Go with your wife's choice.

Nothing can get better than ZMA considering your priorities.Comfortable Seat and a gem of an engine which would never feel ouf of breath.Perfect bike for weekend rides and it looks good too, bling!!

Go for ZMA..

My Personal vote for Zma for it's comfort level , Good sitting posture , refined torquey engine.

but your post has lot of contradictory statements:

First of all No one buys a weekend bike to go around the market???? Specially in narrow road.
Sec a car would be more helpfull if you carrying veggies & fishes around.


Dude if you don't wanna rip , need tonnes of tractor torque just to laze around to market, i feel you should look for a cruiser or some models from RE.

coz what choices you have mentioned and your preferrence don't match at all. just my two cents.

Pretty much most people will suggest the ZMA including me. But the point is, you're looking at a pretty old bike which is again not a problem if the market was dead.But then,there are a few bikes coming out that may better ZMA.

I suggest you to wait for sometime before you go in for a bike where parts might be scarce in a couple of years time. And with so many people complaining of bad service (including the recent Skoda issue and now Yamaha) it would be a wise decision to wait and pick up a newer bike with no issues with parts or service.

And seriously, if you're looking at city riding to the markets and narrow streets, I think theres nothing to beat the Access/Activa

Hee hee, thanks guys, this seems to be a very big influence in making the decision

makes sense, I will give it a month before I decide. Thanks bro

Yeah, feel that way too.

So Himanshu, how does it feel? :P I mean really.


Yeah, thats very true.

Lost Soul, that is one point that has been at the back of my mind but then dependability and comfort are things which never go out of style


Thanks for the reaffirmation.

Looks like it bro,

Ok, just to clarify when I say weekend bike for groceries n all I dont mean I will load it like the villagers load the veggies on the TVS XT's/ I mean light stuff which can easily fit in a small bag, a couple of kgs max.
I have an Ikon and thats what I use whenever I need to get a lot of stuff.

Secondly, I have a couple of real good markets near my place where I might go and pick some small tidbits from, however they are about 1.5km each (a lil more than I would like to walk while carrying stuff), have roads which are just about wide enough to let 2 cars pass so no parking space at all.

I do not like spending 45 mins to look for a parking space when I have to pick up just 2-3 things. Obviously if I have to buy more stuff I will take the car. I also have a big bazaar about 200 meters from my house so I just walk to that place and get most of the things if required..

By good low and mid range torque I mean something which wont require too much of revving and oh I hate to have vehicles which spend more time at the service station than with me, also do not like cruisers.
Also, not wanting to rip doesnt mean I will ride at 10kmph only Just that I am not a kid racer and like to stay around 50-60 in city limits that too where roads and traffic permit.

Hope this clarifies.

p.s. I guess I am just looking for an excuse to buy a ZMA

Please go for the ZMA. You have said it all. Only that you might start touring with your wife once you get it! Sometimes I also wish the ZMA was relaunched with some better features, would have gone in for it eyes closed. Touring on the ZMA with a pillion is a breeze, compared to the various issues on the R15.
P.S. Someone was saying ZMA bookings are stopped? Is a new model in the offing?

If you are inclined towards ZMA, go for it....!
Tried,tested and robust but OLD....

Considering Apache 180, I feel it would suit you more considering you would drive for hardly 100-200 kms per week
-It is nimble and can easily maneuver through the busy market streets

-Is light weight, hence easy to carry around 'fully-loaded'...

-Is a tad lower, so you would feel more planted

-Is fresh and boasts of some good like-able features

-Power output is greater,hence would probably be a bit better on rideablity highways but cities,zma would score because of its mammoth torque

-Will save you around 7-8ks on the outright purchase

-Might save you many more on maintenance because of impractical spare costs for a ZMA...(for instance ZMAs disc pads cost Rs. 2300, which might be even more than your Ikon and needs replacement in almost the same time as others much lesser priced ones)

-Moreover, apaches braking is better

-Apaches have a stock factory fitted Leg-Guard

-Apaches have a lower stanced rear seat which might be more comfy for your wife...

etc etc....


Having said this, let me admit both are fatabulos bikes, you choose any one of them, you would end up enjoying them....
All the best....



PS : All points mentioned about Apache 180 are my personal derivations from Apache 160....

^^ I wont agree on the highway part mate!

Zma is much more comfortable in the highways,and the difference in power between them is negligible.

RTR's pillion comfort is something i would not talk about.

Do you really think that there would be a shortage of spares for the ZMA?
I dont really think thats something to worry about especially in the Indian scenario. The advantage i see here is that because it is an old bike, it is tried and tested so service stations should (ideally) be aware of most issues. And yeah I did give the Active suggestion to my wife and she suggested me to buy one for myself and give her a ZMA

I have given up on new models from HH unless they come in more colors and new stickers. Got to verify the booking thing though. Is this really true?

Thanks man, that was a pretty comprehensive differentiation, however I have read too many vibration issues, issues with reliability on the FI and uncomfortable pillion comfort reports (which is one of the highest priorities). Would take a test ride of the 180 for sure though.

Yeah thats what I have heard from multiple people.

the RTR 180 is Not fi and is Carb , take a test ride with your wife as Pillion . she seems to be very attracted towards the Zma it seems , has she ridden it ?

I have heard a lot of ZMA owners finding it difficult to find parts. If you do happen to bump it somewhere, the pathetic and expensive HH Service might not actually have a fairing to replace the damaged one.

It is something you should be worried about. The advantage you see is in terms of regular maintainence which should not be a problem, when the requirement of major parts coming in, you might have a struggle later on. And with all the hungama about companies messing up on the service front real bad, you should consider this as one of the parameters before buying one.

Nevertheless, if someone wants an RD they buy an RD irrespective of the parts as scarce as water in the Sahara, so heck, if you love the bike, there is no one stopping you!

Oh yeah, missed that . My bad. Yeah, she has ridden the ZMA a few times so the attraction towards it. The RTR is something which is very much in the race though. Lets see how it fares in the TD.

Thats a valid point Silver Falcon. Thats whats adding to the confusion else I would have bought it by now. Guess will have to ponder over it while I wait. I used to have a Hero Puch in 89 and then a Splendor post and they were very dependable but then I had an excellent mechanic back in Doon who used to take care of them so never ever had to worry about them and as they were new that time parts were never an issue. So A.S.S is something I really need to look at cos i dont have any good mechanic here in Bangalore I know.
Oh confusions confusions.
Maybe I will wait for a lil bit more. Hell, been waiting since the 2nd Auto expo when they promised to launch the Ninja so a month or two wont really matter in front of the over a decade of waiting

How does it feel? It feels like god LOL! Just an amazing piece of machinery if i compare it to my apache..Bigger and better..more torque, more fun..more power..I can go on man!

As i said earlier too, go get it without a hitch! If i were you, i would have been more confused about the color for my ZMA!!

Cheers,
Himanshu