[aniketi]

To start with, I recently crossed 40 (Age) mark. It’s just a number though as my wife & friends say I always act & behave like kid, lol. Now I can safely say that I am settled in life from family point of view as well as from financial point of view. Couple of years back I closed my home loan, so I have some handy cash lying in my bank account. Please don’t tell others, specially my wife!

So basically I am a born biker and being from Pune, which is city of 2 wheelers’ mostly (which is changing very fast now, sadly) I always love biking since my childhood. I had Bajaj Caliber for 10 years which I drove for more than a Lac kms. Currently I own Bajaj Pulsar 180 for last 11+ years, which has completed more than 60K Kms approximately, I don’t correctly remember also frankly. Bike is still in very good condition and has no issues at all. Starts at first button click & runs very well. When I was in US for couple of months for couple of times, it was lying unused and still never gave me any issues. Used to get start in second or third kick. I am happy with bike? Yes, absolutely, I will give her 9 out of 10 marks. No complaints at all. Shock absorber should have been little better, that’s the main issue I had with her, rest all good. Looks cool, sufficient power for city & highways, enough average & can carry 3 (me, wife & my 10 year old daughter or 6 year old son) easily.

All was going well, till I saw Jawa Showroom in Ahmednagar. It’s my wife’s town & I usually go there once in 2 months. Saw showroom couple of times & in November finally visited it for first time. I was greeted by Jawa 42 in green color & I fall in love with her beauty instantly. Looks really cool and has good mixture of retro & modern looks IMHO. Took test drive & found satisfactory. On road price is 1.9 L. Finish of the bike is mostly fine & quality found to be better than my Pulsar or other Honda, Yamaha, TVS bikes. Checked Jawa also, but didn’t like it much due to excessive use of Chrome, looks very gowdy. Delivery period they quoted was 3 months. Had a discussion with wife and she said NO! As per her it’s a dead investment and I don’t use bike much except on weekends for nearby locations or some pleasure rides in evening or night. I ignored her & saw some reviews online. Most of the reviews are positive & nothing much on negative side. I was keen to book one now.

Meanwhile I came back to Pune, boring routine started again. Now I go to office by Cab daily & I started to look for Jawa’s on road. Spotting Jawa on road is very difficult for now as very few are available on road. Saw one Jawa 42 but found it has less road presence, which is little disappointing. Nowadays here in Pune, you can easily find Bullets every corner of the road. It still commands good road presence, specially the classics in Khaki color. I still love it & it's my dream since long.

Couple of weeks later, one Sunday morning, met old friends on Deccan for breakfast. One of them had recently bought RE Interceptor. Looked ok to me when I saw it for the first time in person, it was orange in color. Not very attractive to be very honest. Friend told me to try it & be careful as it pulls like anything. Now my friend is like that only from childhood & I knew he is doing it deliberately to scare me. So I started the ride and went for small distance. It was little crowded & I could give some accelerator. Boy! It’s a mean machine and it really pulls like anything I rode till now in my life. It has tremendous acceleration in second and third gear & power really kicks in which is simply great and very addictive. I completed the ride and fall in love with it. It has wow factor for sure but looks are little disappointing.

Now I am thinking of buying one for myself, going against the tide (my wife). But I am very confused now. Current options shortlisted are –

1 Jawa 42 – Looks great and has everything acceptable including price & ride, but lacks presence on road, punchy ride, service is unknown too.
2 Bullet 350 in Khaki – Looks cool, tremendous road presence, other things are acceptable, very common now in Pune which is a downer, handling for daily commute is still not that great.
3 RE Interceptor – Tremendous pull, ride is really very enjoyable & powerful, looks are not that good so less road presence, little costly, low average.

Now I am really confused which one to buy. My primary needs are –

1 Look wise it should be good only – Must Have, should have some road presence and should get some proud owner type feeling as well. Lol, I am silly!
2 Handling should be good.
3 Less maintenance (not cost wise) is key for me, don’t like to visit garage every now & then for small small issues.
4 Budget around 3 lacs, can extend little bit as well.
5 Should be able to carry 3 people occasionally in city for small distance. Not a must have but, can live without it.
6 Suspension should be good as I am no more in my young days.
7 Should Not have starting trouble, I simply hate if bike don’t start in morning on first crank. That’s why I hate Honda bikes.
8 Running would be 5-7K per year. Mostly used as a pleasure bike on weekends. Thinking of starting small rides of 100-200 Kms to nearby places like Konkan as I used to do 10-15 years back.

