I talked to an old mechanic today. He advised me to avoid Pulsar for more tha 4-5 year use. He says that it is good for one who will use for 40-45k kms and 3 years and sell it off. Not one who is looking for 8-10 year commitment. He said Suzuki engines are also good, but spare parts are costly than Bajaj and are not available everytime. He also said to avoid Apache as TVS and Bajaj are almost the same in quality and durability. He hasn't worked on AS series of Pulsar but says that 200NS was built more like a Suzuki than Bajaj. He said I can opt for newer gen Bajaj bikes also.

He says that Yamaha is the best brand so far for bikes worth 70-80k above, and he has seen FZs with 60-70k kms running absolutely fine with only regular consumables.

I have made up my mind for a Yamaha now. Either it will be FZ 16 v1 (new) or an R15 v2 (used).

I will look for used R15 v2 of around 2012 with less than 20k km on the odo, will keep it for around 5 years and then change.

Else I will get a new FZ, and sell it off after 8-9 years.

Which is a better option guys? And is there a detailed PDI checklist for bikes/R15 where I can inspect a used bike thoroughly?

Hi The_Two,
If you are concerned with reliability and durability of the bike go for Yamaha (Fazer, FZ-FI, FZ S I) new and old version, or Suzuki Gixxer (naked), or the Honda Hornet / CB Unicorn 160 or the last choice is Hero Xtreme Sports. Stay away from Bajaj, TVS and other Indian brands if you are more inclined towards durability of bike. Pulsars and Apaches are good for 2 to 3 years of riding, and then they rattle (You can read users reviews on Internet sites and the main reason for users selling their Pulsars after 3 years of riding). Pulsars stills having poor quality plastics, and you'll find many user complaints about service centers and spares all over the Web. Instead, Honda is better in terms of service, and since Suzuki wants to emerge and make presence in market for long-term, they do take services/spare seriously than their established Indian counterparts.

It will be repetitive if I write down my latest test-rides done in March 2016 here, so I'm giving you the link of another thread where I've written pros and cons of some of the models/variants you've mentioned. Do read it.

http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/what-bik...ml#post1220050

Honda Hornet does not have engine kill switch, but has LED tail lamp.
Gixxer has both engine kill switch and LED tail lamp, and clear lens indicators
Pulsar has set Torque at high RPM which is major disadvantage.
Gixxer has set Torque at low RPM which is a major advantage as you don't have to throttle much to gain speeds.TVS Apache RTRs have also low RPM high Torque and its an advantage over Pulsar, but again, its a TVS Indian made engine.

My personal suggestion would be:- Go with Yamaha or Suzuki. Though I will add Honda Hornet, but it seems you have already opted out from considering Hornet.

P.S. I can't say about Hero Extreme, but I own Hero Honda CBZ, its 100,000 kms in 11 years, still giving me 35-38 kmpl, and only maintenance was brakes, accelerator wires, brake pads, clutch etc. No engine problems.

So choose wisely