[vroom77]

Have been contemplating to buy a bike for a while. Ex bulletier for 8 years and sold an year back. The need for a bike for some quick getting around has come up has a requirement.

Needs:

1. Has to be sub 1 lac tag.
2. Quick low to midrange
3. A good refined engine
4. Occasional touring - Once a month around 300kms one side.
5. No bajaj ( no offense to the gazillion pulsars running strong)
6. Looks do matter.

So after a test ride I have shortlisted Yamaha Fazer.

1. Liked R15 styling for 40k less.
2. Refined ?? and stylish
3. FZ facelift so most of the things applicable to FZ except for few kgs more with reduced pick up and mileage probably
4. Tagged a tourer so might fit my requirement.
5. Liked white color and red

Low mileage and pick up is what is mentioned in many ownership threads and saw one guy today who owned a FZS and without asking he told us never buy its a waste. That was a bit shocking to hear after having made up my mind to buy Fazer.

What do you all think ? Fazer or no Fazer ? Should I pick up anything else. If style is not an issue

Handling, Power, reliability, refinement - What do you suggest an equivalent to Fazer ? Suzuki GS150 & R15 & Fazer. Would have been very happy with GS150 + styling of R15 . 50+km mileage, good tech and reasonably good build quality overall.

Your help and opinions are very much appreciated.

[junaid12345678]

If you consider handling and power as your criteria, then you can go for the FZ or the Fazer as the CBR150, R15 and Karizma ZMR doesn't fit into your budget and between the two, there is not much difference except the look and design.
And if you consider the reliability and engine refinement, then nothing beats the GS150 from the Suzuki stable which has a slight edge over CBZ xtreme/Hunk/Unicorn. And considering the after sale service of the Suzuki, bikes from Hero would be the best for you. I own a CBZ xtreme with 45000 kms on the odo and it still feels like new.

[pganapathy]

Originally Posted by vroom77

1. Has to be sub 1 lac tag.
2. Quick low to midrange
3. A good refined engine
4. Occasional touring - Once a month around 300kms one side.
5. No bajaj ( no offense to the gazillion pulsars running strong)
6.
Your help and opinions are very much appreciated.

Have you considered the Honda range of bikes. The unicorn is old, sure, but still a pretty decent all round bike. Am pretty happy with my hero Honda achiever, the hero Honda version of this, barring the mono shock. It fulfills all your requirements pretty well.

[vroom77]

Originally Posted by junaid12345678

If you consider handling and power as your criteria, then you can go for the FZ or the Fazer as the CBR150, R15 and Karizma ZMR doesn't fit into your budget and between the two, there is not much difference except the look and design.
And if you consider the reliability and engine refinement, then nothing beats the GS150 from the Suzuki stable which has a slight edge over CBZ xtreme/Hunk/Unicorn. And considering the after sale service of the Suzuki, bikes from Hero would be the best for you. I own a CBZ xtreme with 45000 kms on the odo and it still feels like new.

With Honda my choice was CBR-150 with the only detterent being 1.5L onroad. Heard about the new trigger but its not yet launched in Bangalore. Been to their showroom and to be frank didn't like the way they look.

I had almost made up my mind with Fazer. Then the staunch remark that its very under powered is what pulled me back. Again, read somewhere that an underpowered bike will quickly bore you

ZMR is a choice and I dont mind if it can offer much better of everything and cover up the inadequacies of Fazer. Isnt it true that its a bit low on the reliability & handling side when compared to Fazer. Yes its got more power and for touring its the best bet.

Fazer purely street use and may be 10% touring. For me the use is mostly local with occassional, once in a month, long rides.

GS150 I liked in all depts except for its looks. Thanks for your comments.

[Octane_Power]

vroom77, I would give you two suggestions.

Go for the Unicorn, you won't regret this decision. I being a Honda owner can vouch for this. The butter smooth slickness of the gear shifts and the silent engine will bring smile to your face every time you ride it.
OR else, I know there won't be many suggesting this but you can consider the Karizma R. It fits in your budget, has a big bike feel, has 80 cc extra than the Unicorn, and the 17 BHP motor won't be too hard on the pocket as well. It is tuned for a good fuel efficiency.

See, these both bikes which I have mentioned have proved themselves against the test of time. Both are real good machines.

No such fancy frills like dual discs or stuff but both are very competent and I believe your 300 kms journey will be quite comfortable on these.

You must take a test ride of both these bikes, have the feel of the power delivery, riding comfort(monoshock vs the normal setup), ride height, posture and then you can consider one. My friend has a GS150r, its an impeccable bike too. If going between Unicorn and the GS then again you can go for any 1 of them(just by doing eenie meenie mynie moe), I have ridden both and the GS is very similar in feel to the Unicorn. His GS does a daily run of around 130+ kms and it serves well.