Which bike from above 3 options will be best suited for my use? Or any other better options? Currently I am not following bikes that much in recent past so have very less knowledge in this area. Hope BHPians will help me here, as always. Thanks in advance!


PS: I am not expert in writing, please ignore if there are any mistakes or lack of knowledge.

[timuseravan]

If budget is not an issue, Interceptor completely blows out of water your other two options (and a lot of other expensive bikes).
5k per year is not so low a mileage that the bike will be a dead investment. One year since launch is not a very long period, but the maintenance reports of the bike are very good.
If not the Int for some reason, then go for Jawa
If you are going for 350, i would suggest to wait for BS6. Supposedly the BS6 bikes are smoother.

[2000rpm]

I hate the riding position of the interceptor. I think a Jawa will suit you better and give you more exclusivity!

[goswami.j]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Now I am really confused which one to buy. My primary needs are –

1 Look wise it should be good only – Must Have, should have some road presence and should get some proud owner type feeling as well. Lol, I am silly! - RE 350
2 Handling should be good. - Interceptor 650
3 Less maintenance (not cost wise) is key for me, don’t like to visit garage every now & then for small small issues. Interceptor 650
4 Budget around 3 lacs, can extend little bit as well. Interceptor 650
5 Should be able to carry 3 people occasionally in city for small distance. Not a must have but, can live without it. Interceptor 650
6 Suspension should be good as I am no more in my young days. Interceptor 650
7 Should Not have starting trouble, I simply hate if bike don’t start in morning on first crank. That’s why I hate Honda bikes. Interceptor 650
8 Running would be 5-7K per year. Mostly used as a pleasure bike on weekends. Thinking of starting small rides of 100-200 Kms to nearby places like Konkan as I used to do 10-15 years back. Interceptor 650

So my vote would be you go for the Interceptor 650, it is a bike in its own class & nothing is yet available in India at that price point & value.
For looks & standout, the Orange crush is pretty common, if you go for the chrome version of the Interceptor 650 (long wait period) it is surely an attention grabber.

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

I hate the riding position of the interceptor. I think a Jawa will suit you better and give you more exclusivity!

The after market handle bar risers takes care of this issue quite well.

[aniketi]

Thanks all for your inputs!

Originally Posted by timuseravan

If budget is not an issue, Interceptor completely blows out of water your other two options (and a lot of other expensive bikes).
5k per year is not so low a mileage that the bike will be a dead investment. One year since launch is not a very long period, but the maintenance reports of the bike are very good.
If not the Int for some reason, then go for Jawa
If you are going for 350, i would suggest to wait for BS6. Supposedly the BS6 bikes are smoother.

Performance wise yes, Interceptor simply blows away all bikes and gives you feeling of riding 8-10 Lacs rupees imported bike. While riding, your smile will not go anywhere, it will remain forever on your face!!

I am planning to visit showroom and see bike and feel it more. Want to see how can i make it look better with some accessories or some other option as my first condition is to have a good looking bike along with performance & other things.

Is 350 BS6 coming immediately in April or do you have idea when it will be in market?

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

I hate the riding position of the interceptor. I think a Jawa will suit you better and give you more exclusivity!

Really? I had a short ride only so didn't notice it. Can you throw some more insights?

Originally Posted by goswami.j

So my vote would be you go for the Interceptor 650, it is a bike in its own class & nothing is yet available in India at that price point & value.
For looks & standout, the Orange crush is pretty common, if you go for the chrome version of the Interceptor 650 (long wait period) it is surely an attention grabber.

Nice, looks like you are analyst, explained very nicely
After riding, my mind also pushing me for Interceptor, it's really addictive and puts smile on your face whenever you ride it. Need to check chrome version, but I doubt if I like it as I am not big fan of too much chrome. Let me check mate.

