Oct 13, 2006 07:08 PM
6995 Views
I have been riding bikes for the last 21years.Its started with Hero Honda CD100 in the year 1985. I had the privilege of riding Yamaha RX100,TVS Victor GL and Hero Honda Splendor Special in the preceding years till I decided to go for Honda Unicorn. Now I am an owner of this bike for the last 1 month. My decision to switch different bikes in those years based on my assessment and availability of technologies at that point of time. I have seen the trend of the advancement of technology over the years. I have also seen the change of trend as far as the style and preferences are concerned. Within two years entry level bikes will be 125cc only. Gone are the days of 100cc.
Now why I have chosen unicorn: My choice is limited 150cc as I need a stable bike and that can be achieved with kerb weight of more than 130Kgs. My choice was limited to Pulsar, Apache and Unicorn. I have not considered Achiever because of its look even though the engine is a refined version of unicorn engine. I have an aversion for TVS product as my experience with the Victor GL was very sordid. I had to change the fuel tank twice due to leakage and had to change the rear shock absorber thrice during warranty period. That unnerved me a bit to select Apache. They also have been updating their engine from the service feedback quite frequently. So they want to experiment at our cost by providing an under developed engine to the customer and do the refinement of the engine accordingly. That means R&D at our cost.
Pulsar also did not figure due to its gear box. Any experience bike user can ascertain this short coming very easily. The quality of alloy wheel is also a suspect as these are imported from cheap Chinese manufacturer. This wheel is also not suitable for this region as we have an extended summer with a lot of mud and soil in our roads. The anodized wheel is subjected to erosion because of highly acidic soil of this region. (I happened to be from Assam).The riding posture (tilted towards front) is also not suitable for a middle age person like me (I am 42).
My choice unicorn is heavy influenced by the brand image. I had a couple test rides and result was very encouraging. The ride, build, finishing etc are really superb. But I am yet to find the difference with monoshock. May be it helps in stability during cornering etc.
The cons are :
Bad horn 2. Inadequate high beam for highway riding 3.Gear lever is somewhat crude, a Yamaha RX100 type is more convenient. 4. Switch gear is rudimentary, unlike Honda Class. 5. TUFFUP tube is also a difficult proposition to mend in our place as normal patch maker find it cumbersome. We have only one Honda service centre in our city and it is difficult to get access for minor tube repair, as you will hardly get priority. Replacement of the tube is the only option. 6. Limited colour options. 7. Trip meter is absent. 8. Instruction manual is poor, some of the diagram is very small (not readable with naked eyes) like electrical circuit.
But still it’s a great bike – a trend setter for years to come like Yamaha RX 100 during 90’s.