But I think if you will be doing that occasional trip of 300 kms then the extra 80 cc and 4 BHP on the Karizma will be quite handy

Do let us know what you decide further

-Bhargav

[zwift1819]

Originally Posted by vroom77

With Honda my choice was CBR-150 with the only detterent being 1.5L onroad. Heard about the new trigger but its not yet launched in Bangalore. Been to their showroom and to be frank didn't like the way they look.

I had almost made up my mind with Fazer. Then the staunch remark that its very under powered is what pulled me back. Again, read somewhere that an underpowered bike will quickly bore you

ZMR is a choice and I dont mind if it can offer much better of everything and cover up the inadequacies of Fazer. Isnt it true that its a bit low on the reliability & handling side when compared to Fazer. Yes its got more power and for touring its the best bet.

Fazer purely street use and may be 10% touring. For me the use is mostly local with occassional, once in a month, long rides.

GS150 I liked in all depts except for its looks. Thanks for your comments.

My experience with the Fazer which I owned for 2 years in chennai was in traffic when you ride the bike it takes a toll on your fingers and wrist as I find the steering to be quite heavy to maneuver in city traffic. you cannot be riding it continuously in city traffic. It's for more like shorter commutes. I found it to be a perfect 150cc bike and did its job well. Of course being termed as a tourer you cannot expect it to have the power of a 200cc engine! It's ok for city conditions. Maybe after riding a bullet this should fit you well as it looks and feels a bit hefty when compared to other 150cc bikes.

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

OR else, I know there won't be many suggesting this but you can consider the Karizma R. It fits in your budget, has a big bike feel, has 80 cc extra than the Unicorn, and the 17 BHP motor won't be too hard on the pocket as well. It is tuned for a good fuel efficiency.

+1 From what I read of the requirements Karizma fits perfectly. Only thing that goes against is that its an old Model but that also means that its a proven one.

Pretty good Torque for low & mid range, can do touring without batting an eyelid. Easy to maneuver due to light steering. Mileage I am not too sure but over the years they have tuned the ZMA for better mileage & the last known model(to me) was easily giving 45+

The ZMA has a very comfortable riding posture too.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by vroom77

Handling, Power, reliability, refinement - What do you suggest an equivalent to Fazer ? Suzuki GS150 & R15 & Fazer. Would have been very happy with GS150 + styling of R15 . 50+km mileage, good tech and reasonably good build quality overall.

Hi!

I am surprised to see so much of negative vibe about the FZ/Fazer. Its the sweetest handling bike under 1L. Doesn't really feel underpowered, infact it will not disappear nor let others (150cc air-cooled, stock, 4 stroke Motorcycles) disappear. It is as fast or as slow as the rest.

The braking is awesome. I have personally used both the FZ & Fazer & I still can't believe as to why there is a difference in the fuel economy by as much as 5kmpl (the fairing isn't causing that) between both.

I personally would consider a Karizma or a ZMR sans the wannabe Hayabusa plastic on an air-cooled Motorcycle. (If one is not buying the FZ/Fazer)

Or shop around for a used CBR-250R?

[vroom77]

Originally Posted by zwift1819

My experience with the Fazer which I owned for 2 years in chennai was in traffic when you ride the bike it takes a toll on your fingers and wrist as I find the steering to be quite heavy to maneuver in city traffic. you cannot be riding it continuously in city traffic. It's for more like shorter commutes. I found it to be a perfect 150cc bike and did its job well. Of course being termed as a tourer you cannot expect it to have the power of a 200cc engine! It's ok for city conditions. Maybe after riding a bullet this should fit you well as it looks and feels a bit hefty when compared to other 150cc bikes.

Is the riding position too different from FZS/16 ?

Coming from a RE bg, I felt Fazer to be pretty nimble and nice to ride. Same with GS150 too. Karizma to me has a big bike feeling and I doubt whether I would enjoy riding the bulk. Wanted to TR Karizma but dealers are not offering it.

As I wrote in the start of the thread, I had made up my mind almost for Fazer, then came the strong response of under power. For power you need power, engine capacity.

But is Fazer class leading ? Are there any other machines producing more than Fazer at 150c, we could safely exclude Pulsars here ? Would it be too bad on long trips ? I don't plan to ride above 100.

For all who helped me so far,

1. Will do a TR of Honda Unicorn
2. GS 150 already done - Liked all in all depts - Av+ design.
3. Fazer done - Liked overall + A+ Design - TD was in busy traffic lane so not more than 40kays
3. Apache RTR ABS version - Not yet
4. Karizma ZMR (not sure whether I can get it though). Thinking a bit on Hero service / reliability / service cost. I am sure it would be way better than RE in all the depts.

