[PranavJoshi]

Hello Fellow Bhpians !!!
I an owner of Royal Enfield Classic 350 (2014) since the last 5 Years. Being Fed up with Fueling and reliability problems, I am considering to sell it to exchange it with something more reliable from the house of Honda and Yamaha. My Current considerations are Honda Hornet 2.0 and Yamaha FZ25. Both are priced in the vicinity of 1.5 Lakhs onroad. I have noted a few Pros and concerns about both bikes

Yamaha Fz25 ADVANTAGES over Hornet 2.0 :
Higher Power
Oil Cooling as opposed to Air Cooling
Dual Channel ABS
Higher Comfort

Yamaha FZ25 Concerns :
Low sales Figures (Jan 21 -159 units) may cause Discontinuation
Only one Fz25 in our city currently

Honda Hornet 2.0 ADVANTAGES over Yamaha Fz25 :
Switchgear and Instrument Quality
Better Looks ( Subjective)
Mileage
Smooth Operation ( Clutch and Gearbox)

Honda Hornet 2.0 Concerns :
Niggles like Heating, Loose Body Panels, Oil Leakage etc. as per many ownership reviews.

Please Help me decide

[Researcher]

From the two you have shortlisted, I will prefer the Yamaha over the Honda. Seeing a few old Yamahas and Hondas, I found Yamaha plastics age better than Honda (approximately 10 year old FZ and Stunner as my reference). I will suggest you to please speak to the Yamaha guys to check regarding part availability and sharing with other models, especially consumables and then decide if it is worth it. The risk of a higher downtime is obvious, but you do get rewarded with more power and dual channel ABS, the latter of which is a must for me no matter what my budget is.

Now to confuse you more, how are Suzuki and Bajaj in your area?

The Gixxers are worth looking at before you finalise on anything. Being a Japanese, it should be reliable. Suzuki has been great in aftersales for us. We own a 2012 Access and so do many in our extended family, with no complaints at all.

The Dominar 250 also got a recent price cut. I had been looking at the Dominar 400 for myself a few months back as it has been out for a while with no dealbreakers in the product (postponed due to lockdowns). A close friend owns a 2012 200NS and has been very happy with the reliability as well as cost of ownership. In fact, both of us were surprised at the low cost of maintenance at the authorised centre itself and the way the paint has been shining on the plastic parts for 9 years now!

[shancz]

I haven't ridden either so my suggestion is just based on the numbers.

Between the two I would suggest the Honda primarily because of its long term prospects and your location.

But my question is why the Hornet/FZ?
If you are ok with the looks/brand take a test ride of the NS200, and RTR 200. If you want something more comfortable try their 160 counterparts. Suggesting because Bajaj and TVS would've better presence and future than Yamaha. Have heard good things about the Xtreme 160R too.

As suggested by Researcher Dominar 250 is a good and stable bike too although I would suggest to push for the 400 if the difference is not that high.

[anjan_c2007]

The fact that you are choosing to switch over from a RE Bullet to a Japanese bike is "music" or maybe we also call it "drums" to the ear. If OK, can you not keep both ? Not sure because conditions and constraints differ for each individual.

The Honda Hornet has sold 4035 to 8237 units between September and November 2020. The niggles stated by you are a cause of concern.

The Yamaha FZ 25 has sold 283 to 1736 units between August to November 2020. 2021 sales will be misleading, due to the lockdowns and the disruption of economic activities.

Since Ahmedabad is about 215 kms from your city, the Yamaha dealer could source spares from the state capital hopefully, if need be. But then sourcing and availability have gestation periods. Hence, if you go for the FZ 25, that I believe is on your priority list, but for the tardy sales during January 2021, that becomes another reason for you to keep the RE Bullet, if the FZ 25 at some stage needs spares.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by PranavJoshi

I an owner of Royal Enfield Classic 350 (2014) since the last 5 Years. Being Fed up with Fueling and reliability problems, I am considering to sell it to exchange it with something more reliable from the house of Honda and Yamaha

Adding more confusion - Do not forget the dizygotic CB350 from Honda; you can have reliability of Jap & the feel of RE

[TrackDay]

Originally Posted by aargee

Adding more confusion - Do not forget the dizygotic CB350 from Honda; you can have reliability of Jap & the feel of RE

I was going to mention this & you beat me to it !

