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Old 27th January 2014, 12:39   #46
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

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Originally Posted by ebonho View Post
So this is not a segment of Indian biking I usually pay any attention to, and have thus very little current knowledge of, so what better place than to pick your brains here!

The rider: A 40-ish family man with 2 kids, whose not really a born again biker because he has kept (and rides) his 15+ year old college ride (Samurai), but uses it mainly to ferry kids here and there, evening joy rides in the city with wife and kid/s, going to get fruits/veggies/milk/eggs/groceries, odd jobs and errands, etc. Not an aggressive rider. Safe, slow, steady.

The need: To finally upgrade and get a modern family bike with better tyres, brakes, engine, chassis, handling, comfort, performance, fuel efficiency, the works.

Thanks!
My suggestion would be to go for Pulsar only. Its a very good bike for the money you pay. It has all things you need. Good brakes, wider tyres, very good engine, high reliability, good handling, good FE, comfort etc. I am not suggesting by others experience but by my own experience. I am using Pulsar 180 for last 6 years now. Done almost 50 K on that. I am happy to tell you that its 100% trouble free bike. Never let me down. Only parts i changed during this are - 2 times rear brake pads (with so much traffic and braking required in Pune), once front braking pad for disk brake (just changed 3 months back for the first time), battery after 5.5 years of trouble free service (i never kickstart my bike ), speedometer cable once changed after 4 years. These are all consumable items and not the bike issue. With regular service, bike is completely trouble free. I get FE around 40-45 in dense city traffic and 55 on highways. Not to mention its one of the fastest on the road. It zooms like anything. One more advantage for Pulsar is it has good resale value.

Don't worry, just buy Pulsar with eyes closed is my suggestion.
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Old 27th January 2014, 15:47   #47
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

Hi,
My two cents on the bikes shortlisted -

Honda CBUnicorn - Have been a proud owner of the 2006 model old gen Unicorn. Have ridden the bike in the city (Bangalore) ,highway runs and also up some lovely twisties (Madikeri-Coorg), bike always used to feel planted and the breaks (front disc) gave a whole new confidence in any situation. The 150cc mill used to be sure and butter smooth all through the 85k on the odo when i sold the bike for a RE500. The bike had all its service regularly done only in authorised Honda Service centres with one set of tyre change in its time for some extra grip rather than anything else. Mileage in the city consistently 52-55 kmpl and a stunning 60kmpl on the highway. The new gen bikes are better and have the same bombproof engine. Rider comfort pillion comfort and yes on top tank riding kids all happy. I suggest the bike with eyes shut.

Hero Impulse - Not worth spending money on this one.

Cheers
The BULK
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Old 27th January 2014, 16:05   #48
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

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Hi @Cardeep,

I still would like to know from the board what are the REAL LIFE mileage figures for the 4 final candidates please?
I used to drive consistently at 55-60kph, on average roads, and daily trips were 40 km in a single stretch, without any stops, and without pillion rider. So it can be said as an ideal situation for good mileage. And I never used to go much over the 5000rpm.

The Unicorn gave me mileage of 58-59 consistently under those conditions, till, around 35000-40000 km mark. Later it came down to 54, and it continued till around 60000 km. Later it came down to 49-51 range.

But one mistake I made was that engine decarbonisation was not done for 68000km. I don't know if it affects fuel efficiency much. Neither did I do any checking for the reason of this mileage drop. But these are actual mileages I used to get in my 2008 Unicorn (monitored regularly on reserve-reserve basis)
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Old 27th January 2014, 17:45   #49
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

Bro,
If I were in the market to pick up a family bike, there is no need to look beyond the Honda Unicorn. Yes it is outdated, we do have its successor as well. But you need to give it for the overall value as the package. Has the relevant performance, manageable looks, decent fuel efficiency, VFM when it comes to service/maintenance costs. Fantastic Gearbox overall to boot.

Good luck with your choice.
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Old 27th January 2014, 18:53   #50
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

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Bro,
If I were in the market to pick up a family bike, there is no need to look beyond the Honda Unicorn. Yes it is outdated, we do have its successor as well. But you need to give it for the overall value as the package. Has the relevant performance, manageable looks, decent fuel efficiency, VFM when it comes to service/maintenance costs. Fantastic Gearbox overall to boot.

Good luck with your choice.
+1

I have an affection to the Unicorn's from 2006 (which I had) as they were the best of the lot. Smooth engine + Silky gearbox + reliable fuel efficient motor.

I just can't forget the days with that bike and wish I get to own it again.

Now coming to the OP's query, it is a Honda Unicorn!

Anurag.
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Old 27th January 2014, 18:55   #51
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

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Originally Posted by ebonho View Post
So this is not a segment of Indian biking I usually pay any attention to, and have thus very little current knowledge of, so what better place than to pick your brains here!
.
.
.
Thanks!
It seems that your friend's usage pattern is similar to mine- Car as daily workhorse and Bike for short hops, joyrides. I was in a similar dilemma few months ago when my pulsar 220's fuel injection conked out (ended up converting to carb).

The only reason I did not consider Unicorn or GS150R is due to power factor-due to highway runs I do sometimes. If power is not an criteria,your friend cannot go wrong with either of these.
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Old 27th January 2014, 20:12   #52
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

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It seems that your friend's usage pattern is similar to mine- Car as daily workhorse and Bike for short hops, joyrides. I was in a similar dilemma few months ago when my pulsar 220's fuel injection conked out (ended up converting to carb).

The only reason I did not consider Unicorn or GS150R is due to power factor-due to highway runs I do sometimes. If power is not an criteria,your friend cannot go wrong with either of these.
The 'power' factor was the sole reason I traded the Unicorn for Karizma (way back in 2009). 13.5 PS was a bit too low when the competition was talking 17 PS IIRC.

