Thanks for telling!
Dont refer to magazines either or u'll confuse urself!

Ha! Ha!
Understood.
U dont like FIXED BODY FAIRED HEALIGHTS!!!


Forget these Bikes(Only My suggetion)..
*CBZX - looks(weired,acc. To me), underpowered, old tech
*GS150R - questionable weird build quality
*RTR 160FI - sporty riding posture,not much of tourer

So the bikes in the top list are..
*Apache 180
*Pulsar 180


Among both of these I would boldly suggest you the APACHE RTR 180.

Thumbs down for P180 Because the Pulsar quality,after sales service etc! Is always under questions.
( I had suffered with my Pulsar 200 babe due to Service center and bajaj quality)

Thumbs up! For Apache180 because this bike is better than pulsar180 in nearly all aspects, let it be breaking,acceleration,top speed,suspension or anything else. (only my experience,no offences to anyone)

Atlast..
I will also suggest you to go through following links for better knowlage about ownership behaviour.

http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/motorcycle-ownership-experiences/8146-tvs-apache-rtr-180-a-75.html#post298858

http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/motorcycle-ownership-experiences/4995-bajaj-pulsar-180-all-versions-61.html#post298909


P.S. - dont confuse urself much in this rocket science on wheels or u will end up buying a Luna!!!

And do tell me if u have any sisters (just kidding :P hats off to you for ur concerned effort mam!)

Shanz

y don't u consider fz16 or fzs..these bikes r stylish,macho,powerful,refined and much stable on all road conditions....its really a fun packed machine....with latest tech ...

Appreciate ur efforts ma'am!
To be frank, the Pulsar 180 UG4 may be good now, but after 4 years of a Pulsar 150, why a Pulsar 180 agin? U can gift him an RTR 180. Better VFM than the other bikes.

U can also have a look at the 220. Agreed about fixed headlamps, but trust me u will not find any great difference and the 220 has THE BEST headlamps in the country currently. The pillion comfort is not so great though.

The next option would be the HH Karizma, not ZMR. Its cheaper and has really good pillion comfort. U will miss out on a lot of goodies like rear disc and fuel injection though.

Dear Shilpi...

Go for RTR 160 or even 180, but make sure U choose bike ACCORDING to your fiancee's personality. I own a FZ & will definately not suggest U one bcoz since U will be the pillion, FZ is very uncomfortable for a pillion. Also, as many are advicing in this forum... see if U can go for a 220 dtsi. Otherwise rtr 160 is a great thing to change since he is already using a pulsar 150 but at the same time, this new pulsar 180 is completely new dimension when compared to older p150/p180.

Decide wisely & Ride safely when U are together.

17 inch is the rim size of the tire not the width. Though the 180 does have a wider rear tire, 110 as compared to 100 on the 160, magazine still claim that the tire is not good enough to extract the complete power and handling capabilities of the bike.

As for riding hours on end, I'm not very sure due to the sporty riding position but again RTR 180 owners are most welcome to correct me

@ Shilpi - Really nice to see a woman getting her fiance something this special! Hope mine does take a cue from you

Considering he has had a Pulsar for the last 3 years, my honest opinion is stay away from them. Instead why not invest in the Suzuki GSR. This bike has a gem of a mill and also is very comfortable for long distance touring if he spends a lot of time on his bike.

If outright performance is his preference then the RTR 180 is your best choice.

If you want a mix of the 2 then you have the Karizma ZMR.

You have a wide range. Choose wisely, but my honest opinion is once you havea n idea from all our suggestions do pop in an innocent question to him sometime and find out what he prefers. Please do not invest in something this big and find out that he does not like the bike due to some unpleasant prior experience with that particular brand or any prejudices he might possibly have.

All the best and good luck for many mroe happy years

i would suggest the Bajaj Pulsar Dtsi 220 Dtsi model

i would suggest you to go for the RTR180 , thtz a real upgrade from the P150.
but u will not get the best comfort bike , if u want comfort and power u shd be going for Karizma.within ur budget the RTR180 is the best bike.

ps:if im allowed to ask u , is it luv marriage or arranged marriage ?? :P

For a sec I thought you were a guy wanting to gift a bike to your girl, and I hopped in to check the comments... just yesterday I was telling my girl why she would not get my RTR but probably a new bike like the FZ

If your guy is happy with his current Pulsar, then just go for the P220....

RTR 180 is different breed altogether :P its a crazy bike and yeah your guy will feel the difference and so will you hanging on to the pillion seat!

