Apr 18, 2007 10:21 PM
12883 Views
I always wanted a set of wheels of my own, and so on Mar16, I went ahead and got myself the CBX Xtreme(Silver, w/self start).
Before starting the review I want to put forth the reasons I bought this bike, why this bike appealed to me the most. To me a motorbike should be a brute of a machine, if I open the throttle, it must hurtle me towards wherever I want to go. Sedate machines like all the 100c bikes were out of the question. I even checked out the Aprilla range but then better sense prevailed and I turned my attention towards the domestic brands. Mileage was not my primary concern, thrill was. Why not a pulsar? Well, I don’t want to be the guinea pig on whom Bajaj can test their fancy sounding fads(dtsi dtfi etc). Give us a stable product Mr. Bajaj! The road is not a testing ground. Many pulsar owners while not exactly criticizing their bikes, nevertheless told me to go for Unicorn. So why not a unicorn? Everyone will agree that looks DO matter. Unicorn looks most conventional, tell someone to describe the bike's looks, 99% will say'nothing special', the other 1% being unicorn owners to whom it maybe the prettiest thing on this planet. What about Apache? Somehow the marketing seemed too much on projecting a ‘cool’ image rather than substance. That and the vibration problems mentioned in a lot of reviews and I struck it off the shopping list. So the only thing left(in my budget) was the CBZ and I was pretty much eager to get my hands upon some means of transport, so CBZ it was.
The red CBZ was prominently displayed on the showroom, little bit of a search led me to the silver one with the black mag-alloy wheels. BTW the wheels have 5 spokes, pulsar has 6. So you can see the spokes rotating at higher speeds than the pulsar, they look good. All financial matters settled, he handed me the keys. There was one problem - I had never ridden a bike before! Took out the manual, ignored a few funny glances from the showroom fellow, read the relevant pages and went rolling away! Though the speedo registered only 30, it felt glorious, the cool breeze and all that(Hate helmets). I have never gone beyond 60 and don’t intend to before the first service.
Engine: Touch the self-start button and the engine starts with a purr, very smooth. You have to listen carefully if you want to hear the engine, you can only feel the vibration while the engine is idling. A person standing just a meter away will never know that the engine is running! Pickup is excellent all the way to the third gear. Can only use 4th gear when speed is above 30, otherwise you hear the engine protesting. I always start in the first gear, cross 20kmph, shift to second till 30kmph, 3rd gear till 40, 4th gear after that till 50 and 5th gear after that, never seen the tacho cross 3500rpm. Low rpm= smoooooth ride. One thing, the visor starts to vibrate like crazy at 50 but after 55 things are back to normal. Anyone else notice this?
Suspension: Feels very good to me, bad for the pillion rider. Heard complaints from almost everyone who sat behind me, so don’t take your girlfriend on a rough road unless she happens to have an unbreakable a*s.
Brakes: The rear drum brakes hardly do their job, maybe because its a very heavy bike(140kg), I use it only for the indication purpose and there is a lot of play too, front disc brakes are great, the bike stops exactly where you want it to. It makes a small squealing noise though after repeated braking, my friend says this is normal. Disc brakes at the rear too would be nice – and expensive no doubt, but I would certainly go for it.
Mileage: Got 48 when I last measured – from reserve to reserve, crude method I guess, anyone know any better? I used a mix of HP, IOC unleaded fuels. The showroom fellow told me not to use premium petrol, said it was of help only if you had MPFI. Can anyone verify this? I am able to drive mostly in the third gear because of all the traffic. Everyone tells me mileage will go up after the 1st service, hope its true. But I am not too concerned about the figure, as long as the bike gives me a good ride.
Looks: Has a black powder-coated engine block – looks good; split hand grips for the pillion rider give a distinct look to the bike; got an additional Teflon coat wherever silver was visible, its very easy to clean now-a wipe with a damp cloth removes any stain easily. The front look of the bike is distinct too; the pilot lamp(purpose?) has attracted many stares. The red-light at the back comes from LEDs and not the normal filament type, they are long-life types I am sure and they are VERY bright. The side indicators do not stick out and droop like in other bikes but instead are stuck near to the headlight/rear light. This is very innovative, it won’t break off and cleaning too becomes easy. I got a black magnetic tank-bag from cramster, and it adds to the solid look of the bike.
Stability: Feel comfortable through fast tight turns, and I LOVE to weave through the traffic on the bike. This maybe serious - sometimes while going steady on a level road I get a feeling that the rear wheel is slightly wobbling, maybe my imagination, but I swear its true, the tyre doesn’t look under-inflated. Definitely I will get it checked during the service.
Posture: You sit with your elbows straight on this bike and slightly leaning forward. I traveled for about 40 km non-stop without feeling any discomfort. I am a very short guy – only 5’5”, so your experiences may differ.
Would I recommend this bike? Certainly. Nothing is perfect and at this price(65200 on-road), I feel it’s a great deal.