Wish Honda had bumped the power in level of competition and I am sure the engine + chassis can handle the extra power but Honda did do so

Anurag.
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Old 27th January 2014, 20:59   #53
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

And just to add one point, I don't think the Suzuki GS150R is a successful product after all(at least in India). If we check the volumes it is selling in ever since it was launched[even though it had the advantage of having one extra gear than its competitors at that time], it is very much obvious that it was having hard times. I cannot comment more on the bike because I haven't used it yet. But anyway I'm not seeing many on the roads.
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Old 28th January 2014, 12:52   #54
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

Well, I am completely against the concept of a "Family Bike", especially riding with kid sitting on the tank or anywhere in front of rider. This is completely unsafe with the condition of roads in the country.

No offense meant - If your relative has a car, he should drive it or use public transport or autos/cab if parking is a challenge. We have no right to play with the lives of innocent family members for our passion of driving a bike.
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Old 28th January 2014, 13:26   #55
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

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A bike and a car are not the same thing, and a kid who likes to sit on a bike, has fun sitting on a bike, is not going to feel the same in a car. And I have clarified earlier that this is a LIFESTYLE PURCHASE decision - i.e. the gentleman already has a car, and wants a bike because it is a bike, NOT because he needs a family transport vehicle.
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Originally Posted by pahwa View Post
Well, I am completely against the concept of a "Family Bike", especially riding with kid sitting on the tank or anywhere in front of rider. This is completely unsafe with the condition of roads in the country.

No offense meant - If your relative has a car, he should drive it or use public transport or autos/cab if parking is a challenge. We have no right to play with the lives of innocent family members for our passion of driving a bike.
This has been clarified above in the previous page by ebonho. Also if you know kids, they just cannot be pacified and will want to have their way whether you consider it unsafe or not. Having a 2.5 year old myself, i know how difficult it is to convince him to sit with his mom at the back. So lets stick to suggesting and helping the OP rather question the safety aspect since he has already clarified that this is a lifestyle purchase and both the OP & his relative for whom this bike is meant for are aware of the dangers of kids sitting in the front of a bike!

Last edited by abhinav.s : 28th January 2014 at 13:28.
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Old 28th January 2014, 22:44   #56
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

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This has been clarified above in the previous page by ebonho. Also if you know kids, they just cannot be pacified and will want to have their way whether you consider it unsafe or not. Having a 2.5 year old myself, i know how difficult it is to convince him to sit with his mom at the back. So lets stick to suggesting and helping the OP rather question the safety aspect since he has already clarified that this is a lifestyle purchase and both the OP & his relative for whom this bike is meant for are aware of the dangers of kids sitting in the front of a bike!
Abhinav! My apologies I might be inviting an infraction here. However, I firmly believe that Team-BHP is a community that promotes road safety. Riding with kid on bike tank is outright criminal to me. The rider may be 100% confident of his skills and safety, but our roads have enough untrained and unprofessional drivers. Even a nudge of a speeding truck can be fatal for driver/pillion and a tank rider.

If someone can afford buying a car, they must avoid riding on a bike infact should never indulge in riding kids on fuel tank. Have personally been witness to fatal accident that involved an innocent family on a city ride in a small town getting run-over by a speeding truck, for no mistake of theirs.

Well, I too have an year old kid and I understand how adamant kids can be at times. As parents however, our first concern should be about their safety and not the dose of fun.
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Old 28th January 2014, 23:37   #57
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

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This has been clarified above in the previous page by ebonho.
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However, I firmly believe that Team-BHP is a community that promotes road safety.
We are going OT. Lets get the discussion to what bike can be suggested than battling on the safety issues here.

No offence to both of you.

Anurag.
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Old 29th January 2014, 18:53   #58
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If someone can afford buying a car, they must avoid riding on a bike infact should never indulge in riding kids on fuel tank.

Sorry I must disagree to your logic that having a car you should avoid a bike. Bike gives you a sense of freedom and teaches you things that a car just cant.
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Old 29th January 2014, 22:39   #59
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Sorry I must disagree to your logic that having a car you should avoid a bike. Bike gives you a sense of freedom and teaches you things that a car just cant.
I am sorry but you have read half of the post that you have quoted and put in your reply.

He meant that riding with the family together on a bike if you can afford a car is a risky affair moreover with small children sitting on the fuel tank which is equally risky.

Riding solo, I agree that the bikewill be full freedom and can go places where a car can't but that freedom can be kept aside when family comes into picture.

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Originally Posted by pahwa View Post
If someone can afford buying a car, they must avoid riding on a bike infact should never indulge in riding kids on fuel tank.
Anurag.

Last edited by a4anurag : 29th January 2014 at 22:45.
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Old 30th January 2014, 15:23   #60
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Re: Best "Family Bike" in the 70-80K range?

Guys please. I think the previous pages enough explanations have been given at the altar of political correctness and forum rules. Either way, I thank those with valuable suggestions who have helped us narrow down our search to (in ordr of preference):

Honda Unicorn (or Trigger)

Suzuk GS150R

Hero Impulse (if the bike suits their needs)

Slightly lower down (around 10K and 1+ bhp) would be the

Yamaha SZ-S and SZ-R (if they want to check out just so that they are convinced they did not miss anything)

The thread has served its purpose and I would request memebers to let the adminsitration make the decision about whether its needed in the archives or not. Lets not unnecessarily make this into a general safety/advice/social correctness thread. I assure you, we are all extremely safety conscious riders/drivers here on Team BHP, with years of experience hard won on the road (and not on the net), and are as socially conscious or law abiding as any other citizen.

Your advice and/or protestations are well taken though. Thanks.
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