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-   -   Hero Honda Karizma Ownership Experience (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/99069-hero-honda-karizma-ownership-experience-16.html)

I took the bike to a nearby mechanic this morning. He tried to start, removed spark plug and replaced with some other old plug. After some tries, bike was started, but the mechanic told me that the head is leaking oil! He removed the sparkplug and showed me the presence of petrol. Plug was fouled. I have NGK iridium spark plug. I asked the expenditure and I was quoted around 600-700 rupees to open the upper cover of cylinder and repair ( area which is covered with cooling fins where spark plug is fitted).

I also thought that this could be the case as I remember an incident last month when I turned off my bike during a red light signal and it refused to start. Upon cranking I could hear only tak tak sound from the engine from both kick and self-start mode. It was something like gear stucking somewhere and not able to find neutral but neutral light was green. Anyhow, it started after few attempts and after that it ran ok.

Now as I am not a fan of road side mechanics for major repairing works so asked him to just start the bike somehow, and I took the bike to Hero service station near my place. Service was also pending for long time. I explained my bike’s issue to the mechanic and he told me that there is no such problem of head/valve leakage in the cylinder. It was the excessive petrol which flooded the engine while trying to start the engine multiple times with choke on. He told me that oil leakage in cylinder can be diagnosed easily when you see smoke from your bike’s exhaust but there is no smoke as such in my bike even on full throttle. I showed my ngk iridium spark plug to him and he told that the plug is ok. It was installed after cleaning with petrol and correcting the gap.

Now after confirming from mechanic that there is no as such major issue like valve leak etc in the engine, I gave the bike for service as I had not given my bike for service at Hero service station for long time! I guess it was over 2 years back when I got my bike serviced from them when Odo was at 14,000 KMs. For 16, 18k service, I just got the engine oil replaced from neighbourhood mechanic and chain/clutch cables lubricated.

Both brakes were replaced with new ones, also got new seat cover as stock cover has started to deteriorate. Clutch and accelerator cables were not available in service center so they could not be replaced. I refused two jobs i.e. Wheel alignment + engine oil additive which the SA mentioned in job card without asking me.

This must be the 7th/8th time I went to Hero service station, and not even once I came satisfied. Poor service stations with uninformed service advisors and mostly unreliable mechanics. One of the mechanic came to me and asked me to get front brake pads replaced from ‘him’ and it will cost only Rs. 1,000 as compared to Rs. 1,200 official price. When I refused him, he requested me to not to tell anyone about this. I now wonder what scam these guys are running inside service stations! Looks like, they are milking money from poor customers who leave their bikes unattended at service station and I don’t know if they use refurbished or duplicate parts in those customers’ bikes! Service centres are preferred to assure peace of mind but now Hero service centres are actually appearing more like scam centres. I kept an eye on them from customer waiting area when my bike was inside the service bay to assure that they install only original packed HH components.



Before servicing





Old front brake pads

No printed invoice, manual billing on the job card!




After service, I was told that computer used to generate bill is not working and I was handed over manual bill according to the details mentioned in job card. I was also sceptical about this so I took snaps of the job card to which the service centre person was not feeling comfortable and he asked me to get the printed bill after 4-5 days! I don’t understand if it was genuine problem or what! Should I contact Hero customer care regarding this? I am not at all convinced, satisfied or happy with Hero service stations from the day I got my bike serviced for the first time. Such a wonderful bike serviced by totally pathetic people.

Details of the service –

Km Reading – 18804

Consumables & parts replaced–

Engine Oil – Rs. 285
Front brake pad – Rs. 1200
Rear brake shoe – Rs. 250
Seat cover – Rs. 150
Some misc items – Rs. 110
Labour, Paid Service charges and taxes – Rs. 600

Total paid amount = Rs. 2,550

Anyhow, after billing and getting the cash receipt I started my bike, went to petrol pump and got full tank. Went ahead and rode the bike on an open free road for some 10-15 kms and I felt the same thrill, smoothness, excitement which I had felt when I rode my bike for the first time after taking the delivery almost six years back. Karizma will celebrate its 6th Birthday on 15 feb. Let the adventure never end...Bikes will come and go but charisma of Karizma will stay forever! clap:



Clicked after service while returning home.

PS - Since I sparingly use my bike, any tips to avoid such starting problem? How to keep the bike (especially engine) in good shape with my kind of intermittent usage. From now I will, however, start my bike for 5 minutes once a week for sure to keep the battery charged.

