[ebonho]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_neel

I really enjoy PD stuff, but I can't comprehend why this video has such a negative undertone. The forever jokes dont make it any better too. I also didn't see any real off road riding.

I really want people to ride the Scrambler and put in their inputs. I can't be the only one who feels that this is a well-sorted bike.

I actually really enjoyed the stiff suspension on the Scram. It was very, very confidence inspiring. I rode an ADV 390 yesterday as well, on the same track as the Yezdi. The Scrambler (and the Adventure) were way more comfortable than that. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the 390 though, it was quite the hoot.

Neel

I've not ridden the Scrambler. But I've ridden the 390 Adventure. There is the same near zero connect with the road all daddy long stilts Adventures suffer from.

Cheers, Doc

[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_neel

I really enjoy PD stuff, but I can't comprehend why this video has such a negative undertone. The forever jokes dont make it any better too. I also didn't see any real off road riding.

Jumping on a demo bike is one thing and this is a user's bike given to PD for a review by the owner. Good that they didn't do any real off-roading!

Yezdi's take on test rides and campaigns are going full house. But I had raised a concern over their unregistered TR bikes in Pune but neither the dealer nor Yezdi has responded. They're organizing TRs n 'off-road' campaigns on bikes which are not registered with the dealer. What will happen to these bikes? Are future owners being taken for a ride!

Any bike can be a scrambler if you put the time and effort to make it purpose built. Doc's Bullet is a scrambler!

Glad you liked it and hope people who buy them love it and enjoy the ownership experience and explore more.

As a motorcyclist, we want more motorcycles, more the merrier!

Happy riding,
surjaonwheelz

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

Any bike can be a scrambler if you put the time and effort to make it purpose built. Doc's Bullet is a scrambler!

Happy riding,
surjaonwheelz

But Doc's Bullet does not have GPS and navigation.

Doc's Bullet has really stiff Gabriel shocks and a fork designed in the 1940s.

Doc's Bullet jumps without issue. It's the landing where new craters are created.

And Doc's Bullet also runs on button tyres that are actually built to be run on the road as well. That's how Doc actually rode to the mountains and did not cart his bike by GATI or train. Or was gifted the bike ready to bash once he flew into Manali or Leh or Gangtok.

Doc's Bullet is 180 kilos of steel and aluminium and rubber and oil which gets the job done without getting anal about new age buzzwords like fit and finish and engine refinement. It's not built for a beauty contest or a finishing school.

It's simply Built like a Gun.

Cheers, Doc

[petrolhead_neel]

Originally Posted by ebonho

I've not ridden the Scrambler. But I've ridden the 390 Adventure. There is the same near zero connect with the road all daddy long stilts Adventures suffer from.

Cheers, Doc

I agree. It felt very disconnected. But coming from an XPulse, the power (especially off road) was super addicitve. I just didn't have the confidence in blasting through standing up, though. The ergos felt very weird. On road, it's great...but the Duke is so much better ( I have ridden the 2nd gen only).

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

Jumping on a demo bike is one thing and this is a user's bike given to PD for a review by the owner. Good that they didn't do any real off-roading!

Indeed, but to really test this motorcycle out, even for a so-called first impressions video, it's only fair to ride it off road. I really do not understand why Yezdi is not giving out test bikes.

Yezdi's take on test rides and campaigns are going full house. But I had raised a concern over their unregistered TR bikes in Pune but neither the dealer nor Yezdi has responded. They're organizing TRs n 'off-road' campaigns on bikes which are not registered with the dealer. What will happen to these bikes? Are future owners being taken for a ride!

It's the same here. But what I got from the dealer was that these were going to live life as test bikes only. My local dealer had actually borrowed test bikes from other neighbouring dealerships for the off road event. A lot of showrooms disconnect the speedo on unregistered bikes, they aren't doing that here.

Any bike can be a scrambler if you put the time and effort to make it purpose built. Doc's Bullet is a scrambler!

Glad you liked it and hope people who buy them love it and enjoy the ownership experience and explore more.

As a motorcyclist, we want more motorcycles, more the merrier!

Happy riding,
surjaonwheelz

Yes! The Scrambler, however seems to be quite deserving of the tag right off the showroom floor. Even my dirt-bred XPulse needed a handlebar swap to be properly rideable off road.

I really hope they bring up the fit and finish levels.

Neel

[drt_rdr]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_neel

I really enjoy PD stuff, but I can't comprehend why this video has such a negative undertone. The forever jokes dont make it any better too. I also didn't see any real off road riding.

Yeah. Seemed like a review made to spite Classic Legends for not giving out media test bikes, lol

My only real takewaways: Suspension too stiff, build quality can be better. And both of these are not objective remarks. I mean you need to back up these statements with reasons.

