It seems a lot of fight going on on the comments section on the Karizma ZMR article. So guys please cool down. I am a die hard fan of sports bikes but not just any brand (if you ask me it would be Kawasaki, but not Bajaj), so lets get on to the actual facts.
When I heard that Hero Honda was gonna launch a new Karizma, I thought it would be a revolution (I guess almost everyone one of you felt the same way). At that time Pulsar 220 & R15 was just heating up the town. The craze of getting more power with Fi engine, liquid cooling, etc. few pics of the ZMR leaked through the web and it caught my eyes and I kind of liked it. Now when the Karizma ZMR was launched, I went through its specifications and I felt that it was a piece of… No, I shouldn’t say that here!
I wanna ask you a question… what are you gonna do with all technology when it’s of no use? You can get a visual upgrade on any bike with 20,000 bucks extra.
So why go for only visuals which doesn’t even have split seats? If you want just the visuals, check out this modified Pulsar:
Ok, now lets get on to the specifications:
It has…
1. Only 5 gears… why not 6 for this kind of price?
2. Just 17.6 bhp and 18.5 nm torque… For a price of Rs.1 lakh, wouldn’t you expect some real power when you twist your wrist? In that case, Pulsar 220 is much better.
3. What are you gonna do with all these “advantages” when you know that a guy with RTR 180 which costs around 70,000 bucks can come close to beat you?
Are you going to tell me that it gives you “personal satisfaction”? Well, then the R15 dude will say that he has an imported bike and he will beat you in a drag race if you challenge him!
4. There is no monoshock suspension which is a huge let down. Do you know why the foreign bikes have mono-suspension? It is because of the fact that it is never possible to have both susupension tuned to the same amount… this gives a twisting movement to the rear wheel. This, my friend, makes the bike unstable at high speeds. (I have heard a lot of Karizma users say that the bike wobbles at speeds above 100kmph).
On the other hand Yamaha R15 uses DeltaBox frame and a monocross suspension which makes the bike extremely stable, especially at corners. This kind of stability, I am sad to say, no other Indian bike has ever achieved.
5. I used to think that weight brings stability but my assumption was completely wrong, and the wrose thing is that the weight just reduces your acceleration and braking abilities!
6. The price is just too awesome because it just Sucks! Why go for Hero Honda when you can go for the well furnished R15. Yes, R15 may be small for those above 6ft but that cannot be the deciding factor for buying the Karizma ZMR.
Last words… I’ve always liked Hero Honda for their reliability, servicing, etc. So, if you like Hero Honda you can go for Hunk, or CBZ or Karizma R (Performance is almost the same as the ZMR and you can spend the remaining money on custom body work). But please don’t buy this junk piece just because your mind is fixed on Hero Honda.
I would like your views about my outlook… These are just my views and no one is involved in it. I don’t want to hurt any one or even the company. I would not be held responsible for the sales decline of Karizma ZMR (if any). 🙂
– DK
