Just a thought

Also the riders physic strength may make a lot of difference. A guy with good physique will not be stressed much by riding positions in concern. Hydbiker is an example for that who toured all night on R15 without any complain whereas every time i drive more ~150 km a day in city on RTR, i come back home with a sore back.

may be.but I am not subscribing this height thing reg riding of motorbikes.FYI ,there are nerds who swear with kids motorcycles in west .

I am 5"9 and I can find it home on both zma or unicorn to bullet to rx100s.

On a serious note ,height will affect a small person in city traffic manoeuvring a high bike.thats it.but once into cruising mode ,all are almost the same.

but what pundrick said is very true.

About fitness:

Yes Pundrick is right on that count too.
Medically, riders with an already bad or herniated disc between their back bones [in medico jargon: L5-S1 joint] will always feel uncomfortable on any bike after long hours. You won't know that you have a medical problem...the pain will speak out though.

I too agree on the "already affected discs", but here riding a bike that doesnt suit us/has a seating position which is not good for the discs will affect the 'good phsyic' too.

Ps: here am not speaking about doing 500km in a day or for the first time in "sporty" position. Am speaking about 500kms for 2 or 3 days and doing such tours twice a month, for an year will surface its effects !

Exactly Prabhu,
One aspect of a good tourer should be smooth shock-absorbers, and a good seating position of course. Positions and comfort levels vary of course. So i guess, good quality shock absorbers and bike stability is the common denominator of a good tourer. Add reliability to this as an unrelated but equally important factor.
Secondary factors should be power, speed, mileage,maintanability etc etc.

1. We did night rides. on R-15, P200, P220, RTR. none of us guys had modded head lamps. and all of them were more than 500.
2. You guys were talking about mountains... one of our buddy just says that Fi has its advantages on those altitudes.
3. r-15 has a comfy seat. and comfy ride due to the suspension.
4. long rides are never like 150km rides, every increase 100kms you need double the mental strength. because there is only one way; you cant go back. for example you ride all the way from hyd to vizag (some 650 kms) and the toughest part is going 30kms inside the city to the guest house. through traffic. not the 650kms.

if you can tour on p200, you can tour on r-15 too. don't sideline r15 by saying that its not a touring bike just by looking at the spec sheet. and yeah, zma is a good tourer, but imo not as good as r15.

Each one has their opinion and you have given yours... But most of us here don't give opinions based on spec sheets... please don't make mindless accusations... anybody with any experience on both machines will tell you that ZMA is a much better option than R15 when it comes to touring... its the best overall machine for touring for any rider... R15 is not suited for all... i know how R15 feels like and how ZMA feels like when you pass a coupla hundred kms on the road... you can do highways easily... but when it comes to bad roads and luggage it falls behind by quite a lot... and i'm one of the biggest Yamaha fan boys... but that doesn't stop me from calling a spade a spade...

if you get into bad roads that suspension kills you...

Too much effort on a trivial matter.

On xBhp, there are guys who tour regularly (750 kms+ a day) on a Platina/Disco, and guys who do the same distances on an R1.

Don't flame each other over this

As for this thread, check this :: http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/tourer/5...lore-back.html

OT :: Rossi sir, where is your title of "Moderator". You now became a "Junior member" ??!!!

higher range? as in high altitudes? care to elaborate?


The BEST bike that I have come across as a tourer is Pulsar 180 DTSi V1. It has a huge 18 liter tank (in fact 19) that gives you a range of more than 700 km (18 x 40 kmpl. You can easily do manali-leh-manali in a tankful i have seen it giving fuel average of 40+ kms even if rip your hearts out. It just never fails. It has more or less same power as a karizma but has much better fuel efficiency than a karizma. Has quite an upright sitting posture that makes it easy to ride the whole day without any undue tension on your shoulders or back.

Karizma is also quite good, but i would prefer it with better fuel economy and a bigger fuel tank.

but then, its not the bike its the rider that matters. Here people have done world trip on an R1; heck, our very own Sunny has taken Fireblade through the length and breadth of this country; and then you have people who have done Khardungla on the tiny M80.

I would have had a wry, unbelieving grin when I read that, but I have personally seen an LML adreno FX climb on k-top and chang la...!

depending on how mentally and physically fit the rider is, any bike can be a good tourer...

I can tour on any bike. I believe I have the stamina to do it. This does not make every bike a good tourer. It is all about how comfortble you are on a bike while you tour.

There is no doubt that R-15 will fare better on the high altitudes due to fuel-injection, but the skinny tyres with sporty position will not be suitable for off-roads.

R-15's territory is Track. Karizma's territory is Touring.

RTR is also good for touring if u r under 5 10'.

In my Opinion!

Quite Rightly said..."I have the Stamina " need not make every bike a touring Bike.in my opinion, Pulsars are Good in Few aspects

1. Good Headlight, even with a stock 35/35 w Bulb, makes it Ok( if not very Good) to ride at night.
2. Good Set of Horns( can Make Road for u)
3. Wonderful average( almost touched 46kmpl on my Leh trip, the bike never ran in the reserve Fuel.)
4. Amazingly Good suspension.( did Leh trip on pulsar 150 dtsi. witha load of around 28 kgs. absolutely no Suspension problem....it was butter smooth)

but thn, Seat/saddle(and Not the sitting) is a concern.(especially for skinny ones like me who dont have a 15 ply dunlop Padding{All natural} gifted by the LORD ALMIGHTY)
stability again is a concern coz the travel length between both the axles is a bit less as it should have been...so I would take PULSARS as a bike tht is very good for Daily Travelling but NOT for TOURING.

As for Bullets....great one
'If u can ride this beast&clean the shit too.'
I mean, Bullets are amazing for Touring but if they break down, u should be all prepared to soil ur hands and all to get it going to the nearest workshop.

Zma, on the other hand is good as it has

1. a comfortable Seat
2. Good Bhp/ torque...u may need it at times.
3. good speed, u never knw whn u need to overtake a truck who is a key element in GLOBAL WARMING.
4. exceptionally stable coz of LONG TRAVEL BASE.

but thn...it is again a matter of personal Choice..... My votes still are for ZMA. (the fact remains that I sold off my 1 year Old wonderfully maintained PULSAR 150 after the LEH trip )for a ZMA

Well generally if your bullet is well maintained it does not give you no problems, for instance on the leh trip that was 2400 Km in total that i rode, only thing that i faced was a contol cable thats all and about 2 L of engine oil. i think thats preaty good for the bullet. the clutch was intact and the brakes all went fine, as very one used to say that one has to change them on the journy i did not do any thing of that sort.

And beleive me those vibrations... man they are the best thing i think you dont need to look for a massage parlour when you get places.



i would say that Rohit you have explains thing real whell.. but again it would be up to a person aswell what he or she may feel comfy with. i have done small trips like Delhi to chandigarh, gurgaon to Jaipur and some other places on the RX100. it was always a pleasure riding that lil quicky thing even though i think practically it never crossed 100, but if it can do 90 all day i am happy. but does this make RX100 a good touring bike.


the answer is yes why now. i am happy and comfy on that i like what it gives me, the torque, the bhp, the millage and every other thing. but again does that really make it a nice touring bike. the answer lies within the Rider, what do you want out of your touring bike.

bullet as i said above worked wonders for me, even though i did carry a loads of spares but none was used.

Karizma i have seen people riding then in and out of places. Take for instance i have seen bunny and sunny using their ZMA and its wonderful. the sitting position and the feel and every thing is adequate to do long trips. so i will stand up for the person choice and comfort.

and Mine is What i RIDE

Though Akshay you have made a great choice