All together a great Bike, go 4 it. Review on TVS Suzuki Fiero - KS

This review (1st paragraph) was originally written on Oct 2002. I have updated this review later on July 2007

Except for the gear shift (on which TVS has something to work at),which is not as smooth as that of the hero honda range of bikes, fiero is superb!!!. Great power, superb styling and even more smooth ride. The technical edge is clearly above than any other bike around here.This is a perfect combination of power and mileage put together. I had rode one of my friend's fiero some months ago and fell for it at once. The fall was well worth I may say now. I always wanted something above the normal 100 cc bikes, one which had enough extra muscles fiero came on par with this imagination.

Update on July 2007

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Well, on the first note, I would like to mention that nothing much has changed in my take on this bike (majorly) even after the 5 years of ownership of this handsome bike. I still love it as I used to, 5 years back. Along the years I find close to NIL deterioration in terms of engine refinement, the sound, when heard from nearby the engine, has a bit changed which reminds me and some of my friends of a knocking problem, but I personally doesnt feel it to be a negative point worth mentioning. From behind, the engine and exhaust sound is as clear and crisp as it was THEN. (Here I would like to say, which was not mentioned in my original post, it was this clear and crisp also the deep enough engine/exhaust sound of the Fiero, the most important factor that made me, a fan of this bike, together with its most reliable performance.

I would rather mention it point by point:

Pros:

Very refined engine, the best I would say, having rode Pulsar and CBZ among the bikes of equal status.

Very Very reliable. I have had only a 1 problem, with the spark plug necessarily- the bike refused to start. No other starting problems ever, even after keeping it idle for weeks together, kick starting it was never a headache- just needed 2 or 3 fine kicks. No cold starting problem ever. This could be an issue later because, I have never used the choke lever in this bike, and ultimately in course of time, the lever got stuck due to the non- use :-))

Very good suspension. Infact could be told a bit on the softer side. It could be a bit more hard, suitable for rough roads.

Speed - it can easily beat a pulsar in terms of top speed during those days. But eventually with Pulsar DTSi version coming later, I doubt this. It has got greater speeds actually. Good pick up, but I would rate it lower than that of the pulsar. As rightully said in another person's review about fiero, Pulsar wins in the short/early phase of the pick up contest, but it is actually during the later phase that the Fiero will catch up and beat it. I have easily reached 110 kmph on level highways. And doing 90s and 100s is never a big thing in this bike on any plain and safe oads.

Lights are good enough- I wont say it is bad or below average. In my case battery was good. I still is the original one and delivers good results, even with the additional air horn that I had installed. Many of my friends bikes batteries (the hondas and the bajajs) battery was replaced in between this period. I just love the clear and easily recognizable tail lamp of my fiero. to be frank, whenever I come across another fiero on the road, I tend to follow that bike closely from behind and would never try to overtake, just to enjoy the sweet exhaust sound that it produces and this beuty of its tail/brake lamp... LOL....

Cons:

Now that I will most probably be selling off this bike (because I will be moving out of this city for a longer period and wont be able to get a person who will just maintain this bike for me for a year or more) I am getting to know, this bike has got poor resale value. I dont know if I will be able to fetch a decent 20k or close to it, which I expect, because I know how much I cared for this bike. :-((

I read else where in some other review on this bike, about the wheelie problem. I infact experienced it once. Me and my friend, he had a bit heavy bag in his lap, we had a front wheelie as soon as we started from rest, and both of us were on the ground. :)

Parts are expensive. I had to once replace the front plastic visor assembly. It did cost me more than what I had thought of. The workshop guy told the reason for the the other metal mechanism parts being expensive- as because of the higher quality parts being used in this bike compared to any other tvs bike or other makes.

Brakes are not good. I have drum brakes in front- and this is SIMPLY not enough. The rear brakes has a tendency to get locked along with depnding on the quality or the road you are riding, and this will need quite some circus kinda experience to manage when u are riding in rain or in gravel-ly roads.

Gear shift as said in the original post still gives some trouble-not so big a deal though- as now I am taking it for granted.

A particular fact here: when I gear down, ie, come from say 3rd to 2nd gear..the sound is bit on the higher side, the click sound, making you feel that something is getting damaged. I oversome this by a quick but light revving-up-the-engine, just before I do the gear -down-operation. I would like to hear from some body in the comment portioin of this review, if this is a good practice or not, or if any one else does so....

The tyre could be a bit bigger and wider- it looks a tad small.