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-   -   Addicted to speed and torque. Suggest a bike for me (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/69657-addicted-speed-torque-suggest-bike-me.html)

Hi Guys,

Let me start with some history and then the predicament in my mind!.

Back in April 2002: I was in my final year engineering. I always wanted to get a bike to replace my scooty which was almost in its final stages. Thanks to the floods in chennai, the scooty just refused to start. I had never driven a geared bike (or a scooter) before, hence decided to buy a Splendor which people said would be easy to learn and best suited for starters. I did buy it, learned on it. After a few months ( 8 months) when I got used to driving bikes! I felt the power was not enough. This was the time when the Pulsar DTSi version was launched. I dreamt of the P180DTSi (Gen-1 / DTSi). I forced my dad to sell my 8 month & 3000 kms old Splendor to get this beauty! It was stunning and wonderful little piece of machine that caught every person's immagination. I could easily hit 130/140 kmph on the beautiful ECR. That was when the speed deamon inside me was born and then nurtured over a period of 5 long eventful years. The bike had a huge sentimental attachment as it was with this bike that i meet my lady love. Ever since, pulsar had stated with me even after getting married to my lady love.

The love and passion for power and speed lasted long! But off late (early 2009) the bike started giving lotsa problems. The engine just stopped when I was doing 80 kmph/100 kmph in the highways. This was extremely dangerous and frustrating. I got the machine checked and serviced well at Kivraj motors. Though the service costed close to 5000 bucks, the engine was back to its prime condition.

But the problem did creep-up after 2-3 months. Apart from this, the bike lost its power and was pulling at lower gears. I understand it could be because of the carbon deposits but even after cleaning them it didnt seem to help. I didnt look or feel like my old pulsar anymore.More over, longish rides every day hurt my back because of the riding position. Now is when I found the P180DTSi being a burden. I decided to sell it and get some bike that was light, easy to commute and high on mileage.

This was the time when Discover DTSiSi was launched. I did a test drive and bought it without second thoughts as it more than satisfied my basic needs! The Discover DTSsi was more or less like the mini-pulsar cousin. I was and am satisfied with this bike!

But again!! after 2 months of using the discover, i found the speed daemon inside shift from my brain to my heart! Now that the daemon has peculated to my heart, i needed speed that I got addicted to with the P180DTSi. Hence I decided to keep the Discover for the longish office commutes! and buy either a P180/P220/ZMR/R16 that can satisfy the speed daemon inside me!

Guys the advice I am looking for is "Which Bike should I buy, speed is the criteria. Power & extreme torque that would satifsy me".

I feel so small driving the Discover! It is just the feeling that I have inside me!

Advice needed!

Given your addiction to speed, I would suggest you go for P220. The R15 is a nice bike too, but the engine is not that good for torque. Its a bike whose grunt lies in the top end. P220 is more practical buy. Moreover, the lastest revision of P200 is better than the Fuel injected bike they originally came with.

But one thing for sure, be responsible while speeding. 100 kmph on bike on Indian highways is not very safe thing to do.

EDIT : The thread title must be " Addicted to speed and torque. Suggest a bike for me " or something. This title is misleading a bit.

A Thunderbird? An Avenger?

Thanks Aaggoswami! P200 is a good looking bike. How is the bike on a long run. I would want to keep the bike for another 4-5 years atleast. I had serious bitter experience with the P180DTSi. Though the rides were extremely powerful, the engine failed after just 5 years & 18000 kms of ownership.

I didnt like the looks of the P220. Like what you said, P200 looks beautiful. Serious thoughts on other bikes would be R15/R16.

*agreed that anything more than 100 kmph is extremely dangerous on the roads* I hit those speeds just once a bluemoon. Well it is just that you know you have a bike that can do more than that! it is just the feeling that has come over me.

18k km is too low, maybe you redlined it too much. ZMR and RE Classic 500 are good options for you.

Shashank, I am not a sedate driver, I do rip it! but I feel the engine issue might have also been because of the flooding & age.