IMO, please do complain. The way the Service guy asked you to get the pads changed for a cheaper price versus OEM and the bill incident don't seem to be normal.

Do write in a mail to the customer service with the incident and pictures of the bill that they gave you with the reasoning of "printer not working etc!"

I visited Hero motors only to keep the bike in the good books of warranty. Post warranty I avoid going there and keep changing engine oil + air filter every 6 months irrespective of usage.

Decent bill. You should have changed the spark plug IMO.

Keep the engine idling for 2-3 minutes every weekend or take out for a short ride on weekends just keep it going.

Even I am in the same boat as you are. Feel sad looking at the bike lying idle like that. In double minds but thinking to sell it off to a friend who'll take care of it and also ride it regularly.

I just sent them a mail explaining the state of their service centres which are actually becoming scam centres!


I thought iridium spark plug should and will last for long time.


I just can not think of selling my bike. I am in love with my Karizma. Lots of memories attached with it. In my earlier graduation days, it was a head turner when my parents bought it for me. It was my primary and sole mode of commute. Have done so many rides (especially those solo rides) in graduation days to Murthal, Sukhdev and Haveli dhabas for eating pranthas:D But with time and now me about to finish my pg and move ahead into corporate world, I have become more a car-commute person for last 2-3 years. That's why I lost touch with biking. But surely won't sell it. I could have thought if it was any other bike, but Karizma is surely a classic bike and like bullet, it will remain classy and elegant no matter what's its age will be. Especially for me and in fact many, the Karizma R has become one cult classic bike like my favorite movie 'The Shawshank Redmption'! :D

I will definitely ride it once a week at least to keep the engine, battery and other mechanicals up and running.

Good that you sent them a mail giving them a bite of what their ASC is like.

The Karizma was bought in June, 2009 and is the longest kept vehicle in my family. Generally nothing stays more than 3 years, not sure why but the Karizma is one such thing that turns heads till now. I do make up my mind to sell it but can't let it go.

I can't see it suit idle and induce rust. Hence thinking what to do.

I drive 3300 kms a month by car but the bike doesn't see even 30 kms a month also. :( Poor thing.

Nice to see you have the bike for 6 years. I myself had a ZMA for 2 years ( had bought it 2nd hand) but sold her of because of some niggling issues.
Regarding how to keep the bike i can list out some of the points.

1- Disconnect the battery if you are not using for more than a month.
2- My experience says the ZMA is a touchy bike. A start up after a long period usually needs the bike to be kept idling for at least 4-5 min.
3- If you are using her once a week try to ride her atleast inside your building compound as mere idling will not charge the battery.
4-Before starting,with the ignition in OFF position crank the engine using the kickstarter 4-5 times so that the oil gets circulated.
5- Engage the choke,switch ON the ignition and fire up the engine and let the engine run for 2-3 sec with the choke engaged. Do not run for long with the choke engaged as there is a chance for the excess fuel to wash out the lubricant thereby leading to engine damage. Disengage the choke and bike will idle at at its own. Do not give throttle as the engine is still cold and might switch OFF.
5- Before shutting down the bike, turn the Knob to OFF position and let the bike run till all the fuel in the carb gets used up. If possible drain the carb from the bottom (You can collect the petrol from the drain pipe in a container,but generally not advised as the fuel might have some impurities.).

Next time if you happen to change the battery try to go for the Amaron 9Ah from the pulsar. I had kept the bike for 2 months without disconnecting the battery and the bike fired to life in the second attempt with the self starter.

Cheers

While I thought my e-mail will result in some apology calls, courier the bill to my place etc, I am surprised to not to receive even an acknowledgment or let even a computer generated reply from Hero!

What can I expect from their service center when their own corporate people/customer service manager guys don't even bother to reply to customer's mails!

I mailed to following three email ids, no one bothered to reply let alone any assurance for complaint redressal - Shame on Hero Moto Corp:deadhorse

To - Territory service manager (deepak walia - adesh.basista@heromotocorp.com)

CC - Area sales manager (lokesh batra - lokesh.batra@heromotocorp.com)

Bcc - delhi@heromotocorp.com (main email id of the company office in Delhi dealing with customer services)

This is indeed surprising and definitely a step backwards, post the split up!

