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Re: History of Caliber
Good that how i missed this thread. Although this thread is about caliber but still there is nothing. I am writing some history as it was one of my favourite bikes and was a strong contendor when we bought the JOY.
Ok to start with, bajaj launched the caliber in late 1997 or early 1998. At that Bajaj has only two products in its biking portfolio the KB 100 and 125 and 4S champion(one of my favourites). At that time i was only 10 years old and i was living in a small town known as Vyasanagar(now has grown into industrial hub). One of my classmates own the Bajaj dealership and i would visit to have a view of the bikes.
Initialy the bike was launched with small drums, stripped glass headlight(like in tata ace), and had an odd type of sticker. It was having a 111.6 cc engine that pumped out 7.7 bhp. The bike had a true top speed of 95 kph and was very smooth to ride. The distinctive feature was the sound, was loud and bassy, and the meter console which housed the speedo, odo, tachometer and fuel gauge.
Then in year 2000 Bajaj launched the updated caliber which had a multifocal reflector, bigger drums at both ends, stickering was changed to more sober long stripe from tank to tail, meter was changed with new decals and addition of trip meter. Engine was same as the previous unit. I liked the dark green color bike with golden stripe stickers a lot. Then later in year 2000 two new variants were launched one was the caliber croma and other one was the aspire. The caliber croma had a bikini fairing with a smiling face like headlight, and the aspire had similar headlight but with multifocal reflector. Also the croma and aspire had disc brake upfront as standard.
But still the standard caliber outselled the croma and aspire. The caliber was bigger in size to regular 100 cc comuters.
When we bought the Joy in 2001 i was very much interested in the Caliber.
Then in 2003 Bajaj launched another variant known as Caliber 115 popularly known as the HOODIBABA. This bike had the same 11.6 cc engine but power was updated to 9.5 bhp and had a true top speed of 102 kph. Bike was visually and in feel bigger then caliber and came with zapper tyres which gave them excellent cornering ability.
But the distinguishing feature was that this bike had a multi focal and biking fairing headlight that was attractive looking and also the light was very bright. The meter console was updated and the tachometer had a red and green backlight which changed color and bike entered economy zone and came out of economy zone.
And it was the smoothest bike of bajaj and till now no bike from bajaj stables have such smooth engine. Its engine was so smooth that people forgot to shift into fourth gear. I really loved the bike and wished i could buy one as i had extensively ridden one as one of my uncles had bought it and he was staying with us. But i was only 15 years and in those days parents didn't give bikes to childrens as now.
Then in 2006 bajaj pulled all the bikes from market, 4S, caliber, caliber 115 and wind 125. From that day till today i do not like bajaj for this reason only as those were good bikes with nil maintenance but still bajaj stopped production. Now-a-days only experimenting with shitty thousand models of discover. I know people who are still fans of 4S champion and Bajaj caliber.
I for one would buy a Hoodibaba if it were still in production.
Good that how i missed this thread. Although this thread is about caliber but still there is nothing. I am writing some history as it was one of my favourite bikes and was a strong contendor when we bought the JOY.
Ok to start with, bajaj launched the caliber in late 1997 or early 1998. At that Bajaj has only two products in its biking portfolio the KB 100 and 125 and 4S champion(one of my favourites). At that time i was only 10 years old and i was living in a small town known as Vyasanagar(now has grown into industrial hub). One of my classmates own the Bajaj dealership and i would visit to have a view of the bikes.
Initialy the bike was launched with small drums, stripped glass headlight(like in tata ace), and had an odd type of sticker. It was having a 111.6 cc engine that pumped out 7.7 bhp. The bike had a true top speed of 95 kph and was very smooth to ride. The distinctive feature was the sound, was loud and bassy, and the meter console which housed the speedo, odo, tachometer and fuel gauge.
Then in year 2000 Bajaj launched the updated caliber which had a multifocal reflector, bigger drums at both ends, stickering was changed to more sober long stripe from tank to tail, meter was changed with new decals and addition of trip meter. Engine was same as the previous unit. I liked the dark green color bike with golden stripe stickers a lot. Then later in year 2000 two new variants were launched one was the caliber croma and other one was the aspire. The caliber croma had a bikini fairing with a smiling face like headlight, and the aspire had similar headlight but with multifocal reflector. Also the croma and aspire had disc brake upfront as standard.
But still the standard caliber outselled the croma and aspire. The caliber was bigger in size to regular 100 cc comuters.
When we bought the Joy in 2001 i was very much interested in the Caliber.
Then in 2003 Bajaj launched another variant known as Caliber 115 popularly known as the HOODIBABA. This bike had the same 11.6 cc engine but power was updated to 9.5 bhp and had a true top speed of 102 kph. Bike was visually and in feel bigger then caliber and came with zapper tyres which gave them excellent cornering ability.
But the distinguishing feature was that this bike had a multi focal and biking fairing headlight that was attractive looking and also the light was very bright. The meter console was updated and the tachometer had a red and green backlight which changed color and bike entered economy zone and came out of economy zone.
And it was the smoothest bike of bajaj and till now no bike from bajaj stables have such smooth engine. Its engine was so smooth that people forgot to shift into fourth gear. I really loved the bike and wished i could buy one as i had extensively ridden one as one of my uncles had bought it and he was staying with us. But i was only 15 years and in those days parents didn't give bikes to childrens as now.
Then in 2006 bajaj pulled all the bikes from market, 4S, caliber, caliber 115 and wind 125. From that day till today i do not like bajaj for this reason only as those were good bikes with nil maintenance but still bajaj stopped production. Now-a-days only experimenting with shitty thousand models of discover. I know people who are still fans of 4S champion and Bajaj caliber.
I for one would buy a Hoodibaba if it were still in production.
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