Buying a 2nd hand bike, possibly 01' fiero

[croonneck]

hey guys,
i'm planning to buy a second hand bike(my 1st geared bike) in about 2 months time.
my budget is Rs 20-25 k and i live in mysore and bangalore.
my riding will be mainly in the city, probably about 50 kms a day for 3 days a week, and sometimes rides on weekend (mysore-bangalore which is 140 kms one way )
so i'm hoping for a mileage of at least 45-50.

i always liked the old fiero, the ones during 2001 and earlier. i 'd like the one with the suzuki badge.
can u guys think of any problems with that, regarding service and spares
because in that budget, i could probably get a pulsar 150 , 04' too.
else, could you also think of any other bike in that budget ?
thanks in advance, looking forward to the advice .

[splitsecond]

Fiero is a good bike ,but it has only 4 gears.better to go with a 5geared one like pulsar ,HH ambition or Yamaha Gladi (125cc).

[phamilyman]

Boss,

that old a bike would've been through as many monsoons, kms et al.
Old is gold only when it is gold. Else its a lemon you've been sold

I would suggest a wind 125 from that time, or a glamor 125. decent bikes - decent engines, quite bulletproof and much newer too. Else a bullet, and renew as you go!

[kaushik_s]

I had a 2001 fiero and it was a nice bike. I loved driving it be it the highway or City. Has a nice pick up and very smooth & refined engine, atleast that's what I felt. One niggling problem I had with the bike was the rear tire used get punctured very often, but once I changed that to a wider Ceat tire I never had any problem. Also the bike became very stable even in case of hard braking after the tire change.
I did enjoyed that bike but i guess you can easily get one for cheaper then your budget.
Regards,
Kaushik

[santhosh_kumard]

Finding a good condition fiero (00,01) in market might be difficult and those who have one might not be ready to part with one.

I have a 2000 model fiero with Jap parts. Changed the tyres to MRF zapper and since then its riding like a dream. I am still using it in Bangalore traffic and its never let me down. Its suspension is a quite nice setup ( atleast mine ) and it inspires me such a confidence that when i did the same style driving in a pulsar (2004 model) i found myself skidding in the road.Even now with exception to pulsars and other 160+ cc bikes, i dont think any other 150 cc's come closer to the pick-up of fiero.

Overall you would be very fortunate if you find a good one. All the best for the search. My cousin has a fiero , but its not really in a good shape.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

I had a 2001 fiero and it was a nice bike. I loved driving it be it the highway or City. Has a nice pick up and very smooth & refined engine, atleast that's what I felt. One niggling problem I had with the bike was the rear tire used get punctured very often, but once I changed that to a wider Ceat tire I never had any problem. Also the bike became very stable even in case of hard braking after the tire change.
I did enjoyed that bike but i guess you can easily get one for cheaper then your budget.
Regards,
Kaushik

Hi,

I own a Fierro - May 2001 and it'a lovely bike.
Stable and responsive. Very reliable too.

And surprisingly, I also have this problem of rear tyre puncture a little often. This tip to switch over to wier tyre seems worth trying. What size do you recommend?

[flipsyde]

i would be looking for a newer bike with a 25k budget if i were you.

[croonneck]

thats there, i could go for a newer bike, but thats the maximum my dad is goin to give me is 25k for the bike :-)

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Hi,

I own a Fierro - May 2001 and it'a lovely bike.
Stable and responsive. Very reliable too.

And surprisingly, I also have this problem of rear tyre puncture a little often. This tip to switch over to wier tyre seems worth trying. What size do you recommend?

I'm not very sure now as it's almost 6 years now, but I remember telling the the shop owner to change it to that of CBZ's. I think it was one size plus. The tire dealer was initially bit apprehensive of the tire touching arc but there were no such issues.
Actually the SriChakra tires(am I right? my memory is deceiving me here) that used to come with the bike had similar issues. Two of my cousins had the same problem.
Regards,
Kaushik
OT: I still regret selling that bike.

[santhosh_kumard]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Hi,

I own a Fierro - May 2001 and it'a lovely bike.
Stable and responsive. Very reliable too.