In the Hero Honda days, a close friend of mine had the misfortune of being a victim of a callous and shoddy service job. Fresh from the SVC, on his way to a crucial job interview, his 'Zma stalled.. after just a 5 kms ride! In his anguish, he mailed a strongly worded complaint to the Hero Honda customer care.
Such was the response from the Hero Honda guys that the SVC fellows remember my friend's bike even to this day ( after 6 years, mind you! ) and treat him and his bike with fear and extra care!

Edit- my friend was provided with a substitute bike, while they fixed his FOC. From what we could make out, Hero Honda was pretty hard in their crackdown and definitely cared about their reputation!

I assure you that depends more on the individual service territory managers and dealers. When we get a complaint of any kind its all hands on deck for the most part (even when some complaints are frivolous). The service supervisor has to fill out a complaint form and update it with resolution and customer signature and submit it to myself (the owner) and our Hero territory service manager to count the complaint as resolved.

So good to see that the old karizma is still so popular among bhpians :-)
I am a proud owner of an 11 year old Karizma, the bike was kind of ignored in the past 2 years or so but have started to ride it again and the old love with her is back in me.
I went on a 1200 kms trip on my Karizma, Delhi-Manali-Simla-Delhi in the first week of Feb, it was quite fun riding your old bike on tough roads of Manali.
There are some problems that I am facing and would request fellow Karizma owners to help me-
1.The bike just does not want to shift to 2nd gear from 1st, gets stuck in neutral from 1st gear 90% of times.
2.While giving full throttle, bike would respond to it but then would hesitate for a second and respond again (missing, is that the right word for it?). I never get a clean throttle response from the bike, which I used to get till a few years back.
3.I feel even the smallest of bumps on roads, seems like the front shockers have given up. Repair them or buy new?
4.The clutch does not have a proper feedback when depressed, seems stiff, the funny part is that I can change the gears (upshift and downshift both) without even using the clutch!
5.I am unable to find OEM throttle cables anywhere, any alternatives?

I used to observe this behaviour ( hard shifts ) when the engine oil was going bad. Try using Petronas Sprinta. I've found that oil to be best suited for the bike.
Alternately, maybe point 4 ( bad clutch ) also has a bearing on this.


Did you try cleaning the air filter? Also, try cleaning the carb and replace the spark plug and see if the behaviour still persists.

Before going all out, I would suggest you start out by changing the fork oil first and then proceed.


Is the clutch cable good?

I think Karizmas plastic quality are worst among bikes. The fairing alone builds up on far too many pieces and therefore too many points of failure in case the bike is dropped. Probably they should have given the option of a de-faired Karizma. Even the side and tail panels are kinda flimsy. The first versions of Karizmas plastics were actually lot better than all the later models.

Whatever be the case, never ever drop the bike and it will remain rattle free !! Or better yet get crash sliders like bigger bikes and the bike will remain clean !

I am thinking of going down the same setup as below.

Hi SunnyBoi
Could you please explain how you got the boxer fairing mounted ? Did you have to fabricate custom clamps/stays ? What do you mean by the meter wouldn't fit with the wind shield ? What did you have to bend/fold/break/fabricate to make it to fit ? Would it be possible to get a more clear picture ? Rubber mounts means, is the setup not a good fit and lot of tinkering had to be done ?

To everyone - if you are taking off the fairing to go for the round headlamp setup, I think you need to be careful in the rains as Karizmas meter assembly without the fairing has exposed electricals. Heavy rains can push water into meter assembly and destroy it and the meter console is quite expensive I reckon !

I have never dropped my bike or even met with any accident till date (Touch wood).

I am still searching for panel for the rear cowl and air+Battery cover. Expecting a total bill of 10K. :(

Meter console is around 10K.

And I hope you never drop it.

Maybe you should look for these items at a second hand shop where spares from totalled/accident bikes may be available. I don't know about these guys, just got it today while searching for stuff. Maybe write to them ?

Cool link. Thanks.

Shall write to them right away. Shall update tee thread in case I stroke gold with these guys.

Bumping the thread!!

I am planning to buy a used Karizma, preferably something after 2011 or 2012. Which year did Karizma get FI? Is the carb version preferable or the FI?
Also any pointers towards what things to look for before choosing one?

Also does anyone know a good independent mechanic in Pune who does a good job on karizmas?

Thanks.

P.S. - Can anyone share any info on such a bike in Pune if possible?