IN NO MAN'S LAND. Review on Hero Honda Karizma

In no man’s land:

The most anticipated bike has disappointed a lot would be a perfect line to start with. Hero Honda no doubt is the world’s largest motorcycle (read two-wheeler) manufacturers but largest does not mean the best. (Or does it?)

And I tell you mate over here they have become a victim of trying to do too much at one time.

Let me take you for a ride. A ride on Karizma;

Jet Set and Fall.

Oh get up there!!!!.

There are many skids before the fall.

The positives first:

It is a 223 CC bike. Allright.

It has 16.8 horses for carrying the load. Fine.

And yes they do carry the load fast. From sleeping to 60 in just 4 seconds flat. Wow I will say.

For those interested in technical specs then yes the bike gives a torque of 18.35 at 6000 rpm, which for a layman means a smooth engine thereby giving a longer life to the engine.

The wheelbase is just 0.9 cm more than Pulsar 180 and 0.15 cm less than thunderbird. It is good for better road handling.

But sadly the story ends here only.

The negatives:

First of all, this MACHINE comes at a very steep price buddy. The bike costs more than 86000 RUPEES on road.

The bike returns a poor average of 25 –28 km/liter of petrol in normal city riding conditions. This is pathetic bearing in mind that petrol is a non-renewable source of energy.

Who will in his right mind go for this bike.??????

May be someone who thinks that this is some sports bike.

But Dude THIS IS NO SPORTS BIKE AND NOT A CRUISER BY ANY STRETCH OF IMAGINATION.THEN THE BIG QUESTION IS : WHAT IS THIS?

I TELL YOU FRIEND THIS IS ONE EXPERIMENT GONE AWFULLY WRONG. IT IS A BIKE IN NO MAN’S LAND.

Yes you can feel the thrill of speed (TOP SPEED OF 125 IS POSSIBLE) AND 0-60 IN FOUR SECONDS IS ACHIEVABLE; but you will NOT burn a big opening in your pocket YOU WILL BURN YOUR WHOLE POCKET buddy.

The top speed is just in the range where eliminator and thunderbird can give it a run for its money.

Their innovation of Digital meter has nothing much in it to write home about except that this is the first of its kind. Honestly it looks good; the finish of the meter is good. Though some may disagree but I can tell in the long run that this digital meter would become a liability, because your friendly road side mechanic can not do much to iron out little problems even. (And from where it struck to them that we are bored with traditional meters.)

The mag wheels look very out of sync. Who told them to experiment with five weak webs instead of the traditional three heavy webs? It lacks that heavy look.

The front fairing is stylish but it has for sure its disadvantages. The head light will turn at its will for instance. And any minor accident can damage the whole attachment; Particularly when there is no provision of leg guard in the bike. Yes Man there is no company fitted leg guard in the bike and moreover there is no provision for getting it done yourself. Trust me for this. If you happen to fall (even Rossi falls many times; By the way Rossi is world’s no 1 motorcycle rider) then you would be spending more than 10000 to get the defect right.

What are the R&D engineers doing in HH. Still basking in the fading glory of CBZ. Someone please wake them up and tell them that the days are over when CBZ ruled the roads. There is Pulsar ruling the roads these days. So kindly get your act together.

In case there is some accident even minor one then the front blinkers would be the first casualty. You can experiment with that. Sorry no jokes here. You would really curse for that omission of leg guards.

The Hero Honda guys’ obsession with CBZ design has not ended yet. The kick-starter is the same CBZ type still, which necessitates folding the RH footrest for kicking. I tell you this is a Technical Blunder man. Trust me for this.

The karizma gear shifter is also the same as of CBZ, It has no heel shifter.

The horn for the bike of this size is weak. The tyres could have been little more broader.

The side stand is just a formality. It always tells you to put the bike on main stand.

Though there are some little innovations with design and instrumentation but the final product has broken hearts.

I have been a follower of Hero Honda bikes and loved CBZ for its looks but of late I have not been able to understand their pricing strategy also.

1.Fully loaded Ambition is more expensive than fully loaded Pulsar 150 considering that the later is a better product (the winner from Bajaj stable ruling the market).

2.Fully loaded CBZ is costlier than Pulsar 180 (again the later is more powerful bike than CBZ besides other plusses) and now Karizma costs as much as eliminator.

Now people of the biking world would have to agree with me that if some one is ready to spend around 90000 then they should prefer Eliminator for its unique and classy looks which still is capable of turning heads even after spending 3 years in the market.

Though I would give grade A for Hero Honda guys for daring to go where no one has ever gone.

But Someone please ask them to come back fast as they have gone astray.

Thanks for reading the review.

Thanks for your time.