The bike had seen close to 3-4 floods! RE classic 500 is awsome! but does it have the speeds of a ZMR/P200/P220?

The AVL easily stretched to 135kmph plus. the Classic is gonna be better. Plus the torque is like a locomotive.

Nobody thinks an Apache RTR180 would be a good pick for him?

@Abhay.
That is the problem with the TVS.The most under rated bike manufacturer.Don't know the real reason,but its fact,its really hard to convince the buyer to go for TVS.
One of my friend was looking for a bike was not even aware there is a bike maker named TVS,
Anyways do check the RTR 180 one of the best performance bike available for the price.

Yes, i am seriously skeptical about the RTR180. My BIL has the RTR160. I drove his and found the lack of power! I am sure many of you guys would pounce on me when i said RTR160 lacks power! but this is according to me.

Let me hunt P200 / R15 / R16. I heard that Yamaha is giving out the Dyatona racing kits as an option with their latest offerings. If thats is true, wouldnt be illegal in india to use these racing kits?

Nope, the Apache has good power, torque. I did a test ride of Apache 180. Found it to be good. I can say that it is much more than Bajaj 180. I did not ride the Karizmas or the P200s and so I do not know how it compares with them. The racing kits from Yamaha are illegal for street riding.

If the usage is going to be city riding with occasional highway rides, for that burst of speed, I would suggest the RTR180.

For City rides, FZ 16 is a very good option. Yes it does not have great top speeds, but has good torque and the speeds are suffcient for city riding.

@MutantX

Bajaj has stopped manufacturing the P200

R15 lacks torque big time in low powerband and is a high revving machine. Wouldnt recommend it for you. If you meant FZ16, forget it! Poser bike, all show, no go. Daytona kit costs around 60k and is NOT street legal. Its only meant for the track. The first kitted R15 to be tested on the dyno gave out a crank bhp of about 23bhp. But the kits can be used only on track, they make you sign a bond and I doubt the insurance too. dont even think of a kitted R15 on roads please. Driving with a quick throttle in city can be a pain!

I would recommend you the best VFM bike now available, which is the P220 incase you are ok with the looks. The new ZMR is not that worth talking about because the 220 is clearly more puchier and torquey with the extra 4bhp. How about a ninja? If you can afford it that is. Another option you have is buy a used bike and mod it up. Thats what I did. I sold my 200 for a used RX135 5spd and did her up with extra $$$ and now its kicks *** of all these premium bikes.

@mutantx

true wack of 130+ for indian bikes is only possible on p220 and r15 (discounting classic 500).. of these the p220 offers better midrange torque.

the r15 is high reving and the power band at and above 7500 rpm. so if you are planning both city riding and high speed highway riding then not sure if the r15 will help. the dyatona kit for r15 will make it street illegal. not sure if the same applies for the fz16. there are a couple of exhaust that i remember featuring on bikeindia that increased the midrange of r15 to make the power band from 5K rpm. you may have to shoot them a mail for that.

the p220 has got more raw power. but then handling department will not match r15. if you like the looks of the p200 (its discontinued though), you can change the headlamp unit and tank fairing of the p220 with that of the p180 (which has been borrowed from the p200). bajaj has sorted out most of the braking and handling issues that the p220 dts-si had earlier.

If you are in your 20s, 2nd hand RXG or RX 135 (5 gear) is the best option. It can be suicidal if you are over 30 (like me) because of poor brakes.

Amazing torque. Sometimes I feel I am hanging on for dear life. Only issue is that the brakes are terrible. Electricals are weak too. But boy oh boy!! are they exciting or what. Torque - The punch can be felt right upto 85-90 kmph. I think the only ther bikes better that RX is (a very big) maybe Shogun and there used to be a dirt bike from Bajaj which was beautiful (performance wise) too.
Max speed fo RX 135 5 speed is 110kmph.


I took a test drive of the new gen Yamahas and was blown away by the brakes. The RX felt suicidal after that. But the new ones cannot match the RXs for pure thrill.

Have fun and be sure to always use a very good helmet. Keep one for the pillion rider too.