fireblade777

hello everyone ,
i own a 2005 unicorn. I am planning to change my bike after 2 months. I am seriously thinking of either r15 or the p220 or the zmr.
what i like about each
p220-the vfm factor. i get 21 bhp for about 82k onroad cochin......but what I doubt is the pulsar engine reliability.How reliable is the 220 engine? .if I rip it for 75% of the kms its being run,will it be able to last that..I run about 1000kms a month.... May be I dont have to rip the 220 as it has got 21 bhp on tap as compared to the 13 on my uni.

zmr- after using the unicorn for 5 years and 50,000kms, I am seriously in love with the refinement and reliability of honda engines. And like the riding posture of the karizma. Should I be contented with the 4 bhp power upgrade in a zmr, while the 220 gives me the option of a 8 bhp upgrade in power when compared to unicorn.

r15- I have always loved to rip my unicorn, like taking it to 6k rpm in the first and second gears and I love changing the gears to keep myself in the power band.From the reviews I think the r15 loves to driven like that.Which of thes bikes is the most revv friendly? The more revv friendly the engine is , the greater is the pleasure I get by driving it. And its a liquid cooled engine. The doubt I have is the about the ride comfort. It weighs only 131 kg as compared to the 142 kg of my unicorn and the 150kg + of the zmr and the p220. As it is lighter will it aftect its ride comfort over rough roads? When I ride my unicorn I get some discomfort or slight pain at my back after riding continously for about 150 kms on mixed type of roads. Then I have to stop and rest. Will I get these back pains more frequently with the r15 than the unicorn? The riding posture, which is between a crouched position and a upright one is not liked by some. I havent ridden the r15, as there is no test drive available at the showroom,Cheerans auto,Thrissur,Kerala. ( The reason they say is that r15 is a premium bike and you wont understand the power of r15 in a short test drive).Not a single person in my college is having the r15, so there is no chance of getting a test drive easily.I have read some where that the r15 chains needs to be lubricated after running it in rain. Is it true?
In nutshell I need a reliable engine, that is revv friendly, with decent ride comfort for the occassional long drives.
Please give me your valuable advices.....

Aryan

Topic Approved.

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iSCSI

If you can afford the 'one time investment'/price diff between ZMR and P220, then going by ZMA's and Herohonda's reputation..ZMR is better choice.

r15!!
chicken legs(tyres not wide enough to go with the appearance of the bike),
the looks like a cheap modification done by some local mechanic. :yuck:
if riding a unicorn hurts your back, r15 will surely be a 3rd degree

RanjithMN

one thing i can assure you is that R15 is rev friendly...you just keep revving it!

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Binoy

@fireblade777 welcome to xbhp...
are you from thrissur? me too...
and about your choice... as i have ridden both P200 and R15 the P200 is definitely more powerful than R15 in the sense as a straight liner... but for me the twisties and cornering are my choice, for that R15 is a clean winner and definitely a better handler, more revvy engine at high rpms... the riding position of R15 is more aggressive than a P200 or ZMR... but it's a matter or that u adjust to it...
P220 is definitely VFM... but my choice goes to R15...

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ZMR - I'm not in a position to tell you any thing about ZMR other than it really has big bike looks, and ZMA-R is the King of touring. This can only get better with the ZMR. You will not be disappointed at ALL, considering you're upgrading from your beloved Uni.

P220 - Brute power from the engine put onto the road will fling you past almost anything. First time I took a ride on Satish's P220, I really noticed that the low and mid range torque is enough for anyone. Have to be a little more careful while wringing the throttle.. (just make sure no one is in front of you ) Powerful headlights. (but you may have to get the angle adjusted) For understanding a lot more about P220, you can go through the ownership thread, if there are any niggles also, you can find them out beforehand from experiences of others.

R15 - You want revs you've got it. It's at home on the track as they say. Handling is just awesome, I think I would say the best of the lot. 7.5k RPM, engine sound changes to a deep growl, the bike just comes alive and just pulls and pulls and pullllllllllllls. VERY flickable. That said, low end torque is lesser than both the above bikes. But... rev it, rev it hard, thats what the liquid cooling is there for. There is NO drop in engine performance even after 20-30mins of continuous ripping. The bike gives me an average of 42.5 kmpl in the city.
Comfort wise, I got used to the seating position and it gives me no discomfort at all in my back, whatever the traffic may be. Palms can start to ache a bit though, if you ride in stop n go traffic a lot. Remedy - local leather gloves, working wonders for me.

You really need to ride an r15. You're questions will be answered best then. Try, somehow! At least sit on it at the showroom and get a feel.

uh... cheap modification? No offense but the fairing on the r15 doesn't go 'tarrrrrrrrrrr' in higher revs (must be a really experienced local mechanic!)

But have you ridden the r15 properly .. Ever?

raidenbeast

As i am an owner of R15 (just 220 kms done) let me explain you in detail.
1)In R15 you will not get any back pain since all the load are transferred to your hand. Moreover, i drove 70 km on the first day. what i felt was you will not get any wrist pain put your palm will pain. But, if you bend just 5 degress extra no pain whatsoever.
2) Your Tilting radius can be at max if you own R15, so handling is a piece of cake.
3) You will feel unicorn in R15 till 3rd gear and a super bike after that.
4) Light weight (even though jus 20 kg < zma/zmr) really does wonders.
5) ZMA/ZMR - is quite a long bike so you will have parking problems.I am in a company where 1200 employees work and i have seen it in reality.
6) No idea about pulsar 220 , people say that it once had bad engine but now it is refined.
8) ZMR same acceleration throughout 5 gears. Not less Not more.
9) I would say - ZMR will be your safest option and the remaining two will take you to extremes (which extreme i do not know)
These are my personal opinion.

myg124

Go for the ZMR dude, any day better than the R15 and very comfortable wherever you take it. It never disappoints. Give it tarmac it will go out flat, give it potholes, it shall eat em up with ease and return you decent mileage as well.

And dont worry about the price, the bike IS absolutely worth it.

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raidenbeast

by the way, i missed point no. 7
here it is
p220 suspension is rude
zmr soft
R15 - Omg it changes according to the bumpy rides.

Samarth 619

@ fireablade777: I have read your post completely. I would have suggested P220 but you see it vibrates around the crotch area (!).
Otherwise, its a damn fast bike, and picks up quickly after 5 krpm or so.

I have not ridden ZMR so far, hence no comments. Changes are there over Karizma, some open & some subtle changes...

I once rode R15 with a pillion. I'm 6 feet 1 inch and I was feeling more comfortable than P180 UG3.
People have taken it for tours and they give positive feedback.
However, its not much recommended for comfort if you're a short rider.

Short riders are better on Apache RTR 180, but it suffers from MINOR vibrations in 4-7 krpm zone... Rest all, its a damn punchy bike with power in much of rev range above 3!

Overall recommendation: R15 if you're a tall rider & can change more gears in city with ease.
RTR 180 if you're short. RTR 180 has a main jet size of 125, which might one of the reasons why it has good power @ almost every rpm.

Redlining the Karizma engine wasn't much fun I found. Beyond 6.5 rpm, it gets sluggish a bit. I doubt much changes in ZMR in this aspect.

BTW What's your height?

Ever ridden R15 in reality? Ever leaned it around a corner? I did both these above tasks, with a pillion sitting behind!

So please, give the bike the respect it deserves...

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