Suggest me a good Bike to use in a hill station !!

jango · 20th March 2009, 17:17

But the fact here is that in most hill stations at least in S.India ( Ooty and Kodai ) i have mostly seen Max-100's, bullet 350's and Rx-100's. Have hardly seen ZMA's but have seen more of Splendors.l

Just my observations !!

bigron · 20th March 2009, 18:31

In as much as the bullet suits your requirement.I suggest you avoid it solely on the ground that is is a heavy bike and a little cumbersome at steep and sharp turns.But again if you are comfortable with the weight my all means go for it.

kannan666 · 20th March 2009, 18:57

Don't think the stance of a sports bike will suit for a ride in the hillstations ! What do you guys think ? I'd still stick with the RE Bullet although it can be quite a handfull on steep and sharp turns like fellow bhpian bigron suggests ! And once you suffer a puncture, be ready for some real good exercise !

Did someone suggest an RX100 here ? I'd go for that anyday......

Sankar · 20th March 2009, 19:08

I'm assuming you're more of an enthusiast than a commuter:

If you're going to have to go up and down the ghats you need good brakes as well! It's as important as the torque you need. Go for a AVL 500, it has good torque, front disk brake and can take the rough, meaning no plastic panels to rattle your brains out. The sprag clutch is a known issue and new AVL500s are supposedly coming with a new ignition with delay circuit which eliminates the sprag clutch breakages.

Karizma is good, very good in every sense except the body plastic; that shouldn't be a problem if you're not going to really rough it up. Riding position is also relaxed, but at the same time good enough for some thrills.

Stock Bullet CI 350 does not have enough torque to conquer the hills if you are into spirited riding. And it will take a bit too many gearshifts compared to a 500 Cast iron or AVL.

anupmathur · 20th March 2009, 19:14

SX4, I believe you are looking for a Karizma!

But if you enjoy playing grease-monkey, it'll have to be a Bullet!

vivekiny2k · 20th March 2009, 19:19

1.5 L and nobody is suggesting imports? I can see the original poster devastated.

anupmathur · 20th March 2009, 19:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

1.5 L and nobody is suggesting imports? I can see the original poster devastated.

Because he wants to use it in the hills. Tumbles, water crossings and bad roads will be part of the package. He should not have to pawn his house for repairs to the bike!

katpasin · 20th March 2009, 20:28

Would have suggested TVS RTR, but seating position for tall people is not very confortable and it likes only highway kind of roads.

Karizma/ P220 should be ur best bet.

vaspro · 20th March 2009, 21:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by phamilyman

and 5 overhauls?

Having seen sprag clutch problems with atleast 4 bikes I saw personally, I don't trust RE

Buy only if any friend of yours has bought recently and NOT had sprag clutch issues.

One got to be lousiest driver, for a bullet to have 5 overhauls in 20years.

Buddy, I own a 500 CI engined Bullet for 5 years and done about 40k KMs. Never had the clutch problem that you mentioned. Nor do scores of bullets running on roads for decades. Give advise based on your personal experience, not based on hearsay.

-Vaspro

streetrage911 · 20th March 2009, 22:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by vaspro

One got to be lousiest driver, for a bullet to have 5 overhauls in 20years.

Buddy, I own a 500 CI engined Bullet for 5 years and done about 40k KMs. Never had the clutch problem that you mentioned. Nor do scores of bullets running on roads for decades. Give advise based on your personal experience, not based on hearsay.

-Vaspro

I totally agree what vaspro has said. There are no clutch problems with REs. And a TBTS is pretty confortable too for hills.

phamilyman · 21st March 2009, 01:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by vaspro

One got to be lousiest driver, for a bullet to have 5 overhauls in 20years.

Buddy, I own a 500 CI engined Bullet for 5 years and done about 40k KMs. Never had the clutch problem that you mentioned. Nor do scores of bullets running on roads for decades. Give advise based on your personal experience, not based on hearsay.

-Vaspro

Now now despite me saying about my own friends - you assume my post is based on hearsay. Either you neglect to read, or you don't care to understand. Let me lay it out in black and white - I have helped personally a friend to get his 500LB returned to RE, and get full money back. And he had issues from 8k km onwards, 5 replacements till he sent it back at 18k km in ten months only!! I'm not a bullet hater boy - just someone whose seen the crap firsthand.

