Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

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I guess the Avenger is the only bike which fits the height bill.

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

Avenger is the only option for you, but you will have to compromise with braking as its rear braking is not that good.
But after bit practice you will learn how to apply both the brakes to prevent skidding.
Its good for your height, good fuel economy but ,pillion seat is not that much comfortable, after 20-30 KM pillion will start complaining

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

+1 for Avenger. Your friend might have to get used to the relaxed seating position, if he is upgrading from a commuter bike.
Good for daily commute and weekend getaways.
Take test rides and then decide.

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

Try thunderbird 350

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

Try United Motors Renegade or Commando. They cost almost same as Thunderbird but has more power.
Avenger is also a cheaper option, which suits but has poor braking.
I currently own the newest Avenger 220 Street.

Edit :

Thunderbird is an option but is on the very heavy side and is saddle isn't low either. TB is for people with 5.5"+ Height and atleast 60kg of weigh. It's not a bike for slim personality.
Plus this requires quite some maintenance. The brakes are okay afaik.


Avenger has everything to fit the requirement except the brakes, the rear brakes are horrible and front brakes are way to strong. If you friend can afford swapping the tires for a better one along with learning how to brake properly then it's a good buy.
The pillion seat isn't great however with extra padding on sides it can do wonders. There is an optional rear backrest so get it alongside the bike for pillion comfort.
I advise for Street model as The cruise has difficult city riding handlebar plus lacks tubeless tires, also is 5-6kgs more heavier at 156kg dry weight.

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

Avenger will fit for the intended usage. Rear brakes sucks but engine braking and front brake together can compromise the same. Engine starts to age quick if not maintained properly. Try Gixxer as well. The suspension setup can be lowered down to soft.

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

TBH, using front brakes on a cruiser or any bike with long front rakes is dangerous. Why? Well that's because a larger portion of the center of mass resides on rear end and lesser towards front rakes. So if you apply the front brakes with force, a slide is imminent.
So if OP is going for Avenger, I would highly recommend to switch from the stock tires ( MRF Nylogrip) to something grippy and stable.

Engine life and Refinement is obviously a concern with pretty much every DTSi engine of Bajaj. The only exception here was P200ns which is built on KTM's block.
You have to keep changing engine oil more often on Bajaj bikes to ensure smoothness.

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

I don't get why people disregard the RE bikes as heavy. Yes, if you stack a RE against a KTM, the RE will seem morbidly obese. But it's not unmanageable by any means. In Bangalore traffic, the RE classic performs like a charm. I've got a friend who's about 5'2 and he kills it on the RE classic. I've got a friend standing at 5'3 who rides around on a duke 200 in the city and uses the CBR250R on the highway.

The avenger is not a bad bike, but I won't really recommend it to anyone because I've never had a good experience with the bike. The front on that bike is forever ready to slide and I feel compromised by the the angle of the front fork. Of course, this is just me.

My personal recommendation list for a shorty would be as follows:

1. CBR 250 R - 250cc, 25bhp, 780mm seat height.
Pros - legendary Honda reliability, it's a no headache machine, has the option of ABS(which would be a stretch for your budget), is manageable for a short person - given they are willing to take the time to wear into the bike, pillion comfort is best in class, good in the city as well as the highway.
Cons - your friend may need to hit the gym to use the bike with ease(this being a con is subjective. I look at it as a pro), it's in dire need of at least a facelift, higher side of your budget.
2. Avenger 220 street - 220cc, 19bhp, 725mm seat height
Pros - easy to use for the shorty folk, good engine IMHO - it's got some oomph to it, gearing is spot on for highway, the rider is comfy(actually, this depends on the person. This bike induces a body pain in me), biiiiig fuel tank, fits in your budget with room to spare for great safety gear.
Cons - legendary Bajaj unreliability, debatable pillion comfort, the braking situation on the bike is confusing.
3. Honda CB unicorn 160 - 162cc, 14.6bhp, 780mm seat height
Pros - legendary Honda reliability, low cost of maintenance, pillion comfort is top notch, smoothest engine ever, braking is good.
Cons - lower power than your stated requirement, boring looks, boring engine - no oomph, may fall short on the highway.
4. RE Bullet - 346cc, 19.8bhp, 800mm seat height but a very accommodating in seam(thinner seat near the thigh)
Pros - it is a SEXY looking bike (highly subjective), forgive my use of such immature language but - dat torque tho(28nm at 4k), great in traffic, great on highway.
Cons - the gym thing again, maintenance is something your friend will have to learn to keep track of - REs have a penchant for being hard to maintain, maintenance and service could be heavy on the pocket, heavy bike, it's not the smoothest vehicle - the handlebars vibrate a lot.

Hope this helps.

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

True that.... That's why I suggested to use front brake with engine breaking (rider needs to learn to reduce speed gradually)
But Bajaj's engine is major concern here. And if someone thinks RE is easy to maneuver then ask me, it's not. I had to push a machismo to start I in three tries I was out of breath. Also think if you have parked your motorcycle and have to go in reverse before moving in the intended direction. I own Gixxer SF and it's easy to perform that task.

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I was blown away by the way Gixxer handles. It was beyond my imagination for the first time. I learnt riding on Pulsar 220 but however fast it can go and massive torque which kicks in straight line it was not confident inspiring around corners or turns. Though Gixxer comes with a bit high price tag and lower power it's like buying a good jeans for 4k rather than the shit they sell online under thousand bucks. If average is a concern then I can verify, my Gixxer SF returns above 40kmpl. SF or naked is upon the rider, but fairing helps on highway runs. My friend owns naked one and he is 5'3" I guess.

