Apr 23, 2008 11:50 AM
7654 Views
*Bike:
*Bajaj XCD 125 CC
Self-Start
Price: 46.5k(on road)
Place: Chennai
Date: Feb 26, 2008
*Looks
*Looks are subjective. Each one has their own way to define looks. My XCD is red and I kinda like it(then again, my cousins hate the look of it J). It generates quite a bit of interest on the road and has had 3 or 4 occasions where people enquired about the bike during traffic stops. General questions like mileage, performance, etc which is a normal interest from people whenever they see a new vehicle on the road. I am planning to replace the seat cover to match the bike color and have the wheels with red sticker to have a better look(hope it would be better).
*Features
*The front view of the bike is stunning. Looks like a cheetah and from the drivers view point too, it looks pretty cool. With the elegant LCD display, it can’t get any better. Well. Actually it can if the LCD is color display with more options I guess. I wish there were quite a few basic options in the LCD though, like a clock.
The fuel indicator can be quite deceiving. Depends on the terrain you drive, one second you could have 2 bars in there and the next moment, nothing.
The rear brake light is artistically designed but completely useless. It looks like a tiny dot. The lights are bright but if you are a huge truck driver behind one of the XCDs, if the XCD driver brakes, you would never notice it. Bajaj has to do a small patch up there at least considering the safety of the owners. Saree plus tool box is a bright idea.
*Performance
*Good initial pickup. The bike is sleek and slender. Rear tires needs a bit more width, but then again, it would compromise on the mileage I guess. Given the mileage I am getting, I wouldn’t mind it though. More on that later. Due to the small rear tires, the bike is highly unstable even on the smallest of differences on the road. I am in Chennai and if I need to drive on an uniform surface, the only place would be my house’s floor.
With 2 people on the bike, it is pretty hard to climb even a smaller bridge. The bike’s doesn’t pull even 2 people and you could feel the engine straining. With 1 person though, it is pretty perky.
Due to the slender rear tires, it skids a lot. If you are on a muddy road, do slow down. Even at speeds of 25 KMPH, the bike skids(may be I am exaggerating a bit but I felt very unsafe driving in muddy roads. If I am with my family, I slow down completely just to avoid any mishap).
BAJAJ – DISK BRAKES PLEASE. 125 CC and no disk brakes? Not even an option to have one? Come on now. I was one of those guys who kept saying Disc Brakes are not needed for city driving but after using XCD for 2 months, I disagree. And again, BAJAJ – 5th GEAR please. You could feel the bike crying for the 5th gear.
*Mileage
Hmmm…what does that small “” denote which is next to 109 kmpl? I would really like to know that and see if I can reproduce that. I know most manufacturers mention a bit higher as mileage but the bike returns a little less but not like XCD.
Advertised as 109 but I get a miserly 55 kmpl. Felt cheated and disappointed. Mind you. I am one of those “safety first speed next” kinda guy. Drove well within 45 KMPH during the first 700 KMs. Now, I don’t cross 55 but then again Chennai doesn’t allow going in that speed for more than 10 seconds.
I knew the other shortcomings like lack of 5th gear, lack of disk brakes but went in due to the mileage but got a huge disappointed in that aspect too. I wish I had purchased some other bike.
Ride Comfort:
Ride comfort is pretty good. Even after driving for 1 or 2 hours, you dont feel back ache or anything. As mentioned before, bike is slender and hence it is easy to maneuver in city traffic.
*Issues faced so far:
*Starting troubles. Not sure why but every morning i have this problem and it wouldn't go away. I had to use the kicker 4 or 5 times in the morning to get it started but after it starts, no problems at all.
Conclusion
I don’t know what to say about this bike actually. It isn’t the safest bike on the road what with poor brakes, useless brake lights and slender rear tires. Even then, it would have been a good commuter city bike if it had a good mileage but for an approx 60 KMPL(average) mileage, one could go for better bikes even if it means shelling out a bit more from your pocket. That way, you could at least be safe.
