Hello friends, This is Abhilash Bharadwaj, I’m a student of Electronics Engineering I am 21 years old. I would like to start this review with how I became a passionate biker. I would like to call myself a “BIKEAHOLIC”. From my childhood after learning to ride a bicycle, I was dreaming to ride a bike.
This interest and passion of my biking made me force my father to teach me ride a motorbike at the age of 13. After a continuous pressure on my father, he had no other option other than teaching me to ride. As it was against the law, he had a condition that he will teach me in a ground and not on a public road. It was important for me to learn riding than thinking about the location.
I “KICK STARTED” my biking experience with our 1986 model Hero Honda CD100 (which we still run frequently). It took me about a week to learn biking almost completely (I will not say completely because I feel that no one can be a complete biker as it gives you exciting experiences every time you are riding).
As soon as I turned 18 the first job I did was getting my driving license for geared motorcycle. Now it was one more headache to my father as I started to force him for getting a motorbike for me. As he agreed to my demand it was my turn to start worrying about which bike to go for.
This was the beginning of my hunt for the best bike which suits me. This hunt included three issues
- Comparing the tech. specs of all bikes above 150cc
- Reading blogs and expert advices
- Running around to different showrooms taking test rides.
As I am not admirer of Pulsar or Apache I had removed those bikes from the list of my hunt. I had the following options
- Karizma
- Honda Unicorn
- R15
- FZ16
Basically I am admirer of both YAMAHA and HONDA designs and I also feel that it’s the state of art in bikes. As we had a HONDA unicorn already I decided to go for bikes other than that. Karizma was also soon out of my list as I got to know that it has very poor fuel efficiency.
The last option was YAMAHA!
I was fascinated of both the Yamaha’s initially; I decided to test ride them. As I had expected, both were amazing. I felt that Yamaha’s are the true masters in sporting bikes. I would like share my riding experiences of both the bikes even though I will be reviewing only one of them.
Yamaha R15
Till date it is the best bike in the segment I would love to ride (may be it changes after I ride a CBR250). There are no constraints about the bike apart from a little stiff suspension (may be it improves cornering but may feel a bit strained on road with full of pot holes) and a long turning radius which one may hate in city traffic. Apart from these small problems it’s a great bike to ride and has amazing throttle response. It has one of the best riding positions and superb handling and cornering.
Yamaha FZ16
Though the above mentioned bike impressed me, I simply fell in love with this great bike FZ16. It was the tyres and exhaust which were different and could make me feel appealing in the crowd.
As I am not an enthusiastic racer and always love to cruze around and I had always required a city bike which is peppier, light and preferably a small one. And one important reason to prefer a FZ was the price tag of R15 which is too high.
The Decision
By this time you would have got to know that finally I decided to go for a FZ16. Waiting period of this bike was said to be 30 days by the dealer, though I felt it’s too long for me to resist I had no other option but to wait for a month. Waiting period was one of the worst days of my life. Only a passionate biker can understand the feeling during this period.
The Bike Meets the Biker
When I got a phone call from the dealer that the bike was ready at the showroom I jumped with joy and finally got my bike on Feb. 5th 2009. This was a wonderful day of my life it is unexplainable how one feel when they get a dream machine.
Review of my Love – The Yamaha FZ16
As I do not wish to bore you further let me start with the actual review of this wonderful machine.
What you’ll like:
- Futuristic design and styling.
- Comfort.
- Handling & Cornering.
- Peppier engine and good Gear ratios.
- Suspension.
What you won’t:
- Response of the bike above 105 km/h.
- Quality of seat is too poor.
- Not suitable for touring.
- Comfort of the pillion is not up to the mark.
- Average fuel economy.
Let me explain the likes of my bike first
Design and Styling
It is the sole aspect of the bike which fascinates the youngsters to go for this bike. The larger tyre size, probably the biggest till date on Indian roads in this segment is the core of the bike which attracts a buyer. Styling; especially the design of the fuel tank and the tough looking front forks gives it a macho look and would attract many people. Initially I faced lot of questions from the public
- Are the wheels from the company or have you altered it?
- Were the headlights like this before or have you removed the visor? Etc. etc.
I felt great when my bike was the centre of attraction for many ongoing bike enthusiasts for few days and I loved answering these questions.
Comfort, Handling and Cornering
It has one of the best riding positions a rider can get (I agree with that R15 is the first in this aspect). Handle bar is wide and gives you lot of confidence in entering a corner with a pretty good speed. Handling of the bike is amazing and second to none and rider never feels nervous in a corner or braking at high speeds also.
I consider that handling is a very important aspect before buying a bike rather than thinking about the top speed differences (as the differences will normally be in single digits). Handling and cornering are the issues which keeps me away from bikes like PULSAR or APACHE (both of them are not in league with the YAMAHA’S).
Performance
Performance of this bike is as good as any other 160 or 180cc engines. Its more YOUTH FRIENDLY engine compared to its competitors. It has an amazing throttle response and produces amazing torque at lower rpm too. Gear ratio is very neat and many would love the bike for this reason. The bike has a well balanced chassis and the centre of gravity is right below the rider (I feel this makes the bike a best handler).
Suspension
Suspension of this bike is smooth and keeps the rider in comfort in any kind of road. I personally have felt the comfort provided by this bike in worst possible roads and even when there are ‘no roads’ (off-road).
As any other bike, my bike has some constraints too and I feel that my review would be unbiased and complete only after I mention about the negatives.
The Negatives
Response at high speeds: The engine does not feel very happy above 105 to 110 km/h and the rider also is not at the peak of comfort at these speeds as there will be lot of vibration and noise (that is the reason why I termed it as a city bike).
Touring: I have done lot of touring on this machine but what personally I feel is that; the bike should be rested after every 150 km and it does not satisfy the sole criteria of touring i.e. luggage carrying capacity. So I would prefer only Royal Enfield’s for this purpose and not the Yamaha’s.
Seat fabric and pillion comfort: The quality of seats provided is very poor and I think that all owners of FZ16 would agree with this point. The pillion comfort in seating is also very poor (I consider it as a single seated bike).
Fuel economy: My bike has an average fuel economy (neither too good nor too bad).
City: 35 to 38 km/l
Highways: 42 to 45 km/l
The above review is true to the best of my knowledge.
Advice
I finally would like to tell all BIKERS and who aspire to be BIKERS
- Love your bike
- Respect your bike
- Be in a proper riding gear when you are on your bike
- Follow the traffic rules
Becoming a BIKER is not just riding fast but to enjoy every minute of your riding, I feel these moments are very precious for a true biker.
I would like to thank Mr. Deepak Raj for providing me this wonderful opportunity to share few wonderful moments with my true love.
As this is the first review from me I would like some suggestions from all the readers especially Deepak Raj about any improvements which can be brought about. I would look forward for all your comments and suggestions.
Finally I wish to conclude this Review by sharing a one of my favorite quotes
“I would prefer to ride my bike and think about god rather than praying in temple dreaming about my bike”
Regards,
Abhilash Bharadwaj
