Apr 23, 2009 06:59 PM
7623 Views
I'm back after a long long time, owing to my job which makes life extremely difficult, I dont even get time to look at myself in the mirror sometimes!
Anyways, I will be reviewing the Yamaha Gladiator type RS today. I have been using this bike for a good 6 months now and feel qualified enough to review it. To give you a background, I had to purchase this bike as my trusty bajaj boxer gave up the ghost after 6 years of filling - Shutting and forgetting biking, to cut a long story short, I went ahead and bought this vehicle from Venkatesha Motors Hyderabad (Need to review them separately, well... maybe some other day!) on 13th October of last year.
The moment I sat on this bike I could feel the raw power that this bike could generate, I thanked my lucky stars that I decided to go for a 125 CC instead of my first choice of a 100 CC bike. The bike is looks stunning!(Dont believe me, look at the pic!) The bike handles like a dream! My friend who owns a Karizma took a test ride and was blown away, he does know quite a bit about bikes and his comment "I haven't seen a more well refined bike in this class" , says it all.
The bike moves effortlessly through hyderabad traffic and it does have that additional bit of power that is needed for overtaking the idiot who drives at 30 in the middle of the road in hyd! I have done around 5900 Kms on this vehicle and believe me, it has been the most pleasurable experience of riding a 4-stroke 2 wheeler.
The max speed I have touched till date is 100 Km/h with a pillion, a far cry from the 85 Km/h with a pillion on my boxer and also not to forget that I have put on an additional 20 Kgs since then! The braking I find to be adequate for city conditions, pickup is pretty sensational and I have managed to get by a couple of pulsars without too much effort. I never did believe my friend, who owns a Yamaha 135, when he told me that yamaha bikes have a very fluid accelerator which makes you want to go faster, now that I own a yamaha, I can relate to what he said, the bike just MAKES you turn the throttle and makes you want more, and before you know it you are cruising alonng at 80 KM/h.
The bike does start to vibrate when you touch around 85 though, which is better than the shine which starts to vibrate at 60Km/h. The main grouse I have with Yamaha is the rear tyre, their choice of MRF Zappers is unbelieveable! If you encounter water or some mud on the road, you need to be extremely careful when using the brakes, if you press it too hard you just might fishtail and land up in the soup! I have fishtailed a couple of times but managed to regain control. This choice of tyre does not give me any comfort while bending the bike through a corner or when it rains.
Also the headlight is one of the weakest in its class. The mileage is another factor, but I am smart enough to realise that I cannot expect the same mileage as my boxer or indeed, any 100CC bike, having said that 45-50 Kms to a litre does seem a little lower than any other 125CC out there, but the power, comfort and handling does compensate for the mileage and at 45 bucks a litre today, I definitely aint complaining!
The suspension is very smooth and the disc brake is quite ok. Reasonably priced at Rs.56000 on-road Hyd, I feel this is a great buy, now if only the indian public could get out of their mentality of mileage! Just to sign off, there is another grouse, if you have an senior citizen at home, they might not be able to get onto this vehicle very comfortably as the rear end is quite raised up, might be one of the reasons why this vehicles isnt doing too well as it is targeted at the middle class buyer looking to upgrade from a 100 CC vehicle! All in All, this is a fantastic vehicle for the price and I am extremely satisfied with my purchase.
Whos it for? Young college dudes looking to make a style statement
Young Executives
Who it isnt for?
Mileage conscious folks
Uncles who love to ride at 20 Km/h
for the elderly
For the folks who do not like to read too much, I have listed out the pros and cons:
Pros: Well refined and well balanced 125CC
11 BHP of raw power
Stunning looks
Dream handling
Decent braking
Good suspension
Cons: Mileage (Well I worry about it too!)
Rear zappers are unsafe
Rear end is raised very high, difficult for senior citizens to get on
Bad headlight
