With all these reviews on Pulsars, Enticers, Ambitions and other macho bikes, I was woe begone to see that nobody had mentioned a word about that once-babe of the
masses the Bajaj Sunny.
My liaison with the Sunny started an year or so ago, when I needed something with an engine and two wheels to go to my office. It was a couple of minutes away from
home, and all I needed was something that would take me there. Period. No frills, pizzazz, vroom, sex appeal or anything, just transport, pure and simple.
After a little haggling I picked up an 8th hand (so he told me) Bajaj Sunny from an associate at work. It was battered, broke, had no suspension, a broken tank cap, total
electric malfunction, (nothing, not even the head light worked) and a seat that was as ripped apart as the inevitable babe in those Yankee Horror movies. But I got it for a
cool 2 thousand bucks (which I suppose is too much anyhow).
Since then it has been my noble steed. Even though it was restricted to five minute jaunts to the corner tea shop, and the daily office route, slowly we started to take it to
town. (The fact that it had not a hint of paperwork was a trifle stifling mind you.) It has now become a part of the family, and serves to its best abilities.
Now there is absolutely no point in comparing the Sunny to a Lamborghini, it is very much in a niche of its own. I will touch on those aspects which make the vehicle what
it is:
- Handling:
It handles very nicely for its size and build. It is a very flimsy vehicle though. The tubular chassis gives it hardly any bulk, and for the single person it handles very sweetly.
However put one more passenger on the back and then it suddenly becomes Greco-Roman wrestling. The center of gravity goes all over the place. The vehicle does not
have very good pick up and two decent sized passengers can make driving pretty tough. But for city driving, and twisty roads, with all sorts of encroachment, assassin
auto drivers, and juggernaut public transport buses, it is great to zip through the traffic. Once it starts flowing along, it is pretty smooth.
- Pick up:
Ahem pretty embarassing actually. I have many times caused mini-traffic jams at signals because the vehicle just cant pick up with me and my robust room mate on it. We
sometimes have actually coaxed the vehicle by kicking on the road (Flintstones style) to get it to move. Any mushy tracks, steep climbs, and you can become the center
of attraction. even though it helps to lighten the atmosphere around you, doesnt do your self-esteem any good. But once it picks up speed it does have a fairly good zip.
Not one for the off-road junkies, wait, not even for the on-road junkies.
- Fuel Efficieny:
Honestly I havent measured this one yet. But I do get the feeling I am filling it a tad too often. Its 3.5 litre tank really doesnt make it worthwhile for long trips. But again I
cant comment on this.
- Seating and comfort:
If your alone, its got a lot of room, with a partner well you better be the driver. If the two passengers are not Kate Moss types in structure, the guy sitting in the back has a
serious danger of getting skinned knees, shins and mangled feet. There just isnt enough space for two me-sized people. I have to keep my knees sticking out when riding
in the back, and I have knicked a lot of electricity poles and cows. (With no particular retaliation so far....). I did once bang right against a guy sitting on a bike. In these
circumstances you have to sufer the ignominy if people jogging and catching up with you, when you are going in top speed (refer thoughts on Pick up above)
- After Sales Service:
The previous owner told me the parts would be troublesome to find and a little expensive. Which is true to an extent. It is not too popular a vehicle right now. But it is not
too difficult to maintain. We really dont take it for Auto Shows, so I just do the bare minimum to keep it running. But we did a major overhaul of a few of the major parts
recently, the suspension, the brakes, the electrics, etc. and it cost us around 600 bucks or so. We had no complaints.
- Chassis and accessories:
Umm.. the less said the better. Looks, feels, and is very flimsy. The panels are all fiberglass and plastic, and looks very cheap after a little age. Most of the fittings are
flimsy too. The lock on the underseat compartment is a big pain in the posterior. It can drive you nuts at the petrol bunk, (the tank is within the compartment). The whole
vehicle is not very robust itself. And accessories limit themselves to a headlight, a horn and rear lights. This of course is for the model I have, the new ones have a lot
more toppings. The suspension is pretty sad too, we have scraped clean most speed breakers in the Anna Nagar, Mandaiveli areas of Chennai. Our headlight came with
Artificial Intelligence embedded, it switches on and off by itself. (Though it has sweet timings sometimes).
- Looks:
Hehehe..... You must be joking. It doesnt have any image, if anything, it is the housewife's special. Noone, no not even school girls drive it anywhere. And driving it
wearing a Calvin Klein jeans will probably get you sued by CK.
- Last Words:
The Scooty is better any day. It beats it on all fronts. However do remember that my review is based on a used, and battered version of the vehicle. But the one things
that is really credible about the Sunny, is its hardiness, for all its flimsy structure, it is one hell of a workhorse. The previous owner used it to transport engineering
components all over Chennai. It will take any amount of beating, and will still run around with that gut wrenching noise of its.
We love our Sunny. Buying a new one probably does not make sense anymore, with the wide variety of vehicles available, but if you need to make short ten minute runs
like we do, and all you are worried about is going form point A to B, well at the right price it is a good workhorse type of vehicle to buy used. And I am keeping mine, who
knows it could become a collectors item tomorrow.
