[KiloAlpha]

I am posing this question to the forum as I have little knowledge about motorcycles in general. Requesting all to pitch in with their much better informed opinion - I am here to listen.

The person - let us call him Mr.S - is a 20-year-old male, who has just about finished his diploma and has got himself a job paying about 15K per month (take home). He lives in a B-town in Karnataka. He has aspirations to study further and complete his graduation. His father has passed away and his mother works as a nurse in Bangalore earning about 25K per month (take home).

Mr.S wants a sports bike. So far he has only occasionally ridden sports bikes owned by his friends/cousins, and has never owned a 2-wheeler. This will be his first bike. He wants a TVS Apache RTR310. But this is out of budget. The realistic budget they have is about 2-2.25 lakhs OTR. His next choice was a KTM Duke 200, but this is also above budget by maybe 50K.

Which motorcycle will be most suitable for him? And why? Please give reasons for your recommendations, because these can be used to persuade Mr.S.

Thanks a lot!

Note to Mods: If an existing thread for this topic exists, could you please merge it in? Thank you.

[2000rpm]

I would strongly suggest a 150 CC bike for someone who hasnt owned a bike before.

FZ would be my recommendation.

[FURY_44]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

He wants a TVS Apache RTR310. But this is out of budget. The realistic budget they have is about 2-2.25 lakhs OTR.

I am not sure if Mr. S will go for the pre-owned route, but there are a lot of RR310s available within his budget i.e. if he has set on getting only the RR310.

I know a few who have put their RR310s for sale.

[Gordon]

Buy a 100-150cc commuter motorcycle or a scooter with good average.
Earn (invest and budget) for a few years.
Then rethink about the dream.

Reasons:

He has aspirations to study further and complete his graduation.

His father has passed away and his mother works as a nurse in Bangalore earning about 25K per month (take home).

got himself a job paying about 15K per month (take home)

[wolfy]

Mr. S needs to keep his dream alive. Work hard, save/invest and work towards the dream. Keep Mom's income out of your dream. It will happen.

Which bike to buy? The bike he is dreaming about.

[SchumiFan]

Get the Honda Unicorn. It's the cheapest 150CC and offers good mileage as well.

No fancy features that could go kaput. Basic mechanics that are sorted.

I am in the market for a bike as well and it bugs me to put so much money into something that was selling for 70K a decade ago.

[Nikhildrao]

Used R15 S (gen 2) or new TVS Raider/Sp125

[tchsvy]

Yamaha R15/MT15, the R15 in particular is packed with features, looks stunning and if the reviews are to be believed, an FE of around 50 isn't bad either.

[SaurAswale]

Interesting...
Because I also joined my first job in 2022 and a year later, I'd saved enough for a bike. I was desperate to buy one. Didn't want to shell out lot of money and definitely against getting a loan or 'help' from parents. Also, I knew I can't spend a lot on running cost due to other responsibilities, somewhat similar situation to Mr.S.

So, if Mr. S is open, it is always better to go for used bike any day. It'll be more sensible for him financially as it was for me. And he should buy a good Helmet and riding gear from remaining money.

And for 'which bike?' question there are some points to look out for-
1. It MUST be fun to ride- Don't go for commuters
2. Great mileage- Should be light on pocket
3. Reliable enough to survive thrashing- you mentioned he is 20yo (I'm not judging, I would have done same at his age)
4. Dual Channel ABS is a must (Saved me at least once in my very short 'Riding career')
5. Comfort and practicality- Why?? You don't need it dude. Buy a car if you're into those things.

I will suggest Yamaha R15 (or MT15) as it is a terrific sportbike. It can keep up with the 200s and 250s and easily and eat those 350s. Has very good build quality IMO. And that engine is sweeeet and has legendary reliability and fuel efficiency. He can expect 50+ kmpl in city and around 40 kmpl if he's always keeping the VVA ON and doing 100kmph on every stretch. Maintenance cost is slightly higher than 160cc commuters but acceptable for what it offers. He can get a good example of R15v4 (2022) around 1.5L if he has patience.

Remember, No loans for bikes. And again, ask him to invest in good riding gear . I've experienced that also, in my short 'Riding career'.

[Pythonic]

R15 S /MT 15 is around 2-2.05 L on-road.
CB 300F at a but less that 2L.
NS 200 and RTR 200 4v come in at about 1.9 L.

These fit the ask but as others have remarked it’s also a good idea to save up for a bit and look at commuters/ used R15s (I’ve heard that they’re pretty bulletproof). Good luck to that person

[DDIS_RE650]

He should go with Ola S1 Pro as it is within budget, low maintenance and running cost.
I assume that all the shortcoming might have been taken care in 2nd gen.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

- 20-year-old male, 15K per month,
- B-town in Karnataka
- aspirations to study further and complete his graduation
- wants a sports bike
- has never owned a 2-wheeler
- This will be his first bike
- realistic budget they have is about 2-2.25 lakhs OTR.

