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Confused soul looking for an Upgrade.!
Hello Bikers.!
I am in a dilemma regarding the next bike. Well I would like to throw some light on my history and thought process so that the fellow members can advise me in a better way.!
History:
Born in a middle class family. Father used to ride a Kinetic Honda and then came Honda Activa. Learnt riding a two wheeler on these and eventually learnt riding a bike borrowing from a friend. Then came 2010, I was smitten with Hero Honda Karizma 225. Father denied owing to lack of Vitamin M. Instead he got me a brand new Honda Unicorn (I still respect his decision as Unicorn itself was a stretch to him way back then). I was happy that I had a bike to ride to college. Covered about 22000 in 2 years with few trips of 100 km, 200 km way back in 2010 - 2012. Other than that it was pure commuting in the city. Then Joined Armed Forces in 2012. Had bike for a brief period on and off from 2012 to 2014. Bought a preworshipped Tata Safari in 2014 and it was the main vehicle till todate. Then the riding was mostly during leave period when I was in Hyderabad twice a year.
Fast forward to Jan 2018 and I got the bike to Chennai where I ride it to office almost 3-4 days a week. The bike presently covered 32000 kms on odo and the itch to ride a bigger bikes started after reading some blogs and watching videos on Youtube.
Present:
The Unicorn has never ditched me ever in the past 09 years and has been a trouble free experience. The saying " Fill it, Shut it, ride it" suits perfectly. About 03 months back, my wife and I did a 80 km ride (Both ways) to MMRT and found the following issues:-
Some of the above issues would be taken care off to some extent by changing the tyres but I really want to upgrade. This October marks 10 years of Unicorn and its time to move up the ladder in both number of cylinders as well as the capabilities of the bike. So the requirements are as follows:-
So these are some of the requirements.
I am still considering the Yamaha R3 (Budget friendly), Kawa Ninja 650 (issued with lower ground clearance hold me back), Versys in case i get a cheaper option, CBR 650F again very low in the used bike market and the ABS version is generally expensive. The heart lusts for Triumph Tiger but the used ones are completely out of budget.
So err what should I do?
I am in a dilemma regarding the next bike. Well I would like to throw some light on my history and thought process so that the fellow members can advise me in a better way.!
History:
Born in a middle class family. Father used to ride a Kinetic Honda and then came Honda Activa. Learnt riding a two wheeler on these and eventually learnt riding a bike borrowing from a friend. Then came 2010, I was smitten with Hero Honda Karizma 225. Father denied owing to lack of Vitamin M. Instead he got me a brand new Honda Unicorn (I still respect his decision as Unicorn itself was a stretch to him way back then). I was happy that I had a bike to ride to college. Covered about 22000 in 2 years with few trips of 100 km, 200 km way back in 2010 - 2012. Other than that it was pure commuting in the city. Then Joined Armed Forces in 2012. Had bike for a brief period on and off from 2012 to 2014. Bought a preworshipped Tata Safari in 2014 and it was the main vehicle till todate. Then the riding was mostly during leave period when I was in Hyderabad twice a year.
Fast forward to Jan 2018 and I got the bike to Chennai where I ride it to office almost 3-4 days a week. The bike presently covered 32000 kms on odo and the itch to ride a bigger bikes started after reading some blogs and watching videos on Youtube.
Present:
The Unicorn has never ditched me ever in the past 09 years and has been a trouble free experience. The saying " Fill it, Shut it, ride it" suits perfectly. About 03 months back, my wife and I did a 80 km ride (Both ways) to MMRT and found the following issues:-
- Engine strain: The engine strains past 60-70 kmph and I can feel the vibrations on the bar, pedal and tank. Difficult to cruise on higher speeds.
- High speed dynamics: The bike does not feel planted beyond 60 kmph. This is mainly due to the tyres (stock MRF) and are due for change. (Yes its way beyond their life and please do not chase me for this. I was about to change them but somehow wanted to upgrade and then kept postponing it).
- Wind Blast: There is no wind protection whatsoever. Feels like I am flying after 60 kmph.
- Inadequate braking: No ABS and the old tyres are a sore thumb.
Some of the above issues would be taken care off to some extent by changing the tyres but I really want to upgrade. This October marks 10 years of Unicorn and its time to move up the ladder in both number of cylinders as well as the capabilities of the bike. So the requirements are as follows:-
- Preworshipped vehicle. Budget: 5L max (The lower the better).
- Minimum 2 cylinder engine (The higher the better).
- ABS.
- Comfortable for long distance travel. So mainly looking for a vehicle inclined to touring and not just track specific. I agree I am now close to a track here in Chennai but that would not be the case in the near future. So I really do not want to invest in a track inclined vehicle.
- Touring specific vehicle with decent rear seat comfort. Mainly would be used for solo trips but incase my better half wants to join weekend rides etc then why not!
- No offroading requirements. Mainly highway touring and may be two to three trips to Spiti, Leh, Bhutan etc.
- Good reliability.
- Decent service network owing to my job. I would be posted to various smaller towns which most of the members would never heard off. Trust me I am not joking and it will surely take you some time to locate them on the map. Its just plain luck that I am in a metropolitan city now.
- Longer periods between service intervals. Cannot run around service centres every 4 months as an example.
- Good wind protection.
- Lower vibrations and smoother engines.
- Soft luggage carrying capacity mainly being tail bag, saddle bags. I am not ready to invest in hard luggage solutions like panniers right away.
- I am not a sucker for digital consoles and tech stuff. Frankly I like the conventional analog engine RPM indicator with the digital layout for others like Yamaha R3 and Ninja 650.
- Fairing. Oh yeah..! Always had a fantasy for faired bikes. But faired bikes with long distance comfort+pillion comfort do not go hand in hand! So semi faired bikes are still okay.
- Open to Adventure touring bikes. It was a mistake on my part to take a test ride of Kawa Versys and Benelli Trk 502. I seriously loved them for the comfort and upright stance. They just spoilt my decision making skills and I am completely confused now. Versys is way out of my budget and Benelli is a not a established player as of now owing to the divorce with DSK. Also the service intervals are too short.
So these are some of the requirements.
I am still considering the Yamaha R3 (Budget friendly), Kawa Ninja 650 (issued with lower ground clearance hold me back), Versys in case i get a cheaper option, CBR 650F again very low in the used bike market and the ABS version is generally expensive. The heart lusts for Triumph Tiger but the used ones are completely out of budget.
So err what should I do?
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