[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by gkveda

Hence, I suggest you try to answer below questions to get more clarity
1. Is there a biker child within you who is fighting with you for a bike? Or is it just a commuting requirement for yourself?
2. Can you really live happily with current jupiter that you have, in case your wife does not need it at all(Assuming it wont create commuting problems for your wife)
3. What additional benefits you want to derive from having a bike ? and how needy are those benefits?
Quote by Clive Hamilton

“People buy things they don't need, with money they don't have, to impress people they don't like.”

Thanks- I expect bhpians to provide exactly these kinds of inputs especially when others around me look at autombiles from a pure utilitarian perspective.
So to answer the questions:
1) Yes, I guess there is a bit of a biker child in me at the age of 45, who would like to ride a bike for some years.
2) I can 'live' with my Jupiter but I simply don't get any riding pleasure other than the convenience of CVT. Wife is fine with sharing the scooter (so that it can be better maintained I suppose.
3) Like I said in (1) I would like to use the bike for a bit of weekend riding within the city for a radius of 10-15km or for small excursions of up to 40-50km (to begin with). I do not intend to use this vehicle for office commute, but it should be capable of doing so, if I so wish on occasion.

[gkveda]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

Thanks- I expect bhpians to provide exactly these kinds of inputs especially when others around me look at autombiles from a pure utilitarian perspective.
So to answer the questions:
1) Yes, I guess there is a bit of a biker child in me at the age of 45, who would like to ride a bike for some years.
2) I can 'live' with my Jupiter but I simply don't get any riding pleasure other than the convenience of CVT. Wife is fine with sharing the scooter (so that it can be better maintained I suppose.
3) Like I said in (1) I would like to use the bike for a bit of weekend riding within the city for a radius of 10-15km or for small excursions of up to 40-50km (to begin with). I do not intend to use this vehicle for office commute, but it should be capable of doing so, if I so wish on occasion.

From these answers, for me, it looks like it is more of a "I want the bike" rather than "I need the bike".

The biker child within you is definitely haunting you to have a bike and riding it occasionally 40-50 Kms in a week. I am not sure if this is pulsative desire or constant thirst. What I mean by pulsative desire is, when I hear Hindustani Music by Bhimsen Joshi, Immediately I start feeling that I should learn Hindustani Music and become another Bhimsen Joshi. I immediately start searching for Hindustani Guru near my location. After attending 4-5 classes, the entire desire dies off

Is your desire is like the above OR do you really want to spend around 1 to 1.5 Lakhs on a bike and really put it to use? After reading my point above, you may feel that, your desire is just pulsative. In this case, I suggest you to rent multiple bikes every week end and go for 100 Kms during the day. Even after using it for more than say 5-6 weeks, if you still want to own the bike, then, you can just close your eyes and go for it. Else, if you do not do the above, there is a likelihood of going for a bike now and after 6 months, you may rethink to sell it off due to NON USAGE.

My entire above paragraph is only to let you know that purchasing a bike just for riding 40 kms per week is not justifiable. if you really increase your desire of driving long after 6-7 weeks of continuous driving, you definitely can say that you have the need to address your wants of bike. And you can also decide to ride it to office based on your comfort.

I know this is an additional expense but I think it is worth in my opinion

[PrideRed]

If you are sure of not taking two wheeler outside city, and find comfy in a scooter stick to that. Being gearless, scooter is convenient while offering utility. It cannot satiate your hunger for speed, which I don't recommend within city limits. My vote goes for scooter if you are sure of city only riding.

Now coming to scooter, if you riding in dense, frequent stop and go traffic stay away from aprillia. Forget it if road condition is bad. It's probably the least comfortable two wheeler out there. Another disadvantage is initial pickup, you will find struggling to get out of awkward places from a standstill. Even an Activa has better initial pickup. Where Aprillia shines is w.r.to Fun quotient in smooth tarmac. Once you hit past 20KM/HR it's blazing fast for a scooter, brakes are phenomenal and attacks corners that a scooter can only dream. If you don't have roads to do this, forget it and get a Vespa or a Burgman.

[Fury]

You should consider a motorcycle over a scooter since you already have a very practical scooter in your garage. Among motorcycles, I would suggest the new Suzuki Gixxer 150. It fits your budget and is neither too sporty, nor too commuterish. Its practical when you want it to and can be a hoonigan for those fun rides. Having a reliable and refined japanese workhorse engine is just an added benefit. Do take a testdrive to understand the characteristics of the machine.
Good Luck!