@madhav:College n usually my parents not giving me permission are two reasons i don take part in too many rides.

P.S: You have a PM.

same problem here.

Bajaj's one more aggressive marketing initiative..

Outcome is the new Discover 150.. Its priced at Rs.46,000/_ only brand New....

Turns out that they are market leaders already in two wheeler sengment in india.. what about hero honda ?? any idea?

Hero Honda is still market leader according to sales. N i am expecting the Discover 150 to sell like hot cakes.

So where are we in this heap?? i am at least happy that pulsars n discovers are not available in the first world countries where our ybr was able to sneak in and make some name...

^^^ I don't think Yamaha is very high on the sales chart. But is doing relatively better than what it was doing before.

N i don think it makes any difference to us that the ybr-125 is being sold in the UK. I'm sure there will be a considerable difference in the quality of parts in their machines and ours( its on road price is somewhere around a lakh there.

The reason for Ybr's to be in first world countries and not pulsars and discovers is totally economics and nothing else.

Total Economics ?? If you have the time.. do write on this more as i could not make out much from the explanation... All i felt was bajaj bikes were underrated to be sold in first world countries and yamaha being number 1 in bike manufacturing could have made it somehow..

Does a YBR125 costs around a lac rupees if converted ? What could be the cost of a yzf-r125 then ?

If it is launched in India (yzf-r125) will it be expensive than the r15?? only time will tell??

@sriram

to make it easy for you. the position of all 2 wheeler makers in india (according to sales):-
1. Hero Honda
2. Bajaj
3. TVS
4. Honda
5. Yamaha
6. Suzuki

hope this helps

No the price would not be more than that of r15. Its expected price is between 70,000-90,000. It would hav a topspeed of above 120kmph and yamaha is not the no.1 but its honda according to sales. Yamaha is no.2

I'm not a commerce student or anything. But looking at history makes me say that it is economics.
Japan has been competing in the global economy from a long time now. Unlike India who have come to the scene only recently.
Where one country is developed other is still developing.
Thus, companies like Yamaha and Honda who have been in the International Market for a long time now have had success from many years in the first world countries.
Bajaj, TVS etc do not have the same potential as Yamaha and Honda and it would be pretty pointless for them to be selling in first world countries where other brands such as Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Ducati, Aprilia etc are already competing.
Plus setting up plants in these countries would be a huge investment in itself. They are already doing very well in India. And collaborating and bringing in brands from abroad is a better option for them financially than taking themselves to such countries.

I do not think we will be seeing the R125 anytime soon. Pricing issue will be a major problem. It sells for around 2900 pounds in UK. Pricing in India will have to be much much cheaper than that to succeed.

Rusting issue on the GS150R was a problem that cropped up very shortly after the owners bought them...

Well, most gladiator owners here including me have not had the bike for too long... I have had it for around 22 months now... No rusting issues as of now...
Nightwing has had rusting problem... His bike is the older model though... So don no if rusting is an issue on the newer ss and rs models too...

N as of now i have not seen any other long term problem with my bike... All this is only my experience... Other members could also give you their feedback...

Does the world seeming much faster now count as a long term problem? You have to ask Lakhanironak. He has owned a Fazer for long and since both the Gladiator and Fazer share the same basic engine,his opinion on the subject would be more correct.
The rusting issue has always bothered me alot. Fortunately there's no more rusting since the bike has come under my ownership. My Gladiator was originally owned by brother.He and his friends used to park their bikes under the same spot. The bikes included a couple of Pulsars,1 Discover and 2 Splendors besides my Gladiator. And of all them only the Gladiator experienced the rusting issues. Sad but that's the fact.
Other than that,I have managed to bend my bike's front rim.Dont know how I managed to do that. It was bearable for a while but it's quite annoying now since the Yamaha guys had had a go at fixing it. They declared that my bike was involved in a very serious crash that had caused the rims to bend. I had to point out that 'a very serious crash' would cause some scratches as well and my bike was immaculate.
The bike feels like it's tilted to the left at an angle plus it steers to the left while braking.
I will change the rims when I change the tyres. Any other things I should look for in order to resolve the same issue?

Do your rims really need to be changed?? Are you sure they can not be fixed??

I don no about lucknow but here in bangalore we have lot of these shops where they work only on rims (small local mech type of shops)... If you can find one of those then surely it'll be a cheaper fix for you...

If you are goin to change the rims and intend on keeping the gladi for sometime then y not alloys... You get the added benefit of being able to put tubeless tyres... New ZMR's tyres will be a nice change for the gladiator... They are tubeless 100/90 18" tyres...

N also are you sure its only the rim bend right?? no yoke or fork bend??

P.S: I read your blog... I partly agree and partly disagree with you... I like the part where you said Yamaha is run by bankers though... Seems to be coming true for me

The Yamaha guys diagnosed and said the rim was bent. Had to leave the bike with them for 6 hours while they tried to mend it. It's the same method employed by the road side mechanics. The alloys are quite expensive plus they arent available here in silver finish. Black alloys would look awkward with my silver Gladiator. Also almost all the mechanics that I have talked to have suggested not going for alloys as they ruin the ride quality. Plus they are expensive to maintain as well. The road I ride over everyday is quite bad.

As regarding my blog,I have only written what I have observed about Yamaha and my bike in the past 5 years. Feel free to disagree. I have no problem with that. Although if its comes to be a part of a discussion,I have no problem in giving my views on the topic.
Let me be very clear to you,ALL BIKES HAVE PROBLEMS. They are machines and they are bound to go wrong some time or the other. Whatever problems I had with the Gladiator have been solved now. I am just left wondering why they happened all at the same time. Mine may have been a one off case but the experience has left a sour taste.To tell you the truth,after all the electrical issues in my bike,I was apprehensive about going for the R15 considering it has no kick lever. But I have.
You are looking for a long term bike so you should think about where the bike will stand 2 or 3 years from now. Consider the Unicorn or the Dazzler as well. It's a one time investment so you might want to buy something that's a bit more powerful and in tune with the times.
If maintained well all bikes are quite reliable. I have owned a lot of bikes in the past and most of them have been Bajaj. My Discover has completed 60 thousand kms and only the clutch plates and speedometer cable have been changed. And Bajajs are known for their erratic behavior and comparatively less reliability.
I am not,for a minute,going to stop you from choosing the Gladiator. If you love it go for it. Despite all the issues in my bike I still love it. Call it madness or whatever you like.There's no other bike in it's segment that can match upto the Gladiator's level of sheer riding pleasure and comfort. I can testify the same.
Good luck. Your call......

No discussions needed on the topic... I quite understand to some extent why you have such opinions about Yamaha... My opinions about Yamaha are a little different because of my experience with my previous bike the rx and the gladiator now... Both the bikes have not disappointed me... Great engines... I have always been a yamaha fan because of their reliable engines...

N Congratulations i see that you are going for the R15... Its on my list of want to have bikes too... Someday

What about riding conditions there?? you said having alloys wont be very nice because of bad roads... R15 is not the best on bad roads...

Which colour are you goin for?? I am in love with the Yellow R15....