Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

Hmm what was your experience tht made you stay away from Re after Ladakh tour?

Yup Honda Yamaha are quite reliable. I own a Honda 125 cc till date it has not broken down during highway tours despite being treated like dirt.

I was looking for the Honda Rebel 300 though budget(2.5lacs plus) is bit off my budget. I live in Jorhat Assam so far from ghy. Fz 25 is not available for test run.

Yeah I tried Re 350 and ya it fits me. Besides It's seat height can be reduced. The only thing bugging me is most people telling me it's unreliable.

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

The brake lever broke. Gear shift nowhere as smooth/clean as my Unicorn. But if I have to single out just one thing - it is the handling of RE Classic that made me decide against it. We had 3 riders there who own RE otherwise, they all had their share of trouble with their bikes. One rider had to change his wheel hub for less than 1 year old RE classic during one such tour. Simply put, in my experience RE didn't feel well-built, comfortably maneuverable and reliable.

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

Ok. But if I have 1.5_2 lacs to spend..none of the other brands(apart from re) seem to offer much vfm. Fz 25 is too plain looking. One can easily confuse it with fzs 150 cc. Also headlight looks like pulsar ns. Dominar bit too high and heavy and least fuel efficient for my liking. Duke's not my type.

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

You clearly want a RE bike so bad. Just go and buy it. Guaranteed it will break down and give you problems but if you want it, go buy a RE.

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

Yeah lol.
But if Honda Rebel 300 was available right now I would have definitely gone for it. Or if UM Commando was available in my area.

Among the other options Fz 25 isn't available for test ride and I don't want to purchase a bike without having test ridden once. I sat on Dominar 400, felt too high and heavy but'll test ride it once to make sure.

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

Absolutely. This is my dilemma as well. FZ 25 quite practical, but rather bland and I didn't feel comfortable handling Dominar.
Duke not my type either.

Even it was available, I'd suggest you stay away from UM. We have a dealer nearby I visited that place 2-3 times and spoke to the owners who often came there for one reason or another. One of them coming for last 2-3 months for a part replacement but that part is not available. Engines are imported from China, not built here. My opinion is UM Commando is just better looking Thunderbird with more problems - I liked Mojave's looks and exclusive styling very much, but my visits to UM and few interactions with owners didn't give me enough confidence to go for UM bikes .

BTW, RE is launching Thunderbix 'X' editions on 28 Feb which will have tubeless tyres & alloys - see if you like them. I absolutely love classic cruiser looks of TB, wish it was lighter and more reliable. Guess you can't have it all...

If you're liking any of the RE bikes, I think you should discuss that in RE threads and see what feedback you get. Besides RE owners no one else sees any sense in buying RE. Though, I've heard that they are now better than what they used to be. If your heart pumps for RE, go for it. :-)

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

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Ok. I can't consider UM anyway as it's not available here. TB 350x will be available by march i think.



Today I took test rides of Fz 25, dominar and bullet.

Fz 25 - The seating posture was bit on the sportier side and for long rides I felt it could cause backaches (my present cbf 125 has a similar sitting posture.) I thought and felt the bike was missing low end torque and not ideal for stop and go traffic. Lookwise it's similar to FZ v2 but FZ V2 has a much better looking instrument console. Need for ABS was felt as the front tyre skidded during braking.

Dominar - I really liked the initial acceleration, the seat of the bike was high but once you sat on it you won't feel it as it was easy to maneuvre. But there was a take-Delayed gear shifting upon deceleration or braking and the bike just stops, doesn't even stutter. I asked the pillion sitting sales guy and he said it's by design(Really???) Apart from this I thorughly enjoyed the dominar. One can easily take it for long rides. Sitting posture is less sportier than Fz 25 but not as upright as Bullet. Need for gear position indicator was felt.

Bullet ES - It was an old Bullet es a d maybe the engine was tuned or something but I thorughly enjoyed it (maybe coz no pillion was sitting behind unlike the other bikes). The pull at every gear was great. Also very less vibrations compared to Classic 350. Easily manueverable too. Only Con was the seat was much higher than my liking.

These were just my initial observations though.

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

Well, FZ 25 is in fact appreciated for its low-end torque. In my 2 rides with Dominar I was not impressed at all.

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

Yes I know thats why I specifically mentioned about its low end torque. I mean I didn't feel the low end torque for which the bike is being praised heavily.

About the dominar I enjoyed it. But its mileage is too low.

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

Please buy bikes with abs, preferably dual channel abs. It helps a lot. It can do miracles.

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

Thanks I am thinking the same but Dominar is too high and heavy n least fuel efficient and Apache abs not available.

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

Isn't Apache abs still unavailable?

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Isn't Apache abs still available?

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

Nope it's not available

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

Thunderbird 'X' launched today, with nominal 7K increase with alloys, tubeless and different handle for easier city maneuvering. See if you like them.

Re: Biking-Travelling+Commuting

Its available...