Hello to all riders and readers, I have a small experience to share with you people. Like all other bike lovers I too had a dream to own a bike, I am 27 yrs old and a software professional. When I entered the automobile market there were bikes all around me, one had great power the other had fantastic looks, in between these there was the one which was to be mine forever. I wanted a 150cc bike because I believe that none of the 200+cc bikes have a fantastic engine.
I had all the bike specs on my table, every night before going to sleep I used have a look at all the specs again and again to finalize the one that I wanted. I had prior experience of riding the Bajaj Pulsar, TVS Apache and the Royal Enfield and out of all those Bajaj pulsar was the one which I liked the most. The reason behind is that TVS Apache does not suit my height as I’m 5’10” and well built around 75kgs. So I wanted something which will look good on me and not something which looks good standing alone. It took me more than one month to decide on the bike, test rode all the bikes in the market and had short listed 5 of them Bajaj Pulsar 150, Yamaha FZ-s, Hero Honda CBZ X-treme, Suzuki GS150R and Honda CB Unicorn. I started collecting info on these bikes from the owners, and i had following needs.
- A hassle free engine
- Great riding experience i.e. no back problems
- Good handling and
- Good power and looks
Based on the owner’s feedback I filtered out Bajaj Pulsar and Yamaha FZ but Pulsar was just not out of my mind yet. That finally left me with 3, out of which I didn’t like the looks of Hero Honda CBZ X-treme so that was out of my list also. Left were the Suzuki GS 150R and Honda CB Unicorn and Bajaj Pulsar somewhere in my mind. After looking at the short listed bikes features and riding the one year old of those three bikes, I was pretty much awe struck by one engine and its riding experience with the pillion, nothing else than the Honda Unicorn. I then decided and went ahead with the booking. Just when I wanted to make the payment on the day, my friend sends me a mail with subject line “The Honda Dazzlers Out” asking me to checkout this bike. I mean I was yet again confused completely and said to myself that, I can’t start all over again.
I looked at the bike the first impression was I dint like the looks of the bike the head is ugly to me but again its “Honda” with more power and all the digital things, tubeless tires sporty looks and rear disc’s. After test riding the dazzler I decided to go ahead with my choice and got my bike in less than one month with some effort with the showroom guys. Because I feel that these days’ people wait for way too much to get their bike of their choice. After getting the delivery I started the bike for the first time and must admit that I loved the sound of it. The other day I went for a 75km ride and I felt a small niggle near my right hip, corrected my posture and dint notice it much while returning. The journey was fantastic to say the least the roads had everything in it the humps the bumps the holes that tested the bike in all the possible ways.
I dint take the bike beyond 4200rpm, 60kmph as it was in the initial “Run-In” period and my engine was entertaining me like a pied piper at the low level speeds and I knew I will enjoy this bike for all the forth coming days and had made a good decision. The pillion who was there during the trip tells me its was like sitting on a sofa throughout the journey and further adds that my girl will love sitting on it but pauses and says though bike may not impress her with the looks. But I know that won’t be a big negative because it’s certainly not that bad overall. The bike is fantastic between 20-60 kmph and it does not vibrate which probably is its signature of the “Honda’s”. All said and done my bike has some shortcomings but I don’t live in “denial” because these shortcomings are sometimes short lived.
Following things which I have noticed:
- Gear slips and
- Vibrations in handle bar if brake is not applied properly at both the ends
I will write some more on my bike when I am done with the customary 500kms and the first service to completely know about the bike. I hope you enjoyed reading the post oh! I dint tell you which is my bike! It’s a Silent Killer and a steady protector it’s the most elegant looking “The CB Unicorn”.
– Ragavendra
