R1Fived!

No, not me, but one person whom I least expected to! Santoosh got R1fived few days back and it was a shocker to me.

Why? Because he already had one of a kind beast bike, which I had ridden earlier. On asking why, I realized that he hardly had any options.
Broadly, he had considered these bikes:
Karizma, Bullet (unit construction TB) and R15 (as it is the latest in market)
Yes, no Pulsar 220 :P coz it’s just not reliable enough for him or for that matter, me.

Karizma:
This would give him just smoothness and refinement over his torque machine Pulsar. No power difference. Plus the headache of costly spares and Rs 80K plus for a 5 plus year old model in market didn’t make sense.

Bullet:
Well, he did try out a thunderbird in earlier ride, but he was not impressed with vibes. He also test rode the new Thunderbird with unit construction engine, but he felt that it was bike with identity crisis, as it didn’t sound a like a bull any more, the thump was missing, the “feel” was missing. Also the over all package didn’t appeal to him. Also paying 1 lakh plus for a vintage looking bike didn’t make sense. I don’t blame him either, he’s still a young chap and needs to have a fancy looking bike for obvious reasons :P

R15:
This one impressed him not because of it’s power or blah blah. Purely because it is a ground breaking product. He took the test ride with a pinch of salt and the usual sarcasm that it is technologically overloaded poser bike, but one ride made him change his mind. Now that is one aspect that I didn’t get, for a guy who’s bored out his Pulsar 180 to 200 cc and earlier ran with an Esteem’s piston (!!) how can a 150cc poser looking bike impress such a sound bike techie guy?

So we decided to find out. Me and sachin had gone to Cramster to buy some gear for our mangalore friend sujay, Santoosh stays near by so we dropped by to his place to take a look at his new set of wheels. It was the first time I saw a R15 in flesh, must say, it left quite an impression!

Pics: Click here

SBK owners should be cursing themselves! Coz R15 is no less than a SBK when seen from side and front. The entire front and side is Ala the bigger brother R1.It’s easy to get fooled that it’s a SBK when seen from front :P



The fit and finish on this bike is something unmatched by ANY Indian bike that I have seen till date. Plus it’s loaded with technology like FI, Daisil cylinder, Delta frame, mono shock (different from unicorn mechanism) Liquid cooled engine! It’s got it’s own radiator! Not to forgot the full faring unlike the bikini and thong farings on Karizma and Pulsar 220 :P



The rear of the bike is not that exciting, looks like Yamaha limited to copying only to front and sides of the bike, the rear looks like a normal Indian bike. The fit and finish impressed me, the joints are not awkward, plastic panels don’t have shitty gaps, The paint quality and plastic quality is mind blowing.



While I was still taking pics and admiring it, sachin literally jumped on to it :P He wanted a ride badly to see what is that Yamaha chaps are yapping about and how santoosh got coverted to a Yamaha owner. One ride and back, sachin didn’t want to get down from the bike :P I was like, what is there in this bike that made him not to get down from the saddle. While, I wanted to try out the bike, I was also thinking of santoosh, it was just a 2 day old bike and any one who’s bought a new bike, that too costing 1 lakh plus, wouldn’t like to give any one a ride so soon. But santoosh generously asked me to take it for a ride, I was bit hesistant initially, and just wanted to sit on it and feel the riding posture and stuff.



Hmm, the riding posture is unlike any other Indian bike, the footrests are way way beyond than Karizma, The split on handle bars appeared very narrow for me. Sachin clarified that the posture is similar to Yamaha YZF R6, which he had ridden earlier. But then, I have never ridden or even sat on a sbk, so I guess all sbks have such narrow handle bars. Then I took it on a short spin. It was initially difficult to judge the turn due to shorter handlebar and it’s small movement would make the wheel turn a lot, later I got used to it. The engine is very very silent, the gears are like Honda, butter smooth, throttle is crisp and very precise. Gear shifting is something very very precise and enjoyable. The rear view mirrors are functional unlike pulsar 220’s show piece mirrors. No vibes nothing! I forgot to mention, as soon as ignition is turned on, the rpm needle rises to the max and drops :P Just like self test or something.



Bike is full DC. Has 35 watts dual headlamp. One comes on in lowbeam and both are on in high beam. The clock was missing from console : ( that’s something I’ve gotten addicted to in karizma. The horn was typical wimpy single horn like herohonda : ( But apart from these minor glitches, the bike is indeed a marvel in Indian market. Yamaha claims atleast 130 or 135 kmph on this 150cc pocket rocket, I don’t doubt that either, with it’s 6 speed gearbox and all the gizmos, it will rape all Indian bikes in straight line and corners. The rear tyre looks deceptive but gives excellent Pirelli/Michelin kinda grip. But they are surprisingly zappers and are tubeless. The rear disc break is very much like drum brake, no nasty rear wheel locks. The front brake is very Karizmaish, I got the same progressive feel in R15 front brake.



Ground clearance looked acceptable, but I was apprehensive about the front shocks. The gap between the front faring and front mudguard looked inadequate to swallow Indian road humps and craters, but I guess we will have to find out in one of the rides. Yes, rides! Santoosh intends to use this track machine for touring! Now that is something we will have to see. The riding posture and limited space to carry lugguage is something iam not sure about, but then again, he will figure out a way soon I guess.



Well, finally I can sum up by saying that R15 excited me as a bike enthusiast with all it’s ground breaking technology, fit and finish, performance etc, but as a tourer, Karizma still makes sense to me. I guess Karizma will continue to be my touring machine till some worthwhile upgrade in terms of a tourer comes in to market. But R15 makes sense for that perfect weekend ride out of town and to ride around town. If I was in Santoosh’s position, I guess my choices would have been limited to new Thunderbird or R15. Not a Karizma as it’s 5 year old model and over priced. I guess the tourer side of me would have made me bite the bullet and take my chances :P

That being said, I congratulate Santoosh on his new procession. Let the kms flow brother!