Suspension too stiff? What's the basis for that statement? I thought Shumi would appreciate the stiff suspension for being someone with a lot of road riding experience and who recommended the duke390 over the adventure?


Build quality not up to snuff? But in which sense exactly? neil.jericho put his point across very fairly. This powerdrift guy though, 2/2, it's just some vague remarks. I'm disappointed.

And these guys don't have the riding chops for giving a proper offroading perspective. I'd value petrolhead_neel's word over his anyday. Powerdrift man picked on the tyres for being road biased of all things? smh Won't make any big difference for Average Joe's average offroading needs.

People who pick up the scrambler are anyway gonna do it more for the poser value than for the riding dynamics. I mean, it's a dead gorgeous bike and people are suckers for the retro styling, me included.

People who want a functionally superior scrambler experience would understand they'd be better off with a dualpurpose bike like the Xpulse or the upcoming CRF300L because these fit the definition to the T. Parroting Fortnine's opinion here because it's the truth!

[petrolhead_neel]

Here's me on the Scrambler yesterday... with its stiff suspension and road biased tires and bad build and vibey engine...

What fun I had!


EDIT: This was at the end of the day, after the bikes had been thrashed around by all kinds of riders, dropped at least 10 times, clutch being murdered at the sand section.

EDIT 2: There's nothing else like this today, <400cc. I wouldn't dare doing this with a Classic 350 or a Highness or whatever else, even if they have been modified. I would do this on the Himalayan, but not as comfortably (soft suspension...what if the chassis gives up?), but that's a different kind of a motorcycle altogether. This is why I think it's special.

Also, as someone who has ridden the Meteor, I can confidently say that the extra power is very noticeable and appreciated.

Neel

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by drt_rdr

Suspension too stiff? What's the basis for that statement? I thought Shumi would appreciate the stiff suspension for being someone with a lot of road riding experience and who recommended the duke390 over the adventure?

Its been only 3 hours and seems this review has already been getting a lot of flak.

I told you guys. These are old brands with fanatic followings.

In this war, one will have to pick sides.

And logic will often go out of the window ... as it should be when we're talking bikes.

Cheers, Doc

[Grimlock]

It sure looks like powerdrift has botched the execution of the scrambler video atleast.

One of them were on social media complaining that there is nothing left to report about these bikes, and that everything is out on the internet already.

Probably led to these guys sticking to a negative undertone to be different, and their faithful seem to be happy for the honesty. It's a pity because this bike is much awaited and it seems like regular youtubers who have maybe 5 percent of the reach of PD have put some more effort into testing the bike than PD has.

[i_rock098]

I would go against the norm in this thread and say I liked the first ride review that PD put out. As the name suggests its a first ride review and they will have a in depth review out as well later like they usually do.

Coming to the point of the review being negative, it's his views at the end of the day and it is what he feels. Infact in this day and age its almost impossible to find critical negative reviews about anything. Even bad product get positive reviews from the fear of manufacture blacklisting. It's a breath of fresh air to have channels who are open to giving critical negative reviews.

Also lastly I know this goes against the Yezdi good, RE bad, Yezdi Forever hur hur mentality but this is the first professional review out for the motorcycle. All the review videos which praise it as second coming of Jesus are random monkey_on_wheels youtubers posting reviews basis on short test ride given by showroom folks. Does anyone seriously think they will say anything negative about the product and risk not getting any further rides from the dealers. There are decent chances that other professional reviews might be negative as well or they could be positive, we gotta wait and watch.

[karanddd]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_neel

EDIT 2: There's nothing else like this today, <400cc. I wouldn't dare doing this with a Classic 350 or a Highness or whatever else, even if they have been modified. I would do this on the Himalayan, but not as comfortably (soft suspension...what if the chassis gives up?), but that's a different kind of a motorcycle altogether. This is why I think it's special.

Also, as someone who has ridden the Meteor, I can confidently say that the extra power is very noticeable and appreciated.

Neel

I haven't ridden the Yezdi, but in my mind I am comparing it to the Svartpilen 250. I have ridden the Svart on off-road surfaces and thought it was great fun (although not comfortable). It's quite a bit lighter than the Yezdi but makes about the same power. Do you think the two are comparable? If the Yezdi is comparably stiff to the Svart, what's the benefit of picking that over the lighter motorcycle?

[shancz]

Picking sides and not but what this episode brings to the fore, yet again, is that online and opinions can only go so far.

Bikes, cars, gadgets and everything under the sun, preferences vary for each individual (thankfully) and so will their choices.