[vroom77]

After hearing everyone,

Looks, Reliability, Brand, Handling + Saftey, Price, Mo/Bi-Mo Trips, I am going for the Fazer leaving Karizma R. ZMR was over my budget anyways.

Fazer vs Karizma was a tough call, but handling of Fazer vs 3bhp extra power & the fact that I dont want to ride above 100 kays .. is making me inclined towards Fazer. and lastly its a Yamaha - brand image to a certain degree rules. I hope it will do better in the resale dept too with a Yamaha.

What do you all think ?

[Technocrat]

At the end its your call & both are good bikes, you cant go wrong with either of them

Only thing is I am not sure if Fazer handles better than ZMA, yes the broader tires does give you better grip & riding dynamics but the handling capabilities of ZMA are top notch & one of the best out there.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by vroom77

1. Has to be sub 1 lac tag

P200NS, ZMA, Unicorn, FZ & may be P220

Originally Posted by vroom77

2. Quick low to midrange

P200NS, ZMA, Unicorn, FZ

Originally Posted by vroom77

3. A good refined engine

ZMA, Unicorn; not sure about FZ & no offense to P200NS

Originally Posted by vroom77

4. Occasional touring - Once a month around 300kms one side

P200NS, ZMA are better than others, not that the others are incapable

Originally Posted by vroom77

5. No bajaj ( no offense to the gazillion pulsars running strong)

Ok, but keep in mind, P200NS is from KTM

Originally Posted by vroom77

6. Looks do matter

Since they're subjective, I'm not touching any of them

Combining all of them above, I see ZMA topping the chart

But remember, Rx100 also does 100 & CBR 250R also does 100, what matters more is, how soon you reach there & how long can you stay at 100. Though 3 Bhp is negligible, the stroke & torque matters more.

But again, if you're having budget constraint, yes, FZ is your best bet. FE wise, I believe ZMA equals or exceeds FZ

[junaid12345678]

Originally Posted by vroom77

After hearing everyone,

Looks, Reliability, Brand, Handling + Saftey, Price, Mo/Bi-Mo Trips, I am going for the Fazer leaving Karizma R. ZMR was over my budget anyways.

Fazer vs Karizma was a tough call, but handling of Fazer vs 3bhp extra power & the fact that I dont want to ride above 100 kays .. is making me inclined towards Fazer. and lastly its a Yamaha - brand image to a certain degree rules. I hope it will do better in the resale dept too with a Yamaha.

What do you all think ?

We just can't compare the ZMR with the Fazer as both are having world of difference between each other. FZ is just a street bike only suitable for city rides but doing 300 km ride on Fazer gives you the worst experience you would ever have from a motorcycle. The seats and suspension are not at all comfortable in Fazer and doing long rides will kill your back. And on the handling side Fazer is well chuckable within the city but lacks that stability at highway speeds.And going for the reliability and brand image, I don't think Yamaha is better as you can't buy today's Yamaha keeping in mind the reliability of our old RX series or crux.
But ZMR on the other hand is doing fine on every aspect. Reliability is not an issue with ZMR as its from our own Hero Motocorp. ZMR is good in the city but its a superb long distance tourer in its class with comfortable seats, butter smooth engine with nicely tuned suspension, rider friendly seating position etc. Believe me, ZMR is one of the best handling bikes, high speed cornering is great fun combined with exceptional straight line stability. Its more confidence aspiring than the Fazer plus broader tire doesn't create a better handler. But what I liked the most in ZMR is the superb delivery of torque across all rev ranges unlike the FZ which has good low and mid but everything phases out when it go a bit further. So the ZMR, all over is much better bike to go for.

Ride safe.

[pganapathy]

Look at it like this. The yamaha will be better in town because it is a lighter and smaller bike. Much easier to handle in traffic.

The ZMR will be better on the highway because it has a bit more power/torque, is slightly heavier so more stable bit these very same characteristics make it harder and more painful in heavy traffic.

Depends on what you need it more for and if you are willing to do the trade off.

The most important thing I will suggest is do a long test ride. In any short ride you cannot really tell how comfortable or uncomfortable the seat or riding position is

[ashis89]

Considering your requirements and your budget, ZMA(old R series) makes the most sense. It has enough grunt in the low end, is comfortable and wonderful highway cruiser(many will vouch for it), has decent FE and importantly, it falls in your budget. TR it properly before taking a decision. IMO, ZMA should be sufficient to ignore the ZMR.


PS: I have the same requirements as yours. I am 6ft tall and own a '12 P180. Apart from the daily office run, I have taken it on several long rides and am happy with it. May be you could try the P200NS/P220 if you are willing.