Oct 23, 2009 12:06 AM
6552 Views
(Updated Oct 23, 2009 12:08 AM)
Style:I have had my 200 CC Red Avenger now for a year. In a way I am a proud owner. I always get to see people admiring the bike from my boss to passerby.
Comfort and usability:Bike is extremely comfortable when it comes to the front rider due to its luxurious seat but my wife could never sit long enough for us to be doing any long distance. This is a pity specially since its supposed ot be a cruiser like.
The chromework on the petrol tank looks great but try riding at noon and your face will be fried if you are riding for long in harsh sunlight . It directly reflects on your face and there is nothing you can do about it. The standard rearview mirrors are badly manufactured and I have hurt my knuckles many a times in adjusting my helmet and slipping my hands back on to accelerator. If you ever have to elope with your girlfriend on this bike keep at least few minutes to get started as you need to bend right to open the lock, and then bend (really hard) to open the ignition lock on the left before you can hit the start button. I do curse the idiot who designed that almost every day.
Handling:Talking about handling bike feels great untill you hit a rough patch, loose soil, or muddy road. My confidence in riding in these circumstances is very low and it feels very unsafe. This could be partly due to long wheel base and angled forks but at the same time due to really weak rear disk breaks in case of emergency most likely the front will lock and you can skidd for sure. The Bike
Maintenance:Its not expensive, but bike seems to need that very often. Nothing serious but things seem to loosen very easily. The fuel gauge was replaced three times and still it gets all the fog inside. Now I have stopped worrying about it. The leg guard bold gave away and now its hanging on a single bolt.
Experience:The gears slip very easily and getting it to neutral is an art which I have now mastery. The sound is pretty bad on anything beyond 40 km/h. If you are looking for a healthy thumps like enfields you will be very disappointed. The sound seems like a struggling whine of a under powered machine. I have never had a heart to take it above 60-65 km/h because it never felt it could go further.
I may have talked about a lot of issues but at the end I made a compromise to many things knowing my requirements. I do not commute very far in bad traffic, I mostly ride single to my office and occasionally with kids, I don't ride it for very long distance, and I don't ride it in muddy and loose soil. If you expect to do any of these things please take a careful look and have multiple test drives till you are convinced. With all this I still love it, but wish if it was better in handling as well.
