[Asish_VK]

What went wrong? Well, Everything. When Hero (Honda) started fiddling with things, everything went wrong

Right from CBZ to Extreme, Splendour to God knows how many, Passion to whatever they are now and the Karizma.

Such a sad news, I think almost all of us grew up dreaming owning a Karizma one day . Capable tourer, Good looks, Smooth engine, It was the best of that time.

I wonder who the hell designed these hideous designs to a flagship model, Fire him, and just rerelease the old Karizma R. Ohh wait, first fire the approver of these designs. He is out of his mind.

[PrideRed]

The old Karizma was a style statement. It looked fab, had powerful engine by standards then. It was extremely reliable and provided superb comfort.
The current Karizma duo carried most of old gen's credentials however lost in terms of looks and did have enough steam to fight out the KTM's,Ninja's and even current Pulsar. They are clearly a generation or two older.
The engine is weak by current standards, looks are awful and does not offer anything special.

[satrikon_454]

Remotely relevant, but they seem to be doing what Mitsubishi did to the Pajero. Kill your flagship car/bike and focus on the other models. ZMR was a disaster. I'm assuming half it's owners bought the bike just to get associated with the iconic brand; to own the legendary Karizma. Alas, utter flop!

Wish to see it again in it's old avatar.

[payeng]

Not sure how much the news is accuratte.. but it (discontinuation) is not unlikely.


The slide for the Karizma started started with the full faired "Hayabusa" wannabe ZMR. Though mechanically the ZMR seemed to be as much of a gem as the original Karizma.. the process of killing the brand had started.


The 2014 Karizma Duo received a lot of flak for its looks and also reviews of its crude engine were not too flattering either. There were many options for people now plus Bajaj has also refined its Pulsar 220 (the direct competitor to the Karizma).

[globemaster]

This is exactly what happens if you don't change and improvise with times. Whats a best seller today wont last long if you don't continuously improve. Hero on the contrary destroyed the charisma of the Karizma by first coming out with the ZMR model (looked too bulky without actual brawl) and then that hideous contraption. I mean just look at that! The new Karizma is a total eyesore.

On a lighter note: I think Hero wanted to kill the model anyways, but were not able to because of the good demand from customers. So they decided to first destroy the demand so that it became easy to kill the model.

[Vinodh_Gowda]

What went wrong...!!! Does Hero Moto Corp need this forum to let them know what went wrong or what exactly was done wrong by them. Are they so very dumb that they cannot figure this simple thing out? If they are, then good that the Karizma is dead (for now atleast). Good that the painful journey for the brand came to an end instead of having another variant with an even more pathetic design change. But still I wish to put some things into perspective for Hero's sake.

1. Looks : The Karizma was a handsome looking bike and would still turn heads especially in Red and Yellow. The styling elements was spot on, be it the sexy silencer or the half fairing or the stance in total. The ZMR, the less spoken about the looks the better. The handle bar and the rest of the body seem to signify that they have bene vorrowed from different motorcycles. The rear styling was just 'yuck'. The front was too bulky. For me, it looked like that individual who goes to the gym and does only chest workout and forgot about his legs.

2. Quality: Quality of plastics was good on the first iteration. The bike felt and was indeed well put together. ZMR, again less spoken the better. The tail-light assembly was prone to vibrations and are known to come off. The quality of the plastics on the fairing as well wasn't upto the mark compared to the competition. I own two Pulsars (2005 150 DTS-i and 2015 200NS) and to be frank the initial Karizma beats the Pulsars for quality and ZMR was a disappointment in this regard.

3. Reliability: As far as the niggles reported, the ZMR seemed to fair poorly in this regard as well. Karizma was an expensive proposition to maintain (for a college goer i.e.,) but then the pleasure it gave was just awesome. But then constant niggles in the ZMR weren't doing it anything better.

4. Product Update timing: The brand never received timely update and as a result lagged behind the competition. Update doesn't mean sticker jobs and ugly fairing though.

As per the opinions from few forum member above, I am not in agreement that the engine was a sore point. The power was more than adequate even by today's standard. Frankly for a tourer bike which the Karizma truly was, what matters is the way the power is delivered and this iconic bike did that in a relaxed and linear way never letting it's rider feel stressed out. My current main ride i.e., 200NS delivers it's power in a rather hurried way which though good on short bursts isn't exactly the way I want it for longer rides. The sound from the silencer though muted by RX standards was a soothing music for few ears like mine. The seating position was bang on and I prefer those to the ones on current bikes.

[rav11stars]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Here's my 2004 Karizma, still running strong even after nearly 12 years.

