Oct 10, 2006

CBZ X-Treme: What the enthusiasts are saying

To the owners of the various lists featured, my humble apologies, but your members are just too funny. Please excuse. If you have serious objections, kindly leave a comment, and I will promptly remove the offending bits (er... please point out which bits are offending you)

  • What next? Purple color engine? - Navendu Singh/BajajPulsar
  • The Surgeon General has determined that sniffing glue while pasting stickers
    is harmful to your brain - gr/BajajPulsar
  • But the whole package is disappointing!
    Brilliant components put together in a not-so-attractive package and
    trying to rub off by being called a legend - Glifford/BajajPulsar
  • I feel like peeling off that CBZ sticker from its tank - Nitin Nath/HeroHondaCBZ
  • Nothing as exciting or ground breaking as the original CBZ or the Pulsar - Sanjay Poojari/BajajPulsar
  • Looks more like a marketing strategy rather than an attempt to revive
    a legend. its sad. - Nikhil Bhaskaran/BajajPulsar
It would appear that the styling is proving to be a big turn-off for many people. What am I saying! Of course it is a big turnoff for most enthusiasts. Those unfamiliar with the BajajPulsar group should know that their group name is a bit misleading. While undoubtedly created as a group of fans of that bike, they're quite a balanced bunch of enthusiasts who actually have a fair mix of motorcycles among them.

And here is what isn't obvious. Yes, a riding impression
  • The engine feels very, very torquey, and has not lost the great refinement and trustworthy feel of the Unicorn and the Achiever, but seems to be have even more guts
  • However, the top end still feels a bit weak. I didn't have the opportunity to ride it back to back with the competition, but while I'm more or less sure it will decimate the Apache (the quickest to 60 kph right now), I'm not sure who gets to 100 kph first, the Pulsar, the Apache or the CBZX. And one must remember, the current Pulsar is only 143.9cc, which means it can still cash a 6cc cheque it's been hiding under its mattress... bets, anyone?
  • Chassis feels quick and lithe, but since I didn't have access to any high speed sweepers, I have no way of talking about stability
  • I was told that the chassis was all-new though. Something I'm not so sure of. I'm thinking of a Achiever based thingy
  • Wheels and tyres are Karizma-spec. Exactly
  • The two test ride bikes I had access to sported some of the spongiest disc brakes I have so far has the displeasure of applying. Nearly holed the showroom compound gate because I wasn't expecting the sponge
  • Sitting on the bike, you do end feeling a bit tall.
  • Its ugliness is less obvious from the saddle. Thank god
  • Price seems a bit on the high side
  • Wheelies damn easily thanks to the torque, though.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

it's degrading the original cbz, hero honda could have done better......err actually much better....it's disappointing...hero honda better take that cbz tag off it...

Vibhu Rishi said...

In case anyone is wondering where are the pulsar and cbz groups, the links are :

* Bajaj Pulsar Yahoo Group,
* Hero Honda Yahoo Group

rearset said...

Hey, I did post up the links. They're the clickable links after the members names... but thanks anyway

Anonymous said...

if this is hero honda's idea of the future,then i'm really not going to wait for their karizma 'upgrade'.

Random

p.s- Is Bajaj ever going to launch that Dts-Fi? Now they're saying Jan 2007!!

Anonymous said...

Nice take on the CBZX and on what people are thinking about it without even test riding it! It seems that “enthusiasts” in some of the groups think that looks matters more then any think else! And going by that CBZX is taking the beating in those forums; however we know for a factor that being an HH bike it will sell and since the marketing strategy has been good even before the launch and it has received a lot hype it will surely take off. What remain to be seen is the fuel efficiency figures of this bike, which was the real chink in CBZ’s armor. The only problem I see with this motorcycle as of now is the fact it is priced a bit too steeply, however HH is known to do this.

Anonymous said...

It's xtreme alright.....xtremely stupid that is. Waste of a truly wonderful brand name. The headlamp seems to be stuck in the early 90's and that stupid chrome thing is simply ridiculous.