They call me Gladiator. Review on Yamaha Gladiator

One can speak very little against the bikes of yore from the Yamaha stable, the RX100 and the RX 135...

Then setting the benchmarks for power and easy biking and maintenance, Yamaha has come a long way over the years after suffering a severe sales depression and a poor product lineup...

And now, Yamaha returns newly done up with its latest offering, the Gladiator...

This bike is on track to renew people's flagging interest in the legendary Yamaha name... After many years of desperately releasing poor quality bike and losing quite a bit of face in front of loyal Yamaha customers, YMIL has returned ina big way with this bike...

First up, this bike is quite a looker... A cheerful front fairing that smiles down upon the road alongwith smooth curves up to the tail lamp... The badging and stickering on the bike for a change suits it and blends very well to porvise an overall dignified and powerful look....

Then there is the engine... A well tuned 125cc which produces 11bhp of power, Yamaha has churned out a very good quality piece which works smoothly as expected... The slight downside of this engine is a slight lack of low end torque which makes the bike stall at times... Otherwise the bike gives few problems on the engine front... Oh and the engine does tend to heat up a little fast when new... Don't worry about that.. It normal during the run-in period...

The gearbox is the yamaha standard 5 speed box with a 1 down 4 up shift pattern... Here again Yamaha has come up witha a very good package though there is the occasional problem of false neutrals... The gearbox is refined and easy to use with a heel and toe mechanism...

Ride quality : The ride quality is decent with a single rider but fails with a pillion especially if on the heavy side... For a tall person, riding this bike can be a bit of a challenge and cause slight backaches... The suspension is set soft and comfortable when two people are seated though it can get a bit stiff witha a single rider...

Control : The bike is easy to handle with a nice streamlined and aerodynamic design... The front disc brakes are good and adequately responsive... Alloy wheels are an unnecessary addition as these provide little or no difference to the ride quality and just add 10k to the price....

Mileage : This is the only contentious part... For the power offered, it gives about 50kmpl which is on the low side... If maintained well, it can potentially give far better mileage... Otherwise I think the mileage is satisfactory....

Now for the big downside.... The Gladiator cannot be serviced by local mechanics easily because it is a new bike... And Yamaha's After-Sales-Service is terrible... THere are few dealers who are good at service... In Bangalore for example, there are only two reliable dealers who know exactly what you require and will service your vehicle as you desire...

Overall the bike is a very good one and the package is decent... The only downside is the element of risk with Yamaha service... To all new buyers I'd say prioritize and survey the market thoroughly before blindly going in for th Gladiator... Don't buy it because of the advertising....

Update :

Just a word to say that the Gladiator 150 has NOT been released... One of the dealers has personally rebored the Gladiator's engine to make it 150cc... Please don't fall for such cheap tricks....

Regards....