[jkdas]

Avenger 200 just coz it newer to the market

How about RE AVL 500!

[VSG12777]

By the way, I was just wondering .... what would be the max tyre size that can be fitted on the Avenger 200 ? It comes with 130/90 15 inch at the rear and 90/90 17 inch at the front. Can these be upsized by one level, ie 100/90 17 inch for the front and 140/90 15 inch for the rear ?

Also ... would it be better to keep the spoke wheels or go for alloys ?

[gendarmee]

Dude be be let down just coz of the sales men.
There are 2 ford outlets in Hyd Fortune & Modi.
Go to modi and we get a dry talk and a pamphet, then bye bye.
At fortune,a salesman comes forward right away & even if i tell him that im not gonna buy the car buy am looking at the complete details he'll patiently sit and give me all details i want.
Once upon a time i wanted a new bike, but was always refused, but When the Karitzma came out we went to the hero honda show room with dad, they didnt have one on display...but the old guy at the counter told my dad," these new bikes are no good they wear out quickly no mileage, the best bike to go for is a splendor its a no issue bike" Dad was like, stop coaxing people into what u want to sell or what u would buy...and we walked out, next stop was yamaha for the 125 cruiser....they said they dont give any test rides, if we want to buy it we can go ahead. No test ride = no buy is what dad said to the sales guy and we came back home, all hopes of getting a new bike went down the drain.

Get opnion from users, if its worth it go for it.

[manish7]

I agree that Babaj showroom experience is good, but alas; can't say the same about quality & reliability of the bike. HH and Honda guys are just careless because they are having great sales anyways - I agree - the customer service must improve. That's the reason I dropped idea of buying Honda Activa recently.

You can go for Avenger as you are planning to upgrade it in 2-3 years anyway. AFAIK, ZMA is around 84 k here on road in Pune. See if you can get some authentic info and test ride from owner of the bike. Otherwise, I'd suggest you go to HH service center in the evening -- see if any ZMA customer is getting his bike serviced, request him some info and request for test ride. You should find someone who is willing to oblige. Else, you can always put this request on your office intra-net. Don't let showroom experience deter you from buying a good product. As most agreed, ZMA is probably the best choice in all these bikes.

You may also want to report your HH showroom experience to HH guys through their website.

[VSG12777]

Hmm ... good idea. Maybe I shall describe the HH showroom experience as a feedback to HH through the website. The instrument cluster on the Karizma R looks really good now with the yellow background and a separate digital cluster for the odometer, tripmeters and a digital clock which I think is a bonus. No other Indian bike has a digital clock as part of the gauges.

All I need is a good test ride on a Karizma. Though the bike does look sporty like the CBZ, I am willing to test ride it and then decide. However the Karizma seems to be 79k on road in Chennai while the Pulsar 220 is 87k on road. Is the Pulsar 220 worth 8k more ? Probably ..... but the fairing mounted mirrors are a complete let-down. And the presence of only a toe shifter ...... that's another minus point. Shows the bike is meant more for college-going kids since they won't be getting their formal shoes spoilt !!

I would like to know the max tyre size for the Avenger 200 as I had asked in one of my earlier posts .... is it possible to install a 140/90 15 inch for the rear (in lieu of 130/90 15 inch) and a 100/90 17 inch for the front (in lieu of 90/90 17 inch) ???

[four_tire]

On Saturday I was there at HH showroom to test drive the ZMA, but in vain. I was taken aback when the sales person denied any test drive for ZMA and after booking shall blah blah blah.... I was patient through out.. and Shot back at him ... said "it seems What you are doing and what you are saying - has no connection/relation", and that guy was taken back,.

All these too good bikes with too bad customer experiences are not for long. Sometimes i feel that Indian sellers dont give tough competition like in west. These smaller points of poor customer facing could be a major point against the competitor... but dont understand if they all have stake in any brand that sells

[VSG12777]

There goes another bad showroom experience with Hero Honda ..... it's just not enough having a good bike ..... it has to be backed up with good customer service before, during as well as after the sale. This kind of attitude is simply not tolerated in countries like USA / UK / Australia etc. The prospective customer would simply walk out and go to a competing brand. However we in India are just toooo tolerant with regard to these things. Wonder when this is gonna change.

I really appreciate what Bajaj is doing ..... from the time when they used to sell only Vespa / Chetak scooters and auto rickshaws, look at their variety of bikes on sale now and their Probiking showrooms. Wow. I must say they have come a long way and lots of effort has gone into all of this. Whatever people have to crib about the Pulsar, nobody can deny that it was a smash hit product. The one that literally snatched the market from the Hero Honda CBZ.