The 350 from Honda sounds like an excellent replacement to the classic 350. I believe that it is a more refined and polished product. It is also in the same league/class as the bike you will be replacing. However between the Hornet and FZ25, I would suggest the Yamaha. As a past owner (2010-2016), I can vouch for the quality and feel of Yamaha bikes. As of lately their product lines are not that exciting, but I believe that the quality is still top notch.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by PranavJoshi

Hello Fellow Bhpians !!!
I an owner of Royal Enfield Classic 350 (2014) since the last 5 Years. Being Fed up with Fueling and reliability problems, I am considering to sell it to exchange it with something more reliable from the house of Honda and Yamaha. My Current considerations are Honda Hornet 2.0 and Yamaha FZ25.

What I understand is, you are looking for a reliable machine.

It would have been great, if you could share your other needs.
For example- are you looking for more city rides or long riders or is pillion comfort a criteria, your riding style, etc etc.

Anyways, I own a FZ25 and have clocked around 6,000 km in 3 years, which is ridiculous mile crunching!

My take on the bike-

Its reliable.

Returns a good mileage, if ridden sanely.

Quite fast till 100 km/hr.

Gear ratios are short. 5 gears in place of 6 is a deterrent.

Low-end and mid-range grunt is excellent. One can actually start from 2nd gear, though it's not recommended.

Not too comfortable at revs above 7,000 rpm.

Top-speed is poor in comparison to other 250 cc bikes, the bike is slow above 120 km/hr. Its more than decent till 120 km/hr.

The riding position is upright.

Its great for city usage.

On highways, its a good cruiser.

Brakes are good.

Long rides are just comfortable, my previous KarizmaR or my Unicorn were more comfortable for long rides (more comfortable seats), but the FZ25 is excellent for intercity commutes. Its more of a street bike.

Handling is good, replacing the stock tyres will improve the handling further.

Mine is the 1st gen bike and the headlights are poor, I have no idea how the headlights are in the new BS6 model with projector.

If the above points suits your need, you can consider this bike.

My ownership report-

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...oint-view.html (Yamaha FZ25 : An Owner's Point of View)

As mentioned above, do checkout the Suzuki Gixxer 250 and the Honda Hness CB350 too. Coming from an Enfield, the CB350 should be the ideal choice for you (if its available at your place).

[Fastdriver]

Between the Hornet 2.0 and the FZ25, FZ25 will be a better choice after the recent price drop. As per my ownership experience of the FZ25 and the Hornet 160R, FZ25 is far superior in performance which should be also similar in case of comparison with the Hornet 2.0 at least till 120 kmph. The front fairing of the FZ25 BS6 though looks ugly because of the projector LED headlight, is known to bring improvement in illumination as the older LED headlight was ineffective on highway.

[saikishor]

If you ask me, avoid both and consider the MT-15 and Unicorn. MT-15 has sold in good numbers, whereas Unicorn needs no words. Both of them are decently powerful for both city as well as the highways. I have seen so many people tour on the Unicorn. If you are open to other options, I would suggest you to take a good look at the Meteor 350. It is nothing like the old RE’s. And should be decently reliable as well.

Happy shopping!

[ashwinprakas]

1. Stay away from Honda, the spares availability and customer support is simply not worth enduring for something like the Hornet which is basically a revamped Unicorn which is a motorcycle that made sense a decade or two ago, at times I feel sad seeing new Xpulse owners trying to extract power out of this dead platform, trust you me it's better to stay away from it. To reiterate, stay away from Honda in general and especially from anything that comes from the CB150 platform.

2. The FZ25 like the Hornet is a recycled motorcycle, though the engine platform is more than a decade old abroad it was first introduced in Indian in the form of the FZ25 so we'll give it some leeway for that.

