Lets Laze the Laser... Review on Kinetic GF170 Laser

Now, why I would say 'Lets Laze...', 'cos, there were quite a number of reviews on the GF 170 Laser from Kinetic at this site and even after the review by MIMOTOY on the need to re-organize the reivews, it has not been done. For the people, who missed the earlier reviews on the grand GF170 Laser, please check this page out (thanks GOOGLE) https://mouthshut.com/readproduct.php?cid=925042670 or if you are a member please help yourself at https://mouthshut.com/readallreview.php?cid=925042670&r=1.

Ok, let's come to the review:

When I first looked at a Laser, I was over-awed by the fantastic look, especially the Yellow/Black colored bike. When I rode the bike the first time, it was an extremely pleasurable experience altogether. When I bought the bike, except for a small problem by the dealer, which Kinetic was very quick to rectify, I felt proud that I made a very wise decision. Whenever I visit the Gas station for refilling, I am very happy by the mileage figures my Laser gives (average - 45kmpl; c'mon, it is a 170cc high-performance bike! It improves to 55 in highways).

The very first ride was a pleasant one with a nice gentleman, who became a good friend later, who was incidentally the first person to buy one Laser in Chennai. He was so impressed by his bike and extremely confident about the package that bowled him over about 8 months back that he offered his bike to me to take to Pondicherry from Chennai for test-ride! One early Sunday morning, we both took off for Pondy and returned the same day. While going we did 165 kms in less than 2 hours time with a break of 20 minutes in between. The bike performed like a breeze with two-up (both a little heavier) except for a touch-too-much vibes (above 80kmph beyond 8k RPM - I'll touch this point later).

I was having a little bit apprehension because of the vibes and I expressed the same to Kinetic representative at the dealer. Immediately, Kinetic?s technical people visited me and explained the basis of this wonder bike. Unlike other leading models that are scorching the roads with loads of low-end torque, Laser has a steep curve to reach the peak torque, i.e., it has plenty of high-end torque. Which means that, the bike allows you to reach 30kmph @ 2.5k RPM in the 5th gear!! Then, when you reach 5k RPM, then the song starts (really, the exhaust note is a song!); it just pulls, pulls, pulls, and keeps on pulling like a heavyweight. But, don?t read too much from the pick-up perspective if you want a zip-zap ride, it effortlessly does a 0-60 in 6 sec flat and beats most of the bikes, just in case if you are one of the kind-of show-off type.

As mentioned earlier, the Kinetic engineers explained this ?originally Hyosung engineered? wonder bike that has the most-advanced engine in India (I heard you say ? ?yeah, another maker claiming tall?, but, no, there is no electronic mombo-jombo stuff that this bike has, it has a four-valve per cylinder air + oil cooled four stroke engine which no bike, read NO BIKE, in India has, except for the two other grand bikes from Kinetic). They also promised that one will not find the vibes if the proper ?run-in? happens for the vehicle during the initial 2000km ? 2500km driving at 50-55kmph. And I believe them based on the sincerity and speed with which they addressed my doubts.

This is a very technologically most advanced biking that we have from Kinetic-Hyosung. A 166 cc delivering 14.8 BHP @ 8k RPM with torque of 14.2 Ngm @ 6k RPM, this bike is a hot one that is a hip, stylish, pleasant-looking, powerful, and yet value-for-money (58k on road ? Chennai ? Kick start model). What is really very touching is the fact that Kinetic doesn't go around and create hypes saying something about the gender of the bike or other nonsense to sell, but rushes to you to address in case of any small doubt that you might have.

Aren?t there any negative points? Yes, few of them, but very neglect-able. To start with, there is this ?thud? sound from the front fork at times, the bike will not allow you to kick-start it when not in neutral, the side-stand is quite tall and hangs well below the bike to reduce the ground-clearance and hits some speed breakers (a plus with this stand is that it never allows to shift gears if you forget to slide-in the stand before riding), head lights are a little tardy (though it has twin 45/40w bulbs!), and you are always in the center-stage wherever you go (that is, if you don?t like that).

So, what if the dealer response isn?t good, what if the dealer is much annoyed that Kinetic engineers visit them to take care of ?your? bike, what if every seventh bike at the traffic lights is ?pulsaring? but awing at you with envious look, I am a proud owner of a Kinetic Biking?s GF 170 Laser and the story continues. I am sure that if Kinetic educates its dealers on customer handling and customer satisfaction, publicize the advantages of the bike through good advertisements (I don?t understand why they are not doing so?), this would certainly become a big hit.