Attachment 1452348

Attachment 1452349

Originally Posted by mayank0782

Tribute : Mine and friend's Red ZMAs !! I am not going to let it go ever !!

These are the Karizmas. The current one is just, well, can't find words May the Karizma RIP while the originals continue to thrive and become part of connoisseur's collections.
Not wanting to upload the same pic again, here's my love in this link :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...et-beyond.html

[Divya Sharan]

Originally Posted by Vinodh_Gowda

1. Looks : The ZMR, the less spoken about the looks the better.

Completely agree to this!

Originally Posted by Vinodh_Gowda

2. Quality: Quality of plastics was good on the first iteration. The bike felt and was indeed well put together. ZMR, again less spoken the better. The tail-light assembly was prone to vibrations and are known to come off. The quality of the plastics on the fairing as well wasn't upto the mark compared to the competition. I own two Pulsars (2005 150 DTS-i and 2015 200NS) and to be frank the initial Karizma beats the Pulsars for quality and ZMR was a disappointment in this regard.

Absolutely false! ZMR has better plastic and especially the design around joints. I have had 2 major falls which lead to broken bones. The fairing is intact! Not a single part was changed!

Originally Posted by Vinodh_Gowda

3. Reliability: As far as the niggles reported, the ZMR seemed to fair poorly in this regard as well. Karizma was an expensive proposition to maintain (for a college goer i.e.,) but then the pleasure it gave was just awesome. But then constant niggles in the ZMR weren't doing it anything better.

I guess you're stuck in 2009. Initial ZMR had fuel pump issues. I got mine in 2011 and I'm close to 84000 km now. No out of the world issues. Just regular consumables.
In fact, I get ~50 kmpl on a full tank and a range of almost 600 km in a tankful while cruising at 70-75 kmph on highways.
I doubt you ever owned a ZMA/ZMR and most of your facts are hearsay.

Originally Posted by Vinodh_Gowda

4. Product Update timing: The brand never received timely update and as a result lagged behind the competition. Update doesn't mean sticker jobs and ugly fairing though.

Absolutely agree. Sticker jobs killed the brand. ZMR version 1 should have come with an updated engine and not just with the FI unit.

[landcruiser123]

Well, Hero had to pull the plug on this one as they didn't do their work.
KTM, Bajaj have just taken the 200+ cc bike category by storm, whereas the Karizma just received minor engine updates and more aesthetic changes.
I say minor changes to the engine as there hasn't been any significant bump in power/torque figures.
Hope hero hasn't resigned to making Splendors and Maestros. I want to see them having something up their sleeve.

[captain.torque]

This makes me sad and nostalgic. Karizma was the first ever bike I owned. It was my dream ride back in 2003.

The exact date was September 5, 2003 and it was a Friday when the Hero Honda, the most expensive and beautiful Indian bike of that time came home.

It was trendsetter of sorts as it was the first Indian made bike to have alloy wheels, a digital meter for fuel along with a clock, self-start etc.

The black beauty—DL 9 SJ 8935 changed my life literally.

This may sound like a tele-commercial where the protagonist utters the cliched lines, "Main pehle bohot pareshan tha but jabse meri zindagi me (product name) aaya meri zindagi badal gayi."

But it rings absolutely true in my case. Before I got the bike, I was an introvert person with a limited friend circle.

After Karizma, I came in contact with a school mate who lived near my place and he too had got a new bike (Bajaj Caliber Chroma) and luckily he had a huge group of biker friends. And almost overnight, I was a part of the group as well and everybody drooled over my Karizma.

The craze for the Karizma was immense back then and in my whole locality that has over 100 blocks, mine was the third Karizma and the FIRST black Karizma with the Golden Silencer (two others being Red and Silver).

I have so many memories that actually my eyes are getting moist as I write this.

I went on my first ever date on my Zma. The feeling when the girl I loved sat behind and held on to me... can't be explained in words. Years later when she broke up, I met her one last time on my Zma.

The night-outs with friends, sneaking out for a plate of rajma-chawal in Connaught Place while the parents were asleep, the envious looks I received from the owners of Pulsars and CBZs. I could give my everything to get those days back.

Alas! this journey called life goes on.

[Vinodh_Gowda]

Originally Posted by Divya Sharan

Completely agree to this!

Absolutely false! ZMR has better plastic and especially the design around joints. I have had 2 major falls which lead to broken bones. The fairing is intact! Not a single part was changed!

I guess you're stuck in 2009. Initial ZMR had fuel pump issues. I got mine in 2011 and I'm close to 84000 km now. No out of the world issues. Just regular consumables.

