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Sometime in November last year, I started getting this itch to upgrade to a Yezdi Roadking from my '87 Yezdi CL2. So naturally, I started scrounging through the classifieds and hitting up people from the motorcycle clubs for a decent motorcycle. To my mother, My Yezdi was just some girl I had brought home on a rainy night under a very suspicious scenario. So obviously, she hated it from the deepest parts of her heart. She was on 7th heaven the day the buyer visited and took the Yezdi away. I was shattered for the next few days, as I hadn't realized how much I was dependent on it, but the thought of gathering miles/KMs (whatever) on a Roadking lifted my spirits up.
The very next day, I see a real beaut on OLX, call up the guy and find out that the motorcycle is probably just 3-4 km away with a mechanic I know. I call him up, the motorcycle is in pretty good condition, painted and re-chromed recently too. The asking price was somewhere around 1.2-1.3L (Can't seem to remember). I show the bike to my mother, she lets out a shriek. Realizing that Roadking is not a different motorcycle, but a mere model of Yezdi, my mom goes into sloth mode, where she does everything slowly and sometimes becomes unresponsive. An hour later, I give up and my excited brother who shares hate for Yezdis with mom, starts looking for new bikes. Eventually, I join in and we short-list the Dominar 400, RE Himalayan, and Gixxer 250 SF. One of my friends tried to coax me into getting the new CB350 by Honda, but I really couldn't digest the idea of it being so pricey and available only in Big Wing Showrooms. After the sloppy customer service by Bajaj, I ruled out the Dominar 400. I really didn't feel the need for an ADV motorcycle as I very rarely leave the asphalt. So Gixxer it was. I planned to pick up the new MotoGP variant with the eyecatching blue colour and stickers all over the bike, looked pretty neat but apparently they weren't in stock. Anywhere. All over Kerala. I was devastated but planned to pick up the bike before leaving for Bangalore which was supposed to happen by the end of the month. After looking around a few dealerships, I found a neat one (Suzuki ASC are painful here) and went with whatever colour they had, which was matte black.
I was disappointed with the colour, but the motorcycle was a blast. The reason I zeroed in on the Gixxer was simple, I have a happy history with the R15, so I thought maybe sporty was the way to go. The Gixxer wasn't so sadistic with it's riding position, so yes, seemed practical. The first time swinging my leg over the freshly rolled out motorcycle, the visor vision and the grunt of the motorcycle, gears clicked and woosh!! The bike was pretty damn torquey in the lower revs and the mid-range. A brake-checking truck driver and his paan-spitting teen accomplice were supposed to be my yam-doots but ABS saved the day. This is the first ABS motorcycle that I've owned.
2 months and 2K Km later, the bike did 155ish and gives out an FE of 29 in Bangalore city traffic and 40ish on the highway with a constant 110-120 on the speedo. So far, total service costs have been 800-something for the first service.
The very next day, I see a real beaut on OLX, call up the guy and find out that the motorcycle is probably just 3-4 km away with a mechanic I know. I call him up, the motorcycle is in pretty good condition, painted and re-chromed recently too. The asking price was somewhere around 1.2-1.3L (Can't seem to remember). I show the bike to my mother, she lets out a shriek. Realizing that Roadking is not a different motorcycle, but a mere model of Yezdi, my mom goes into sloth mode, where she does everything slowly and sometimes becomes unresponsive. An hour later, I give up and my excited brother who shares hate for Yezdis with mom, starts looking for new bikes. Eventually, I join in and we short-list the Dominar 400, RE Himalayan, and Gixxer 250 SF. One of my friends tried to coax me into getting the new CB350 by Honda, but I really couldn't digest the idea of it being so pricey and available only in Big Wing Showrooms. After the sloppy customer service by Bajaj, I ruled out the Dominar 400. I really didn't feel the need for an ADV motorcycle as I very rarely leave the asphalt. So Gixxer it was. I planned to pick up the new MotoGP variant with the eyecatching blue colour and stickers all over the bike, looked pretty neat but apparently they weren't in stock. Anywhere. All over Kerala. I was devastated but planned to pick up the bike before leaving for Bangalore which was supposed to happen by the end of the month. After looking around a few dealerships, I found a neat one (Suzuki ASC are painful here) and went with whatever colour they had, which was matte black.
I was disappointed with the colour, but the motorcycle was a blast. The reason I zeroed in on the Gixxer was simple, I have a happy history with the R15, so I thought maybe sporty was the way to go. The Gixxer wasn't so sadistic with it's riding position, so yes, seemed practical. The first time swinging my leg over the freshly rolled out motorcycle, the visor vision and the grunt of the motorcycle, gears clicked and woosh!! The bike was pretty damn torquey in the lower revs and the mid-range. A brake-checking truck driver and his paan-spitting teen accomplice were supposed to be my yam-doots but ABS saved the day. This is the first ABS motorcycle that I've owned.
2 months and 2K Km later, the bike did 155ish and gives out an FE of 29 in Bangalore city traffic and 40ish on the highway with a constant 110-120 on the speedo. So far, total service costs have been 800-something for the first service.
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