Re: Renegade Commando or Avenger 220 Street ?

Query Approved

Re: Renegade Commando or Avenger 220 Street ?

I would suggest you to avoid the UM and go for the Avenger for one simple reason.
Lack of after sales service and network for UM. Let me explain.

The UM is a very new company in India and it is just opening up its showrooms and dealerships in major cities in India. This means that they will have service centers in fewer places than Bajaj (only in big cities), and that will be a problem if you plan to tour extensively on it. The lack of a good service network means that you will always be worried about getting it fixed, if something goes wrong in the middle of your trip and you are in a small town far away from a metropolitan city.

Now even if you plan to use it only inside the city, as a daily office commute there is still chance of unavailability of spare parts in the service centers. I have experienced this first hand. One of my friends own a Ninja 300 and it has a small fall and its clutch lever broke. Now Kawasaki is a automotive giant as compared to UM. It has much wider sales and service network in India as compared to UM, and it still didn't stock the necessary small spares like, clutch levers. indicators and rear view mirrors. So my friend had to wait a really long time for some parts that should have been in stock with the service center. Imagine having a premium bike like Ninja, but its gathering dust in your garage because the service center did not have essential spares like brake pads or clutch levers or indicators.

Now UM has a much much smaller foot print in India than Kawasaki so there are bound to be scarcity of parts. What if the worse case scenario comes true and you crash (which is entirely possible in India), what if a friend takes it for a spin and drops it.

The situation might improve in future, but right now it would not be intelligent to get a UM bike. However good it may be, you'll always need a well stocked service center.

Hence my advice would be to avoid the UM and go for the Avenger.

Re: Renegade Commando or Avenger 220 Street ?

Thanks @Ankey. That was a heads up for me.
I do get suggestions to go for Dominar 400 as well. My requirement is for a daily commute and would drive like 300-400kms(couple of weekends) on a month. Should not get a back ache though !!!
Heard avenger would vibrate after 80-90kms. Does it ? Also, the pickup ?

Re: Renegade Commando or Avenger 220 Street ?

If I may add another perspective other than service and spare parts availability. I was confronted with similar dilemma when I bought my Avenger Cruise in 2016. Had an option to wait for two months for Commando as it definitely was an attention magnet.

After riding for 10k KMs on Avenger and testing Commando I did notice one major difference. Kerb weight. While Commando definitely draws more attention on streets but if you are going to go on tours and if your touring has even 10% off road bias Avenger is a lot better choice. It's light weight to handle and at the same time heavy enough to give you stability. Now that suits my preference. Others may have different preference. It's very subjective.

So apart from parts you need to take into consideration your riding preference and how much kerb weight can you handle. I read a beautiful article on bike selection (though it was for ADVs) by Noah Horak, "If you can not pick up your bike fully loaded in any situation, it is not an adventure bike."

If you remove "adventure" from this statement the remaining statement applies to any bike. Below is the link to the article which was an open letter to motorcycle industry.

Re: Renegade Commando or Avenger 220 Street ?

Yes, the Dominar is a capable tourer and the most value for money bike you can buy. But since you are inclined towards the cruisers, the Avenger will suit your needs.
Regarding the vibrations after 80-90, I have not ridden an Avenger extensively (just some city riding on a friend's bike), so I cannot comment on this. I would suggest to visit the motorcycle ownership thread and ask your question in that thread. The experienced owners will be able to answer your specific queries in much more detail and then you can make an informed decision.

Ride safe brother and happy bike hunting. May you get your bike soon.

Re: Renegade Commando or Avenger 220 Street ?

Thanks Riders. That was some great inputs and suggestions provided. I am in the feeling that i might go for Dominar coz of the positive reviews and the specs for that price.
I will let you know once i test drive the machine.

Re: Renegade Commando or Avenger 220 Street ?

Regarding the avenger vibration....even the avy 150 doesn't vibrate on 80 kmph...i have ridden my friend's bike. Altough the engine feels strainedas its 150cc but it doesn't vibrate a bit. And now the avenger 220 street 2018 is more punchier in the mid rev range( checkout dino's vault review of 2018 avenger 220 on YouTube). With oils like motul the bike becomes smoother compared to basic bajaj oils. As far as dominar is concerned, its a perfect option for city or for highway. With an after market windscreen, it will more than enough to ride this bike in any condition. And if you like to cruise around 80-90 its the perfect option and you can go beyond a ton too.

Hope this helps.
Ride safe!

Re: Renegade Commando or Avenger 220 Street ?

Thanks guys. I sorted it out to go for dominar. Any suggestions to buy it in good showroom in Bangalore. I believe it might be a funny question but I am asking it since I visited one showroom and they seem to be more interested in grabing money rather than explaining things about the machine. I would need a suggestion to buy it somewhere in Bangalore where they value the vehicle and the customer. Hope I tried to ask my question in a proper way.

Re: Renegade Commando or Avenger 220 Street ?

go to official banglore g2g thread and ask people out there,they would definitely help you.

Re: Renegade Commando or Avenger 220 Street ?

Thanks [MENTION=84638]Om1234[/MENTION]. I have posted it.