Heeding Doc's advice will only say this :

Ride/drive and experiencing yourself is the only true way. Rest all are opinions which might/might not work for you.

[Mafia]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6ir8M727qE

In this review Schumi really roasts the bike. I am surprised that he almost had nothing positive to say. In this review he is very critical of the short comings of the bike and just says, it looks nice.

[rahul4321]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

What is your take on the fit and finish levels? Does it look comparable to its similarly priced competition?

Amen.

P.S - This is only to be taken in a lighter vein, Team BHP riders do not promote unsafe riding practices like wheelies!

Attachment 2261184

Haha - that fits me perfectly. The Scrambler I want v/s the Scrambler I can afford

I saw that you had a chance to see the Yezdi's too and you found the fit and finish levels to be lower than you expected.

Honestly speaking; I did not look very closely at the motorcycle to gauge the fit and finish levels. However, my cursory look didnt show anything out of place in terms of jagged edges or rough welding points. I found the Yezdi's to be much better than the first batch of Jawa's (Classic and 42 both) in terms of fit and finish

On the Scrambler, I found the switchgear could have had more feedback. They felt like dummy buttons in a lower end version of the car - present only because the manufacturer doesnt want to show a large gaping hole. The SA told me that in the Scrambler; not all buttons work as the number of features the Scrambler has as compared to the Adventure are less.

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Thank you Rahul for the insights.

I guess you couldn’t get a chance to check tyre pressure on the bike you rode. Any idea about the recommended tyre pressure front and rear for the Scrambler? Mostly showrooms don’t bother about tyre pressure at all and generally overfill them. Maybe excess tyre pressure could be the culprit for the stiff, maybe bouncy ride.

Since you are interested in a purchase you will probably take another couple of test rides to make up your mind. Please check with the sales advisor and try to ride it with the company recommended pressure (if overfilled) and see if there is difference. Kindly update the thread as well with your observation.

Cheers

I actually did go there twice and tried it the 2nd time around; exactly the same feeling as first. I didnt have a tire pressure gauge handy but the SA confirmed they recalibrate the tyre pressure's every morning before they start the test rides for the day. So I guess - this is what it is. I just found out yesterday that Powerdrift also says the exact same thing in their video so looks like my experience is not unique and this is the character of the bike unfortunately

Originally Posted by am1m

Thank you so much for this! One of the best reviews I've read- short, crisp and a great comparison between the models!

Thank you so much for your kind words of appreciation.

Originally Posted by petrolhead_neel

The PowerDrift first ride review is out.
https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=m6ir8M727qE

I really enjoy PD stuff, but I can't comprehend why this video has such a negative undertone. The forever jokes dont make it any better too. I also didn't see any real off road riding.

I really want people to ride the Scrambler and put in their inputs. I can't be the only one who feels that this is a well-sorted bike.

I actually really enjoyed the stiff suspension on the Scram. It was very, very confidence inspiring. I rode an ADV 390 yesterday as well, on the same track as the Yezdi. The Scrambler (and the Adventure) were way more comfortable than that. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the 390 though, it was quite the hoot.



Neel

I think the Powerdrift video is spot on and their First Ride Analysis matches my notes perfectly

Extremely Stiff Suspension: Check

A not so refined engine (raspy and throaty) - as compared to the Adventure: Check

Skittish riding: as the long Suspension travel does not really translate into the motorcycle settling down on bad roads: Check

This is how the bike is and how it behaves. The bike also has some other plus points like fantastic road grip, amazing brakes and a very linear torque curve in the mid-range - but these points were not sufficiently elaborated in the Powerdrift video and so perhaps - the video was not sufficiently balanced as it showed more negatives than the positives.

However - speaking in absolute terms, whatever the video pointed out in terms of the shortcomings of the Scrambler is 100% accurate

[KayEss]

Originally Posted by Mafia

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=m6ir8M727qE


In this review Schumi really roasts the bike. I am surprised that he almost had nothing positive to say. In this review he is very critical of the short comings of the bike and just says, it looks nice.

I would treat that as a red flag. By his own admission, in a previous video, every bike offers a few things that appeal to some unless it's a complete disaster.
I think yezdi have checked quite a few boxes with a product that means very different things to different people. To not acknowledge that smacks or prejudice or an extreme position at the very least to me, especially from someone who purports to have a very objective view as a journalist and not as a user necessarily.

[drt_rdr]

Originally Posted by KayEss

I would treat that as a red flag. By his own admission, in a previous video, every bike offers a few things that appeal to some unless it's a complete disaster.

Exactly. The review seemed like they were flexing their media-man muscles at Yezdi for ignoring them. Very professional.