Cruiser to the masses. Review on Yamaha Enticer

''Please fasten your seat belts, we are about to take off'', echoed the ads for the Enticer. Well, the concept of people actually experiencing the smooth ride quality (er... sounds corny...anyway) of an airplane is what it loathes into. Well, Yamaha definitely didn't choose to make a cruiser for the kind of people who could afford to travel about the country by plane. Nah..No way... the Eliminator is there with its fancy price tag for that. Instead they decide to create a market of their own and bring the cruiser concept to the masses. And here is Yamaha Royal Star renamed Enticer in order to avoid any mix-ups and problems related to brand identity clashes with Royal Enfield. The Royal Star is not anything new to the Yam's. They are one of the most successful cruisers in the world. When people started turning their heads towards the cruiser concept in India, Yamaha decided to launch their universally successful Royal Star in India. The Royal Star is a high-powered 1000 plus cruiser abroad. Now Yamaha can't bring in those kind of heavy power machines into India because of the norms here and the high price tag it would have to take up. India is not ready for the heavy stuff so they come up with a killer marketing assault to make a low powered cruiser with loads of styling and offer it to the general masses. So what comes out is the former yam 4 stroke engines of the YBX and the YD 125, tweaked about a bit and mounted on a rigid diamond frame chassis and shaped to perfection, loaded with chromed Speedo units, tear drop tanks, high lift cruiser handle bars, bucket seats and neat paint work ending up as the 'Enticer' - the cruiser for the masses.

Style is its biggest plus point with Yamaha doing a brilliant job in making it look classy. The tail is beautifully designed with a nice long curvy finish. The high handle bar is well balanced and is very pleasant for riding. The bucket seats are quite soft, with a backrest for the pillion. The seat could have been equipped with more or better quality foam as long drives can get to your back and neck a bit. A fresh and new change is the flat footrests. So one can completely rest their foot with their legs stretched out a lot more than before because of its ride position. Both Eliminator and Enticer seem to be having a similar kind of approach in providing gizmo equipments with just a measly Speedo unit. For the price we are paying, I think we deserve more and a tacho, fuel indicators, gearshift indicators etc could have been added. An option for electric start and disc brakes are also given to make things better.

The bike fires out about 11 bph @ about 8000 rpm with its 123.7cc engine. The Enticer promises to hit a top whack of 100 kms but it is likely to deliver only around the 85-95 kmph mark. Give us a break fellas... Have seen a lot of 100 - 125cc 4 strokers and all of them struggle to reach the 90's and this is the same YBX engine so is it possible for it to blast through 100 plus speeds...anyway, let me know if anyone does it. Besides, this cruiser could have had an extra gear to power it on, currently running about with 4 gears. However, looking at the purpose and reach of its target audience, I guess we have to settle for this.

Handling is good, however owning to it being built as a cruiser with its high handle bars, it is not really meant to be driven hard around the corners and sliding your way through every bend. By default, it is equipped with a 130mm drum brake which is sufficient for braking plus with the option of a front disc brake, stopping well on time wouldn't be a problem unless there are pumpkin peels splattered on the road. The MRF Zapper tyres are nice and wide and offer good road grip.

The Mikuni Carburettor helps the vehicle deliver a good 50- 65 kmpl on the highways and can deliver around 45 - 55 in the city, which are good figures for a cruiser. Ye...damm not complain on mileage ..coz in that case you need a dumb Kinetic boss or a boxer. These are good figures for a cruiser and the key figure of the pricing makes this bike, the best cruiser when it comes to value for money. This is where Yamaha wants to chew into the cruiser market and bring it to the masses. The bike is priced at a little over 50,000 and is the cheapest available cruiser in the country.

Well..you like the bike and you run to the nearby dealer to get one and boo hoo....boo hoo, you have to shed a good 5 grand for booking and wait for over 2 months for the bike to be delivered. I hope by now, they would have set up the necessary infrastructure to produce more vehicles to meet the demand. When I last walked in to a dealer to check out the bike, was told that bookings have been closed for sometime to get the process of delivery done smoothly within the limitations of their human and mechanical resources.

There has been many comparisons done between the cruisers in our country i.e. enticer, eliminator, thunderbird and I have found that these comparisons are absolutely ridiculous. Simply because, these are cruisers all right, but all the three are of different class...t'bird 350cc power bike, 175cc eliminator and a low powered 125cc enticer. Well, if the comparisons were just on the basic elements that make up a cruiser barring the engine related info, then it would be perfectly ok. But when you go on to even compare the engines, there is no way you can put up a bodybuilding contest between olive oyle and Hulk. If you ask me, all the cruisers in this country are equally good in its own space and segment. If you have the money for an eliminator or a high powered T'bird, go for it. If budget is a cause of concern, a tailored and ready made instant mix gulab jamum kind of product in Enticer is there ready for you. All the three are good in its own class. Barring the engines, I would say the enticer would come maybe a real close second to the eliminator, and it is simply becoz the fit and finish of the eliminator is a little better than the Enticer.

Here it is folks. the new Enticer from Yamaha, an excellent cruiser, built for the city, great design, good engine and build quality, decent economy - it's got it all. If this isn’t the cruiser for the masses, then what is?