[manish7]

Originally Posted by VSG12777

There goes another bad showroom experience with Hero Honda ..... it's just not enough having a good bike ..... it has to be backed up with good customer service before, during as well as after the sale. This kind of attitude is simply not tolerated in countries like USA / UK / Australia etc. The prospective customer would simply walk out and go to a competing brand. However we in India are just toooo tolerant with regard to these things. Wonder when this is gonna change.

I absolutely agree - but customers tolerate in case of HH or Honda because competition product quality is proven to be bad. The people with exceptionally good showroom service as of now are Kinetic/Bajaj -- but their quality is debatable and they have long history of problems with their products (pulsars do give up after 2-3 years & as for Kinetic, it could be a separate dedicate thread related to their below-par A.S.S.) . Honda & HH needs to be taught a lesson as far as their attitude is concerned. I guess decrease in bottom line could be that shot in arm!! HH does give test rides for other bikes though....wonder why not for ZMA?

BTW, TVS Apche RTR does have digital clock and lot of other goodies. So, ZMA is not the only one I guess..

[jango]

I would suggest you to go for the ZMA. A200 is a good bike, no doubt but then again it goes well for long cruises....and that's how the riding position has been designed. ZMA is quick, fast and also delivers well on long rides.

[four_tire]

Originally Posted by manish7

I absolutely agree - but customers tolerate in case of HH or Honda because competition product quality is proven to be bad. ..

I dont completely agree on this. With respect to product quality HH/Honda may be marginally better, even this i think is much debatable. On the whole the customer satisfaction is backed up by non-customers also, who didnt have real life incidents or some time passed on the ratings which they overheard.

For instance I have seen friends approaching me for rating on some bikes and cars before buying them. I ask them 'Why dont you get the first hand experience of the PEOPLE, PROCESS and TECHNOLOGY of the product itself.

HH/Honda is not the end of world. My current bike is Suzuki fiero (6 years done - going good) and previous one was Suzuki Samurai (served 4 years). My Mechanic says servicing HH vehicles are expensive compared to Honda and others as well.
HH has around 14 faces (14 different vehicles), obviously a customer will fall for one out of the 14..

[BUSA]

Originally Posted by manish7

BTW, TVS Apche RTR does have digital clock and lot of other goodies. So, ZMA is not the only one I guess..

ZMA is the only one without digital speedo, all the Pulsars from 150 to 220 and the Apache have Digital Instrumentation. Whats HH doing? Planing to launch another 60cc bike

[Reventón]

Yea.. wait until the R15 price is announced.. Dunno exact specs, but yamaha claim it be around 20bhp.. and it looks like an R1..

[manish7]

Originally Posted by four_tire

HH/Honda is not the end of world. My current bike is Suzuki fiero (6 years done - going good) and previous one was Suzuki Samurai (served 4 years). My Mechanic says servicing HH vehicles are expensive compared to Honda and others as well.
HH has around 14 faces (14 different vehicles), obviously a customer will fall for one out of the 14..

Hmmm....I agree about TVS. I have used my Shaolin for 10 years without any major problem and sold it last month. My brother's Apache didn't have any minor/major problem for last 18-19 months after 18000 KMS. A close friedn's Fiero is running great as well. I am quite happy with their customer service as well. I am absolutely happy with TVS and eagerly awaiting their RTR Fi.

HH had Splendor as their ace card long ago, and in Indian market good mileage still rules (petrol not getting any cheaper, and most ppl need only a commuter), and that way HH had good life as well. The economy range Babaj bikes looked ugly and had poor quality as well as reliability. Babaj's captured market only after Pulsar's success - and I still maintain that Pulsar scores mainly on looks and not on quality. A pulsar is no good after 2-3 years.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by manish7

pulsars do give up after 2-3 years

cough cough. Not true by the longest margin.

Yes, a ZMA is totally worth its money, although its service costs are high as well. But then, they are insignificant for those with a car

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by VSG12777

I would like to know the max tyre size for the Avenger 200 as I had asked in one of my earlier posts .... is it possible to install a 140/90 15 inch for the rear (in lieu of 130/90 15 inch) and a 100/90 17 inch for the front (in lieu of 90/90 17 inch) ???

Don't worry about upsizing. I am running MRF ZapperQ 120/18 in my HH Passion. So, 140 in an avenger would not be a problem at all. Just find a good mech to do the install.

- Jag