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

I have to agree with you on the engine life and reliability part when it comes to Bajaj. However, Pulsar220 DTSi engine is a tried and tested engine albeit with higher NVH than likes of Yamaha, Suzuki, Hondas,etc.
If you maintain it well, ( not the sort of maintenance which RE demands, what I am referring to is proper oil change, controlled and non rash riding, timely lubing and services, etc ) then the engine will last long.
Parts are considerably cheaper and much easier to find a mechanic.

Anyways, coming to the Suzuki - it has followed the design of Yamaha's FZ which already is an excellent city bike albeit with less power delivery.
There's simply no denying in the fact that Suzuki Gixxer Naked or SF, are excellent bang for buck bikes which beats FZ in almost every aspect except design in which both are on par with each other subjectively.
The price is a tad bit high for a 150cc engine, however in reality you're not just paying for a 150cc but the Refinement, quality, riding feel, etc. It's a damn good package if you go for Rear Discs and FI model.

I really wish they made a 200+cc model and I would have purchased it instead of Avenger 220, anyways I had my own reasons for buying Avenger which has smaller and much relaxed riding stance followed by powerful but raw engine power with decent FE for long rides. It's a mile munching machine (which is what I needed) , a relaxed semi cruiser and many other things, but city bike or commuter is not one of them.

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

Any engine thrashed will return a bad average. The motorcycle I learnt riding or the scooty I used before never gave the mileage they should because they were used by say immature riders. my friend rides like hell and his P220 could never return even 30kmpl.
Also Pulsar weighs good 150kg and has a lower seat height. Too old for now. Though it keeps getting cosmetic updates, say new color scheme and new exhaust this time. Bajaj's survival and revival equipment.
Suzuki is launching a twin cylinder gsx250r. But I see you have different preferences.

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

Check other bikes as well, at first look an Avenger may seem like a good bike for people who are not tall, but at the same time adjusting to its turning radius can be pretty difficult. And that's the only Con i see.

Thunderbird is taller saddle height than avenger and a raised rear seat would make it even difficult to mount and dismount, plus at 190+ Kilograms, its a heavier bike which may be difficult to control in extreme road conditions (unless you have practice and even more so if you have a pillion).

You can check other bikes too, the beauty of being a Buyer is, you can just walk in to any showroom and try and mount the bikes, take test ride if you feel interested and repeat the process till you find a bike that appeals to you.

There is no right or wrong choice in bikes, check which all bikes fit you, suite your needs and riding, and then narrow down to a choice.

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

I think u should take test drive of renegade commando and avenger street. Look wise both are almost same but commando has little bit of newness in it especially in India. But there is more than 70k difference between them.

Re: Short person: Tourer plus city rides, easy handling

Hi I am here to tell you the difference between TB 350 and Avenger 220 . I have TB 350 and I have taken the choice of RE instead of Bajaj because of the following reasons :-

1. RETB350 has power than Avenger 220 - TB350 has 19.80 and Avenger has 19.03
2. RETB350 has more torque than Avenger 220 - TB350 has 28 NM and Avenger has 17.5 NM - pulling power is way high.
3. RETB350 has the bulky masculine look and looks more male than Avenger - In case of looks everybody will chose Royal Enfield rather than Avenger.
4. RETB350 has more top speed than Avenger - RETB350 - 133 kmph and Avenger - 125 kmph.
5. RETB350 has the spoke wheels and Avenger has Alloy wheels - Spoke is better in bad roads of India .
6. RETB350 has 55/55 W halogen + projector light + halo light + l.e.d taillight and Avenger has 55/60 W halogen.
7. Both of them has the cruiser type seats - comfortable is depending upon the weight and the height of the person .
8. RETB350 has 2.5 ltr of engine oil capacity and Avenger has 1 ltr oil capacity.
9. RETB350 has the BOTH DISK BRAKES 280mm at front and 240mm at back and Avenger has 1 disk brake and drum setup in here Avenger has 260 mm disk setup and 130mm drum setup.
10. RETB350 has 20 ltr fuel capacity - Avenger has 14 ltr capacity.
11. RETB350 has 5ltr reserve capacity - Avenger has 3.4ltr capacity.
13. RETB350 has 41MM front fork - Avenger has 35MM front fork.
14. RETB350 has 2 trip meter + clock + AVG Speed + Tachometer + Low Battery indicator + Service due indicator / All this are missing in Avenger except battery.
15. RETB350 has twin HORNS and Avenger has 1 horn - RETB350 has the loudest .
16. RETB350 has 5 colour option and Avenger has 2 colour option.
17. RETB350 has 42 kmpl and Avenger has 45-48 kmpl .
18. RETB350 has 190 kg weight and Avenger has 150 kg - Both of them has the strong stability on highway but greater the weight the more the stability in cross winds.

If you are saying you are short I beg to differ , my uncle is 5.4 ft and I am 6.1 ft and we both ride enfield . I myself ride TB350 and my uncle rides CL500 which is more powerful than TB350 . So the height is nothing if you are willing to ride a motorcycle then this height , weight , age does not matters , I am 22 years old quite young to ride RE at this age but I ride . So please think all this . If you fell comfortable you can ride any bike in this universe . Be strong and ride hard and safe.

This is my ride . PROUD TO BE RE (oldest and first motorcycle manufacturer) . If you want to be different want to stand out in the crowd go for RE or be a common person like others !