And surprisingly, I also have this problem of rear tyre puncture a little often. This tip to switch over to wier tyre seems worth trying. What size do you recommend?

You can try using MRF Zapper which goes. You can ask with the Tyre-wala to put in zapper which will fit in the rear. The problem is not getting puncture, but because of the higher rear-weight the tube goes bust!. But after putting in the Zapper tyre i get less of those rear-wheel punctures. The front wheel just keeps going on-and-on-and-on-and-on.....

[santhosh_kumard]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

I'm not very sure now as it's almost 6 years now, but I remember telling the the shop owner to change it to that of CBZ's. I think it was one size plus. The tire dealer was initially bit apprehensive of the tire touching arc but there were no such issues.
Actually the SriChakra tires(am I right? my memory is deceiving me here) that used to come with the bike had similar issues. Two of my cousins had the same problem.
Regards,
Kaushik
OT: I still regret selling that bike.

Yes it was the company-owned SriChakra tyres which came in along! ARRRGGGGGHHH such a bad set of wheels for such an excellent machine.

[the_trooper]

Originally Posted by croonneck

hey guys,
i'm planning to buy a second hand bike(my 1st geared bike) in about 2 months time.
my budget is Rs 20-25 k and i live in mysore and bangalore.
my riding will be mainly in the city, probably about 50 kms a day for 3 days a week, and sometimes rides on weekend (mysore-bangalore which is 140 kms one way )
so i'm hoping for a mileage of at least 45-50.

i always liked the old fiero, the ones during 2001 and earlier. i 'd like the one with the suzuki badge.
can u guys think of any problems with that, regarding service and spares
because in that budget, i could probably get a pulsar 150 , 04' too.
else, could you also think of any other bike in that budget ?
thanks in advance, looking forward to the advice .

the first 'Jap' fieros were excellent bikes. I have one and it's worth every little bit inspite of looking plain, only four gears and no disc.

having said that, well used ones are hard to come by. If you are anyway considering the Pulsar 150, you might as well look for a Unicorn. Its one of the best bikes made in the country today, bar none.

[anandpadhye]

Santosh & Kaushik,

Thanks for the advice.

I will upgrade my rear tyre this week and update you on the ride quality.

Thanks.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Santosh & Kaushik,

Thanks for the advice.

I will upgrade my rear tyre this week and update you on the ride quality.

Thanks.

Welcome. I had few scary moments during hard braking few times as the rear tends to swerve with the original tires. But once I shifted to bigger tires the handling become much better and no swerving incase of hard braking( though I wouldn't advise anyone to try that ;-) ). And that's what I call "Ek goli mein do shikar"[ killing two birds with one stone ], puncture problem and handling problem, both became history after that.
Regards,
Kaushik

[BIKeINSTEIN]

Getting a used 4-stroke bike is a very bad idea unless you happen to pick one from a good friend/acquaintance whom you or any trustworthy person has known to be a careful/responsible user or teh seller happens to be an extremely responsible person/owner if you are lucky.

Maybe you can save some more and buy a new Platina which does manage 70kmpl easily if ridden easily- will save you quite a bit on monthly fuel expenses.
But then you have to forget about acceleration, overtaking, top speed.

The Fiero F1(if i may call it so) was an excellent machine but totally let down by its design/looks.
Inspite of having only 4 gears, it was quite free revving on open roads and even it's biggest rival, the CBZ, had a tough time catching up if it got away initially.
Decent power coupled with good ride comfort and acceptably ok fuel efficiency- the F1 was always on my list as a daily ride while thehighly prepped up shogun would have been kept aisde of weekends and intercity trips.

My friend had got one and we had fitted it with a round headlight and shogun turn lamps at both ends, making it quite a good looker.

Had a flighty front and soft rear suspension, both of which could be taken care of if invested in proper upgades.
A quick fix was to upgrade to the 90/90x18 Fiero F2 special rear tyre- the grip was significantly better too.

But it's quite a dated machine now.

n00b question- won't a used Unicorn in good condition fit into 25K??