It is basically a trail bike engine and it shows the same character Courtesy it's solid torque down low. But staying true to its nature it lacks top end performance.

But Yamaha's customer support and spare availability is the best among the Japs so you have that to look forward as well.

As someone said the MT15 is the better motorcycle but it is a Liquid Cooled motorcycle and a modern one at it with consumable change being a bit cumbersome like any other modern offering, I personally hate having to spend more than a couple of minutes to swap out an air filter.

3. Why haven't you considered the Suzuki Gixxer 250? It has good low, mid and top end performance, spare availability is worse than Honda and customer support is so..so.. but the product is really worth consideration.

The Gixxer 150 is also a good product. Buddy owns one, keeps pace with my P220 on the interstate, quite impressive given handling is also good.

4. Considering where you come from any Japanese Motorcycle would be relatively more reliable than your RE, but if absolute reliability is what you seek then it has to be an Indian.

The only people who disagree are those who've not owned and ridden one in the past decade or those who've done so way back in the early millennium when the CB150 was the benchmark of reliability.

After all this is 2021, we're better than those before us who used to put blind faith on second hand perceptions.

P.S. Hero is the same as Honda, their current offerings in the "performance" category are iterations of the Honda CB150 platform. They offer better spare availability than the actual Honda's, but the inherent irritants still remain the same.

Hope the above adds some perspective.

Cheers,
A.P.

[IshaanIan]

Any reason why you haven't considered the MT-15? It's a pukka little Japanese naked guaranteed to be reliable and put a smile on your face every time you take it out for a ride

[PranavJoshi]

Originally Posted by Samba

What I understand is, you are looking for a reliable machine.

It would have been great, if you could share your other needs.
For example- are you looking for more city rides or long riders or is pillion comfort a criteria, your riding style, etc etc.

Thanks for the elaborate reply !
I am looking something that has more torque.
That's why am not considering Mt 15. Some city rides and some weekend rides are my need. Also the urge for something light and fast is rising in me . Fz25 ticks all the right boxes. The concern is low sells and hence fear of discontinuation.

[PranavJoshi]

Would have loved to buy the Cb350, but it's not available in our city. I test rode the MT 15. The power is disappointing in Low and Mid range. It needs to be revved hard. Coming from a cruiser, I am not habituated to wring the throttle wide open. The torque in mid range of the Fz25 is satisfying.

[Deaf2Tones]

Originally Posted by PranavJoshi

Thanks for the elaborate reply !
I am looking something that has more torque.
That's why am not considering Mt 15. Some city rides and some weekend rides are my need. Also the urge for something light and fast is rising in me . Fz25 ticks all the right boxes. The concern is low sells and hence fear of discontinuation.

FZ25 seems to be an all round better bike than the Hornet imo. Higher torque, higher power, bigger fuel tank, better brakes. I haven't tried out the hornet but the FZ is definitely a pleasing bike to ride. Are you absolutely stuck on the idea of a Japanese bike? If not, then the Duke 250 should be a good bike in the same segment. I know people like to rag on the KTMs about reliability but I rode my 200 and 390 hard with absolutely minimum maintenance and never had any issues over the 6-7 years I had them.

[drt_rdr]

I personally don't believe the FZ is going to be discontinued. It was actually doing decent numbers before BS6 and covid hit. It's a nice generalist bike, great for the price, very practical.

The sales of almost all the bikes in the 250 cc segment has been poor in the past year. Hence the price cuts you see now to help massage the sales back into acceptable numbers.

I would actually suggest waiting for a month or two to see if Suzuki and KTM also make price cuts so you get more options for your money. I doubt KTM would, but suzuki might. Both the Gixxers, 150 and 250, have been doing poor numbers ever since the refresh. The Gixxer250 is looking like a poor deal now after the price cuts on the FZ and Dominar.

Another option for you right now is the Husqvarna svartpilen 250. It's much cheaper than the duke250, but pretty much the same underpinning.