Golden Mean. Review on Hero Honda CD 100 SS

We have a farmhouse and some property in Panjim, Goa. My father had come to Mumbai for work and settled in work. Now after his retirement he looks after the farmland and house there. Staying and traveling in Goa is totally different. One cannot rely on local transport because it’s all privatized and depends on their will. The point is you must own a vehicle in order to make your life easy. The budget was limited to 25000-30000 Rs. We had option of buying a brand new TVS-Scooty kind of motorbike or may be look out for a used more Powerful Motorcycle. Fortunately my cousin who wanted to sell his 6-month-old Hero Honda CD 100 SS came up and told us that since he is living for US he could offer us it for Rs. 25000. I said it’s not a bad deal at all ‘cause the Road price of CD 100 is about 42000. At home in Mumbai we have a old Kinetic Honda and a New Scooty, so we fixed on to Hero Honda CD 100 and the deal was completed. I usually go to Goa during short vacations. I have used CD100 for a long time now; even I dashed it to straight on a crossing buffalo on road. Writing on Automobiles is not my cup of tea since I have very little technical knowledge and experience. I will try my best to tell you my experience with It. I will start with features.

Features:

Average

CD 100 is a 100 cc bike. The claimed average from the company is 80 km/liters. I have used it running at about 60+ km/litres. Efficiency of its 4-stroke engine seems ok to me. When I drive it I feel the power in driving since I’m used to Scooty and Kinetic Honda. The pick up is very good. You may scoff at me for not knowing what power is. But I’m not a speed maniac always thriving for 80+ km speeds. I just like to drive safe and peacefully. As far as my expectations are concerned bike passes the test satisfactorily. I like the proverb ’Necessity knows no laws’. You can always go for CBZ, Bajaj Eliminator, TVS Victor and get more smiles per hour, more speed hour. I mean there is no limit. Looking from economical, mileage and efficiency point of view you got to settle for Golden mean. You can’t have everything together.

Structure

The bike is red colored. Special steel frame of high strength makes the whole body of the bike strong. The frame has less welding joints so it makes the support enduring. These things are important from safety point of view. I mentioned about my minor encounter with buffalo. Animals of cattle family are don’t give a Sh** kind of personalities. Your blast your horn, threaten (just threaten) them to take the vehicle over them or anything in the world to make them move, they just don’t listen. Wise and experienced say when they are crossing the road you take your vehicle from behind them not from front. I just did the later. It was evening, the headlight got thrashed, I fell down with the bike iron, but important thing is apart from fragile headlight not much had been damaged of the bike. The steel guard prevented from any possible dent or scratch. That time I felt the importance of the strong structure.

Ground Clearance

While mentioning this feature I’m comparing it with different types of Automobiles. All similar bikes may have similar specification. Height of the motor and parts from the ground or more technically Ground clearance is 145 mm. Clearance in Kinetic Honda (KH) and similar Scooters have a lesser distance. So after some time the Parking Stand starts hitting the slightly heightened surfaces like Speed Breakers or Rumbling Strips, Stones. I face this problem with my KH. Large Radius of motorcycle tires makes the Clearance tall enough than small scooter tires.

Fuel and Maintenance

Fuel tank capacity is 10 liters with 2.8 for reserve. Oil requirement is also very less or optimum. Oil utilization is only 50 ml from every thousand kilometers. Independent utilization of oil from petrol leaves no piston, silencer and spark plug free of carbon. I still remember the trouble my uncle used to have with monstrous Rajdoot. He often used to clean his Spark Plug clean it for the bike to start. That Rajdoot was as obstinate as mule.

Other

This one satisfies pollution limits and allowed CO levels. With smoke free exhaust you can proudly say Pollution Under Control. Speedometer with lights, marked with Economy Zone guides you about the efficient driving speed range. Shock absorbers are good enough to provide a comfortable ride.

I have used the Customer Service once and found it fair enough.

I wouldn’t say CD 100 is the best bike around. But it was best at its time. Now we have plenty of choices with power, mileage, and style. TVS Victor impressed me most in the current Advertisement assault. CBZ, (Definitely male) Eliminator, Fiero are cool too. If are ready to spend some money then you don’t need to reach for the Golden Mean it will come to you.