In fact, I get ~50 kmpl on a full tank and a range of almost 600 km in a tankful while cruising at 70-75 kmph on highways.

I doubt you ever owned a ZMA/ZMR and most of your facts are hearsay.

Thanks for the agreements and disagreements on my points. You're bang on when you guess about me not owning the Karizma. During my college, my family could afford a Pulsar 150 only and also my monthly pocket money couldn't support a Karizma. However it truly was the bike I would have loved to own. Come 2015 February, money wasn't a concern and also heard from the only friend who had owned the ZMR about how comfortable the seats are and also the power delivery but then I just couldn't digest the looks so went ahead with the Pulsar 200NS. I do believe that beauty less skin deep but then I cannot see my ALWAYS-WANTED-TO-OWN ride designed liked that as an upgrade.

With respect to the maintenance, I meant the parts price and other regular things excluding mileage as I believed and still believe that talking about mileage for this segment of bikes is downright silly and offensive.

The friend of mine quoted about owned a Karizma during my college days and boy did I always try finding a reason to ride it. Touring on that was both relaxing and enjoyable. He sold the same and got himself a ZMR. He had to contend with vibrations, front mudguard breakage, taillight assembly and also fairing rattles. Might be an isolated incident but then the ride was never the same.

With all due respect am sorry if I have been harsh on your ride. Lastly, Good to know that your safe and sound with all bones intact. Wish you many more happy and safe miles on it but then above comments were my personal opinions as a Karizma fanboy.

[Divya Sharan]

Originally Posted by Vinodh_Gowda

With all due respect am sorry if I have been harsh on your ride. Lastly, Good to know that your safe and sound with all bones intact. Wish you many more happy and safe miles on it but then above comments were my personal opinions as a Karizma fanboy.

Nothing to be sorry about mate! Different people do have different perceptions and experiences. I only objected to pointers which seemed generalized to me. The ugly fairing weighs almost 10 kg. It is sturdy. (I have 3 different cases to bank upon.)

Maybe as you said, it might have been an isolated case with your friend.
Anyways, its sad to see the brand die. I only hope they revive it if they have the artillery for the same.

[Vinodh_Gowda]

Originally Posted by Divya Sharan

Nothing to be sorry about mate! Different people do have different perceptions and experiences. I only objected to pointers which seemed generalized to me. The ugly fairing weighs almost 10 kg. It is sturdy. (I have 3 different cases to bank upon.)

Maybe as you said, it might have been an isolated case with your friend.
Anyways, its sad to see the brand die. I only hope they revive it if they have the artillery for the same.

Share the same conclusion. Coming to the quality aspect, isolated case, may be-might not be as well. I did check the Karizma ZMR before my purchase this year as well. No test ride vehicle as such due to low demand but was allowed to ride a customer's bike which was promptly declined as I wouldn't want my ride to be used that way. The bikes had come for servicing and with not much on the odo they did show signs of aging too soon. However let's put this to rest as you the owner and me the not so fortunate want the brand to get back its past glory. Cheers for that and fibers crossed for a Phoenix type revival of the Karizma.

Off-Topic: You're one of the moderators on xBHP right? Also you were a nominee for the Biker of the year there. And if my memory serves right you had one of your above bone crunching mishap during your solo trip. Been long since I went through the bike travelogues there. Currently searching for the same on xBHP

[anand.shankar]

I used to ride a Yellow 2006 Model ZMA. I am happy they killed it now, the new ZMA probably is the ugliest bike we have ever seen on Indian Soil along with the ZMR! Its sad that such a legendary bike had to die such a shameful death.

Hero still seems to be rolling on with umpteen variations of the 100CC Honda motors, fortunately for them, the Rural and 1st Level commuter segment trusts that motor, even more for the 'Splendor' brand name. Impulse was the only product that deserved some respect. It would have done well if it had come with the 225CC Motor, but does Hero care ?

Just adding, the Plastic quality of the older ZMAs where not all that great, almost all the joints and the mounts gave away. Comparatively the P220 that succeeded the ZMA was rock solid, not a single panel replaced till it was sold at abt ~50K kms. Also, spares were quite expensive at that point in time.

[NiInJa]

I was in the market for new bike in early 2013 and the Karizma was still a strong contender, 9 years after the bike was launched, such was her appeal !

All Hero had to do is give the bike a set of clip-on handlebars, optional disc brakes and maybe tweak the engine power figures and the bike would have stayed in competition for some more years. What Hero did with the product and that brand was hopeless to say the least.