My post is ambiguous yes - yeah the 500CI was awesome, but I've seen enough crap on the 500LBs, so excuse moi while I spread the good word.

And FWIW, the sprag clutch issue is endemic with the initial 500LBs, not the CIs. Since you refuse to acknowledge fact, let's use Google?
Here we go:
Bullet Machismo 500 LB Pictorial Review | Vicky blog | Indian Automobile blog - "The sprag clutch (part no 560011/A) in the electric start system is getting faulty very frequently. 3 times in first 1700 kms!!"
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...ml#post1095851
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...ml#post1096253
Royal Enfield Machismo 500 review - Page 5 - India Travel Forum, BCMTouring.com

akshay4587 · 21st March 2009, 01:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

1.5 L and nobody is suggesting imports? I can see the original poster devastated.

1.5L would fetch him a 15+ year old 400 may be
do you think its worth the pain?

straight6 · 21st March 2009, 06:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

1.5 L and nobody is suggesting imports? I can see the original poster devastated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by akshay4587

1.5L would fetch him a 15+ year old 400 may be
do you think its worth the pain?

1.5L will get him a crap import. Don't even bother.

SX4 · 22nd March 2009, 22:49

Thanx for the advice guys...think i should stick to the bullet 500

20th March 2009, 17:17	#16
jango BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: New York & kotayam Posts: 800 Thanked: 23 Times View My Garage	But the fact here is that in most hill stations at least in S.India ( Ooty and Kodai ) i have mostly seen Max-100's, bullet 350's and Rx-100's. Have hardly seen ZMA's but have seen more of Splendors.l Just my observations !!
	() Thanks

20th March 2009, 18:31	#17
bigron Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: NSEW Posts: 1,309 Thanked: 2,710 Times	In as much as the bullet suits your requirement.I suggest you avoid it solely on the ground that is is a heavy bike and a little cumbersome at steep and sharp turns.But again if you are comfortable with the weight my all means go for it.
	() Thanks

20th March 2009, 18:57	#18
kannan666 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: KA-02 Posts: 1,003 Thanked: 131 Times View My Garage	Don't think the stance of a sports bike will suit for a ride in the hillstations ! What do you guys think ? I'd still stick with the RE Bullet although it can be quite a handfull on steep and sharp turns like fellow bhpian bigron suggests ! And once you suffer a puncture, be ready for some real good exercise ! Did someone suggest an RX100 here ? I'd go for that anyday......
	() Thanks

20th March 2009, 19:08	#19
Sankar Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Location Posts: 5,778 Thanked: 9,212 Times	I'm assuming you're more of an enthusiast than a commuter: If you're going to have to go up and down the ghats you need good brakes as well! It's as important as the torque you need. Go for a AVL 500, it has good torque, front disk brake and can take the rough, meaning no plastic panels to rattle your brains out. The sprag clutch is a known issue and new AVL500s are supposedly coming with a new ignition with delay circuit which eliminates the sprag clutch breakages. Karizma is good, very good in every sense except the body plastic; that shouldn't be a problem if you're not going to really rough it up. Riding position is also relaxed, but at the same time good enough for some thrills. Stock Bullet CI 350 does not have enough torque to conquer the hills if you are into spirited riding. And it will take a bit too many gearshifts compared to a 500 Cast iron or AVL.
	() Thanks

20th March 2009, 19:14	#20
anupmathur Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New Delhi Posts: 3,095 Thanked: 311 Times	SX4, I believe you are looking for a Karizma! But if you enjoy playing grease-monkey, it'll have to be a Bullet!
	() Thanks

20th March 2009, 19:19	#21
vivekiny2k Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: cincinnati, jabalpur,chennai Posts: 1,264 Thanked: 211 Times View My Garage	1.5 L and nobody is suggesting imports? I can see the original poster devastated.
	() Thanks

20th March 2009, 20:28	#23
katpasin BHPian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Edinburgh, UK Posts: 104 Thanked: 2 Times	Would have suggested TVS RTR, but seating position for tall people is not very confortable and it likes only highway kind of roads. Karizma/ P220 should be ur best bet.
	() Thanks

22nd March 2009, 22:49	#29
SX4 Newbie Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 6 Thanked: 0 Times	Thanx for the advice guys...think i should stick to the bullet 500
	() Thanks