2000 needs to be spend to get the tank back in shape, this included repairing the rusted tank even from inside and then painting the effected area. New tank cost around 3500 rupees.

I have almost decided to sell this bike, I need few inputs from you guys:

1. Shall I get the tank replaced / repaired for a cost ranging from 1500 to 4000? And is it worth?
2. How much can I expect to gain from the sell? (The local mechanic quoted 24K)
3. I have narrowed down to Honda Aviator, but I am also considering Activa in second place and Access in third place.

Aviator and Access owners please share your views.

[yogesh sarkar]

6 years can take its toll on a vehicle, even if it hasn't run a lot. My suggestion would be get the petrol tank replaced and try and cover your motorcycle to protect it from rain etc.

[speedcrazy]

I think I rememer the Pulsar tank without fuel cock assembly and fuel lid, ready to fit i.e. paited and stickered being about Rs 2200 on JC road.

Check around before parting with your money to any mech.

I think your bike still has a lot of life left in it and you have spent a lot on it. Consider the factors like depritiation and stuff before you sell out and buy a new scooter.

A bike 7 years old will give problems, no gaurantee that a new one will not and cost you lots more money to buy.

Cheers and Happy Riding

[jkdas]

An automactic will be easier to ride in Bangy.

[sary]

Hi Folks,

Some relief... This morning i obsereved the rusting part carefully and found that there is a manufacturing defact, a small hole was seen. I rushed up to a nearby shop and got some M Seal to fix the hole off. Now i did not discover any leakage. The bike looks perfact now!

However, i am still confused as to keep this bike or sell it off as a measure to prevent any further spend on it. Generally Bajaj vehicles have a life span of maximum 5 yrs without much maintainance expense.

I am also thinking of using metal paste to fix the problem temporarily.

Your comments welcome...

[brianbandra]

my humble personal opinion -
i find neither the aviator nor the access/activa to be particularly worthy vehicles. plus honda service is very irritating.
so stay with your pulsar until a better scooter is launched in market

(we have a sym flyte and very happy with it but u havent mentioned it in your shortlist so not elaborating on that)

[sary]

Originally Posted by brianbandra

(we have a sym flyte and very happy with it but u havent mentioned it in your shortlist so not elaborating on that)

I have hered a lot about Flyte. Seems to be very good value for money vehicle. However I am not much convinced about its after sales service, reliability and resale value factor.

Brianbandra, thanks in advance to provide your feedback on ownership experiance of Flyte also let me know about the factors which i mentioned above.

Cheers!
Sary

[brianbandra]

sari - ownership experience of flyte has been good. no problems yet, and service has been a good experience too. honda service centers are very overloaded and have developed attitude problem. in contrast, for flyte, kinetic is providing good service & dealers seem eager to keep flyte owners happy - we even received a call enquiring about our scooter, hows it doing etc.. service mechanics are well trained, spares are available, prompt response is being given, warranty is 3 years.

this my impression partly from personal experience & partly from discussions in other threads here. some have mentioned about past problems with kinetic service for bikes etc but so far everyone seems happy for flyte. maybe it is sym who has caused a change.

u can go thru other threads for more discussion on this topic.

my wife rides it mostly and she loves the ride, handling; and things like front fueler, good storage, no starting trouble.

Overall I find it to be a well priced good quality scooter with a good spec sheet.

[phamilyman]

pulsar you've barely ridden. most things changeable you've anyways changed. no point spending for a flyte when its ride/fun factor is max less than a p180 anyday :d

[rider60]

frankly enough one can never get the charm of a new vehicle from the old one, having said this, this bike has rusting problems,

after 7 years of usage, good god the silencer has not yet rusted?, well i say this because i have seen loads of pulsars with rusted and replaced silencers.

if the tank itself is rusted, i guess you do not know the extent of chassis rusting, well then my suggestion is sell the bike off before you discover more rusted parts, atleast now you might get some money to spare for your new two wheeler than keep this for few more years.

any day a new bike or a scooter will serve you better than this old work horse which might pop up new problems, the aviator, flyte or access any of them will do just fine.

[Etrnlwanderer]

I would second rider60's suggestion. I think your Pulsar's outlived its usefulness to you. Niggling problems will keep on cropping up and that is what's the main irritant. I've been on the hunt to buy myself a new scooter and I did test ride all three in the market currently. Inspite of the good reviews given for the Flyte in this forum ( and all by very knowledgeable people I might add) I, for one felt the scooter was a tad small compared to the Aviator and Access, visually, and yes, that played a huge part in me striking it off my wish list. Handling was good, nothing exceptional to set it apart from the to the other two contenders, and yes one more factor that I did not feel comfortable with, was the previous track record Kinetic had as far as they line up of two wheelers are concerned. Sym, I read is a Taiwanese company, and I dont have much confidence in most things Chinese ( again my personal opinion). They might have a good fit and finish and value for money, but I dont think longetivity is a strong point for Chinese products, in ANY field.
I favoured the Access over the Aviator on just two points, mileage ( yes it is a factor if you do a lot of city commuting) and secondly, the price for both are the same, but you get a 125cc Suzuki scooter for the price of a 100cc Honda one.
Read up and ask opinions, I'm sure you'll take the right decision, good luck

[archie]

Actually there's a big difference between taiwanese & chinese in terms of quality, engineering etc. ya flyte is a bit smaller visually than access/activa, its a matter of personal preference what looks & feels good/right to you..
best luck with bike/new scooter.. i think a new two wheeler would do u good as u can get updated technology & probably good for yr spine too not to ride old vehicle

[Ajaybiz]

If you love bikes then get her repaired i think so a nice epoxy coating in gas tank will cure the rust and leak issue rest is usual consumables which you have to spend and you cant compare to its actual cost and present cost.
I have bikes ranging from 15-70 K and spent more then their cost also on few of them but never regrets or felt like selling them.

[archie]

one line of thought is that change your car or bike ideally after every 3 years, or 5 max. this optimizes your safety, driving/riding experience, maintenance costs, resale value etc. you should always sell it while its in a good condition. dont wait for it to start giving problems & increasing maintenace cost. also by changing every 3-4 years, you can ride something with latest technology & design.

[sary]

Guys finally my bike has fetched me 26K. I need to book either of the one within this saturday

1. Aviator, 2. Activa , 3. Access ... please help.