WinD 125-A CompletE RevieW. Review on Bajaj Wind 125

Hello friends and fellow commuters it’s me again the greatone. First of all Thank You very much for reading and commenting on my review on CALIBER 115. Its becoz of u guys I am writing another review at ms. This time I m writing a review on my favourite bike (After caliber 115 ofcourse!!) Kawasaki WIND 125.

Anyway to start with KAWASAKI WIND 125—World Bike is the latest offering after their highly successful CALIBER 115. This time, although, Bajaj engineers and have tried something different by using the universal gear shift pattern i.e. 1 down and 4 up (racer bikes style) and lemme tell you they have made a really wonderful bike. Once again Let us analyze every segment of this bike:

LOOKS: Well at first when I saw this bike in the advertisements it looked different from what it looks from road. But when I saw it on the road from front then it seemed similar to Caliber 115. Frankly speaking Bajaj has done a compromise on the looks aspect of this bike. In wind 125, the side panels finished in grey plastic in the form of a curved arrowhead which make it different from being connected with the seat panels. The dual tone mudguard, the angled silencer pipe with Kawasaki etched on it, body coloured aluminum die cast at the back are new and look good. The tail lampisoval shaped.Nothing to mention more about the looks of this bike. The colours available are Ash Black, Flame Red, Candy Blue, Magic Silver and Midnight Purple.

ENGINE & TRANSMISSION: This is the one aspect of the bike which makes it a clear winner. The WIND 125 has a 124.6 K-TEC (Kawasaki Technology) engine which gives a meaty power of 11 Bhp (10.8 Bhp to be exact) at 8700 rpm which is 7.95 Kw of power. The pick up of this bike is amazing. I think there is not much of a difference in pick up between Wind and Pulsar (not DTSi), the latter one being 12 Bhp. It produces a torque of 9.8 Nm at 7000 rpm which is amazing power. Take a test ride and u’ll come to know. Bajaj engineers have made this bike torquey and powerful and at a slight cost of fuel efficiency-I’ll describe about the fuel efficiency later. Bajaj engineers have used the CV—Constant Velocity Carburettor which allows slide in the carburettor to move automatically in direct proportion to engine demand which ensures more efficient fuelling and improved throttle response. This is the fist time CV Carburettor is used in the 100cc bike segment. In normal ones the carburettor moves in response to the throttle movement. The bike uses Digital Ignition--That is there is a microprocessor controlled DC ignition unit which varies ignition timing characteristics for its optimum performance over its full speed range together with TRICS (Throttle Responsive Ignition Control System). Also the breather of the crankcase is connected to the air filter, thus eliminating evaporative emissions from the crankcase being released directly into the atmosphere. This also eliminated the possibility of entering the foreign particles, dust etc into the crankcase which prevents clogging.

The Transmission is 5 speed; The gear system is 1 down and 4 up; Yup this is Bajaj’s 1st bike which employs this gear transmission system. The gears are well spaced so u don’t find any problems in gear shifting. The gear box is in synchronization with the gear shift mechanism so the gear shift is quite smooth much better compared to other bikes better even then the Caliber 115. One more thing it also allows kick starting the vehicle in any gear position just by depressing the clutch (just like CBZ)-it means u don’t need to shift to neutral every time u want to start the bike!!! Here also Bajaj have used the 5 plate clutch which provides better shift quality. It cruises when u switch onto the final 5th gear. Be sure to drive the bike in all the 5 gears when u happen to ride WIND and see the difference!!

PERFORMANCE: If I were to describe the bike’s performance in a single word it would be MIND BLOWING. This baby moves from 0-60 in 6.22sec flat. and 0-80 in 13sec..The top speed of this bike is 105 kmphwhich I don’t think any bike in the 100cc segment is offering. The closest is Caliber 115 which has a top whack of 100 kmph. The bike is smooth even at high speeds. You don’t find any no chain noises in this bike because Bajaj enggs have used Silent Timing Chainas opposed to the normal roller/bush chain, the links in this former have minimum sliding action, which results in lesser speed variations, lesser chain wear and less noise. Also it is durable more then normal chains in terms of wear and tear as the age of the bike advances. Well one thing I would like to tell you that if u r in 4th gear at low speed such as 15-20 kmph then u would find engine knocking not in this bike but on any bike if u don’t provide correct amount of throttle. So be careful because engine knocking of a new bike is not advised.

MILEAGE: Bajaj officials say this bike gives a mileage of 80 km/lit.;(UNDER STANDARD TEST CONDITIONS i.e. u ride at 40 kmph with 130 kg payload). With this bike gives one can expect a mileage between 45-50 kms to a litre before 1st service. After 1st service u can expect this bike to give about 55 kms/lit. I would say that this bike should have been slightly more fuel efficient i.e. it should have been providing a mileage of about 65-70 atleast considering that u are paying about 50,000 bucks for this bike and the mileage is only slightly more than Pulsar the latter giving a mileage of about 50. I guess this is the major reason why I think the bike is not as successful as it should have been. The fuel tank is of 13 litres.

LIGHTS: The head lamp is a 35 watt/12v bulb same as used in Caliber 115.

SUSPENSION: The HDS suspension is used here as well. The front shock absorbers are Telescopic type while the rear is Trailing arm with co-axial shock absorber and coil springs providing excellent suspension.

INSTRUMENTATION: The bike comes with three dials on the panel meter- Speedometer with odometer and trip meter Fuel meter and the Tachometer. There is no optimum riding indicator present here. The speedo and fuel gauge are black in colour while the tacho is silver in colour.

Braking & Wheels WIND 125 uses Disc Brakes in the front to provide maximum safety. The front brakes are KBX 240mm disc brakes (130 mm drum brake version also available); while the rear are 130 mm drum brakes. The bike provides perfect braking. A wheelbase of 1260mm assures maximum stability. The MRF Zapper tyres 2.75x18 front and 3.00x18 rear provide excellent control without any skidding.

OVERALL COMMENTS: Once again Bajaj has really made a bike which is worth buying. All in all if u want to buy a bike having power of nearly 150cc segment bikes and mileage slightly greater then 150cc bikes then go for this bike, u won’t regret!!