Originally Posted by goswami.j

The after market handle bar risers takes care of this issue quite well.

Thanks. Will check it, worth checking for sure.

[Roy.S]

Originally Posted by aniketi

To start with...
.
5 Should be able to carry 3 people occasionally in city for small distance. Not a must have but, can live without it.
.

Don't ride triples on any bike. Too dangerous. Back in the day when there was no uber and you were at the mercy of autorickshaws this used to be very common but there is no excuse for it now. Also since you are older and wiser now I think you should go ATGATT. Its a pain but should be followed.
I'd say go for the Interceptor 650. I have ridden one for a couple of hundred km and its brilliant in every way

[aniketi]

Originally Posted by Roy.S

Don't ride triples on any bike. Too dangerous. Back in the day when there was no uber and you were at the mercy of autorickshaws this used to be very common but there is no excuse for it now. Also since you are older and wiser now I think you should go ATGATT. Its a pain but should be followed.
I'd say go for the Interceptor 650. I have ridden one for a couple of hundred km and its brilliant in every way

Thanks for caring mate. I know but conditions force me to do so. In Pune, main market is in core city where I cant take my car due to parking issues. Going on bike is the only best option as it's very difficult to get Auto or Uber / Ola while coming back home. Last time in rains, we couldn't get auto or cab while coming back home from shopping for an hour and had to walk 2-3 kms in rain to get one auto luckily. I generally avoid it but sometimes you have less options open. And yes, both my kids like bike than car. Can't ignore them and can't ride two bikes at a time to carry both of them, Lol

Mind is saying Interceptor only. Let's see how it goes.

[AtheK]

If you wanna keep it cool, and as it seems you are going against the tide(ignoring wife, big risk), I would suggest a Jawa perak, it looks awesome, is a capable bike with only downside being that it is a single seater.

Otherwise of the list above interceptor seems the best bet, not sure if you are in sports fairing bikes, or else you can consider ninja 300 or R3 also.

[hell boy]

Interceptor 650 It is. great Value For Money look good ticks all the boxes for me.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Which bike from above 3 options will be best suited for my use? Or any other better options?

If you are open to trying other options, in addition to the above 3 bikes, please test ride the new Bajaj Dominar, Suzuki Gixxer 250, TVS Apache 200 and Honda CB300R. IMO, they are also worth a dekko before you make your choice.

Cheers,
Vikram

[sureshkishore]

I bought by int650 last year just to fulfill my midlife ego.
Its without doubt a wonderful bike. But 2 areas where I miss my cl500 is the wonderful low end torque and the beauty of the bike.i think Jawa is currently the best looking retro bike that money can buy in India.
Having done only 1500 k on my int650 at times I do regret having blocked my hard earned money into a dead investment.
Think bike rentals are better for the purpose of occasional weekend riding.

[Ajaybiz]

Originally Posted by sureshkishore

Think bike rentals are better for the purpose of occasional weekend riding.

Rental bikes are pain to ride and usually they are nightmare rather fun, there are multiple cases of bad maintenance which caused issues to the riders.

Originally Posted by aniketi

RE Interceptor – Tremendous pull, ride is really very enjoyable & powerful, looks are not that good so less road presence, little costly, low average.

Among others this is the best bike, Jawa is highly under powered bike, Bullet is still bullet with it's patented vibrations and very limited high speed crusing and low overall reliability.

[Red Liner]

Interceptor all the way. The rest are just compromises. For that price you just don't get any better value.

[alpha1]

I saw a Jawa recently on the road - I really like its stance compared to Bullets.
Also the exhaust sounds quite close (not exactly but decently) to the original Jawa/Yezdi.

Interceptor is in a different league (and therefore different price), but I hate its foot pegs that dig into you when you try maneuvering the bike.

[robindsouza82]

The interceptor are well sorted out but for a usage of less than 7k Kms a year, you would end up putting in much more money than your other 2 options.

I was doing some research for a friend who wanted to buy a Jawa and I feel you should also consider the Benelli Imperials 400 as a contender.

A short comparo in the link below:

https://youtu.be/RaBU1wCX_XA