Its Value for money, Just go ahead and buy it.. Review on Yamaha Gladiator SS

I completed my Bike’s 1st service on 5th Feb. 09. I can write 2 different reviews, one about bike & second about the Cheater Dealer, He tried to cheat me but couldn’t do it as I had visited with friend who acted as witness. Let’s keep the dealer away for now & move towards bike.

Literally before buying Yamaha GladiatorSS I was reading reviews on mouthshut.com about a month of Honda Shine, Glamour, Bajaj XCD, and Yamaha Gladiator SS.

The reason for my approach towards Gladi is I had taken ride of this bike of my friend many times & I found it very controlled & smooth than other bikes. But my final decision was depend on the reviews and recommendation of members on net, cause I hadn’t ride other bikes, as I was new learner too. While riding this bike you feel lots of Power in your hand with proper control. Braking is also excellent and effective, I rarely use front disc brake but when use it definitely saves me.

I walked away from Honda shine because of Normal looks and many customers complain about vibration at high speeds. Hero Honda Glamour- Price was much compared to features in Dec 08 it was approx 64K, Very Bold looks. Bajaj XCD- You can refer the reviews on MS and will come to know. Also I had heard many bad comments about service center in my area.

Detail description for Pros & Cons is mentioned

Pros

Best Pickup-

I realized Gladi provides a good Pick up among all bikes.

Sporty & Best looks-

Amazing Sporty looks; you can notice everyone to notice your bike having Red & Black color or Yellow & Silver.

Easy to control-

When I was new learner I found this bike very controlled & surprisingly I didn’t fall down single time from Bike, Its very controlled bike.

Low price & Value for money-

I paid Rs. 55, 000 for Yamaha Gladiator SS with accessories like, Leg guard, Ladies step guard, buzzer from showroom at Ulhasnagar (near Mumbai). If they advertise it would be more costly.

Comfort-

Very comfortable seat even on worst speed breakers at normal speed it doesn’t put more pressure on your back but be careful when you are having pillion rider. The portion on Fuel tank adjusts your feet there and helps you to balance when there is heavy friend sitting with you. Also after long drive I don’t feel any pain or stress.

Cons

Number plate on Head which ruins the looks-

I couldn’t understand if Yamaha can design a great machine and why couldn’t they fix number plate below the headlight like Honda bikes or others, I got comments that it looks like a Prisoner holding a No. plate in handL.

Well I know the number plate can be attached below headlight but that can damage to mudguard when front disc brake is used in emergency at high speed, Its my friend’s experience, that rash rider’s number plate was bounced on mudguard.

Limited mileage -

compared to other 125 CC bikes but you can surely go ahead for Gladiator SS if you are ready to compromise with Mileage little bit if you are getting such a nice ride and you will come to know it is worth to compromise when you ride it with this Powerful machine. With a Pillion rider of 70 KG friend I got the mileage of 40kmpl. While counting the mileage 70% riding was in city & 30 % was on highway. Prior to this experience mileage was counted 53 kmpl on highways (No pillion rider).

Half Chain cover-

You won’t feel good when you run this in Rainy season and mud is sprayed onto the chain. Chain protection must be considered. Currently I am facing one problem that every time when last one or 2 days bike is not in use it takes 4-5 attempts (Its Summer season), Thanks to them for providing self start with Kickstart cause I cannot imagine such number of attempts with Kickstart. I have to raise this problem while next service.

Finally I can say you won’t regret after buying this bike although it’s rarely seen on the Mumbai roads but feel proud that its different than others. You can go ahead and get a Powerful, stable, controlled and smooth machine in your hands, its value for money.