- Maintenance and running costs need to be economical including FE
- Service centers and spares availability could be a concern hence avoid unpopular brands and models
- Need to save too, reinforcing the point of an economical running bike
- A good direction to learn better riding
- So he has no clue on how expensive spares and service can be for the more premium bikes like the RR310 or the KTMs.
- Has to be forgiving to ride while being economical, dual channel ABS is highly recommended if available.
- I would suggest to go under 2 lakhs and keep some buffer for unexpected expenses or probably get some riding gear if feasible.

What I suggest is to go with the 160cc segment as its not too expensive to either buy or run. The bikes are sporty and give an good balance in performance, handling and economy. On the plus side it also gives Mr. S an opportunity to enjoy the bike, progress in his studies and his job and by the time he starts earning enough to easily afford the RR310 he would've had enough experience on this and the RR310 would seem like a worthy upgrade.
At present I would suggest to stay away from KTMs or the RR310, their spares and maintenance costs are significantly higher than the 160s.

Hence my shortlist benchmarked at Mangalore for OTR prices within 2 lakhs:
Source : bikewale
- TVS Apache RTR 160 4V with dual channel ABS
- Bajaj Pulsar N160 with dual channel ABS
- Hero Xtreme 160R 4V but it doesn't offer dual channel ABS hence it should be the last option

Mr. S can look into the RTR 200 4V with dual channel ABS and riding modes too but I think its better to get a 160 now and then upgrade to 300-400 when he is able.
Should also look into a good helmet and some riding gear as feasible.

Best of Luck for your future Mr. S and Happy Riding

[bblost]

My post may sound rude but this young man needs to get his priorities in order.

Life has dealt him a tough set of cards. He can either be a burden on his mom or take it in his stride and accept the reality.

My advice is that he only buy a bike if its going to help him in his job and college.

The ONLY bike he must be considering is a Hero Splendour.


Expecting his mom to spend almost her entire yearly income on a bike is very imprudent.

At 20, he still has a long way to go and along that path, he will definitely get many opportunities to buy bikes that are many times more expensive than his current infatuation of RTR.

[IshaanIan]

With the financials in mind I’d urge that Mr.S gets a scooty hero xoom is good value and if he doesn’t own any vehicle currently then reliability and practicality must be at the top of his criteria list. “Sporty” vehicles can happen in the future.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

The person - let us call him Mr.S - is a 20-year-old male, who has just about finished his diploma and has got himself a job paying about 15K per month (take home). He lives in a B-town in Karnataka. He has aspirations to study further and complete his graduation. His father has passed away

This is typically me couple of decades ago provided the diploma is changed to graduation, town changed to Chennai & rest everything remains ditto!! Except that, there were no sports motorcycle then so had to settle with Max 100 with my Mother's money. Ofcourse I outgrew that motorcycle in less than a year, sold it, bought an used Rx from KL, couldn't re-register it in Chennai & had to bribe police at every signal, got fed up, sold it, then bought the present Rx that I own today. And lost over 27K {which was nearly 2 months of my paycheck then}. Since I was fool, stupid & unwise then {not that I'm any better today}, I consider the reply below to more of to myself in past than to Mr. S

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

Which motorcycle will be most suitable for him? And why? Please give reasons for your recommendations, because these can be used to persuade Mr.S

Diploma degree may fetch a job that may put food on the table for now, but not for long as the world is running one big race in a hurry. Soon there will be graduates, engineers & post graduates competing for the same job or worse machines replacing human labor soon. So it's always better to get the highest possible education in form of improving one's technical & soft skills that not only keeps employed for a longer period, but also fetches higher income & perhaps don't need to exhange time for money. This is the stage when one starts getting anything & everything from sports bike or car or house & what not even if one don't need it.

Now to Math
Typically a sports motorcycle is going to cost nothing less than 1.5 Lakh; let's assume there's no need for a loan to buy the motorcycle {which can fetch ~14K or 7.5% of monthly income in a conservative investment fund}. Below is a very crude calculation that works to ~15% of income lost just with operating cost of a motorcycle per annum. Add to that the 7.5% above which is easily a loss of 20% income for the entire family. If the motorcycle is going to be bought in loan, my sincere prayers for the family



So point is: If the above expenses can be managed by Mr. S without losing the focus on the goal of pursuing higher education then R15 is best bang for money. However, if the boy is willing to forego the dream of owning a sports motorcycle today, there's a perhaps a sports car awaiting for all the delayed gratification!

Good luck

Originally Posted by bblost

this young man needs to get his priorities in order

X million

EDIT: Sorry I felt my reply was little harsh, so let me show a middle path here, which is also simpler in approach: Ask Mr. S to show a bank balance of 2.3 Lakhs no matter how long it takes for him to earn that money. Once that money is ready he can go-ahead to buy the motorcycle of his dreams. 2.3 Lakhs is a number that covers the cost of the motorcycle + 1.5 to 2 years of operational cost.