Thanks again guys for all your inputs.

I am sorry I do not know how to reply for all the replies at the same time. So I am replying to all posts at the same time in general.
Well thanks for your appreciation. He loves bike and riding and I am happy to see him happy. So some effort is not much a big thing.

I am not sure about the Enfield as PHOENIXFLIGHT asked is it the Royal Enfield the Police use ?? If it is that it seems it is more bulky for city drives. I do not know if they produce smaller bikes. Not sure of the cost though.



SHANZ thanks for your detailed post. Ya as per you have listed I might shortlist out the RTR180 and Pulsar 180. Funny though before visiting this thread I did not shortlist the RTR180 I do not know why.
And no sisters for me.


As the statistics go he is 6-7 inches taller than me,so he might be around 5-9” tall.
So as somebody said that the RTR is not much good for taller people, is it the same for RTR180 also???
I have absolutely no idea about the tyres and all those stuff. Is the RTR tyres really a problem??

After reading all your posts I have decided to visit the TVS and Bajaj showrooms this weekend and if possible Hero Honda showroom also. I will somehow coax my younger brother to accompany me probably some extra pocket money to him will do the trick.
I will take a test drive along with him and see which bike is good.
Also I can have a close look at the Pulsar 220 and decide about it.

Anyway other technical inputs are welcome. As I am a complete zero in those matters.

Nice thought of buying a bike for your guy, all ladies should take a lesson from you, as men are always close to their machines when women are not around.

If your fiancee is like 6 ft and all then i feel rtr bikes may feel like a small kid, in that case you are left with options like Pulsar 180, 220 and cbz extreme, you can also take a look at Fazer and FZ16, and if u can stretch your budget than the old carb version of karizma is a good bike, as you have already mentioned that he likes to go long drives and in comfort factor and all karizma scores higher.

For 5'9" its absolutely fine
NO , that is a minor issue

simply go for Pulsar 180cc... higher in power in the budget........

LOL we all are making her confuse..!!
and yess already riding 150 and again going for 150 will not be a better option..!!

sorry i have suggested GS 150 earlier but later i saw mates suggesting you to go for p220, so i change my words and suggest you to go for P220
i bet if he does not like it, if you are saying that he is happy with P150, then he will definitely like P220 with immense power, great looks etc

All the best

Hello dear SHilp.... welcome to xbhp..... good to see u here...

Its really wonderful of u to gift him a good bike...not even our parents at times are such gifters or were....(yeah its clear.. AT times...)

coming back to ur choice..i feel the guys who tried to help u whole heartedly have given their views...I DONT THNK I CAN BE OF MUCH HELP AFTER SO MUCH DISCUSSION anyways

u and ur fiance.. do u both go biking for long distances ? does ur fiance do majority of city biking ?

As ive read ur earlier posts, and the post by the members here, it pretty much evident that ur still in a bad state of confusion.... +1 to the brands and the ample no of diff models at choice.... -1 also to it...coz we're confused ....

ur fiance` is a bike lover.. (good)

Owned at 150 dtsi for 3 years(hats off for tht)

hates anything lesser than 150 cc( pretty much expected)

As u say power, reliability, and smoothness is ur concern.. (excellent , most of the time all of these wont come in a single package)

really cool and killer looks ( ohk !! )

decent mileage 40 -50 u say (hmm)

uve shortlisted apache, gs 150r, cbz extreme , pulsar 180..... and no hunk or hulk or stuff as such

and he doesnt like headlights fixed to the body.. ( difficult for everyone for the 1st time to get adjusted to ) i found my 220 wierd a few days after buying it... then today, i really don mind..

u don like a royal enfield coz its too police type... ( seen the new versions and upgrades for enfields lately?? )

unicorn is a strict no no u say...... ( but it comes with good features) but again just 150 cc..

the guys here are of the latest gen... we all go for killer looks. performance , handling and everything...

with the suggestion u got, let me make things clear to u..

most of the bikes off lately are a big pain for pillion... they come with split seats..enhances appeal , but still its a pain.under hard breaking and acceleration u'll be sliding back and forth.. on the rear, the so called grab rail is at a odd place..doesnt provide u any help if u really dono how to hold on....

for 5 ft 9 inches , the 220 will be ok... but its kinda high..im 5 9.. im on my toes most of the time

kindly , approach ur fiance's friends for the best options and answers...
ask them about his latest likes and dislikes....

if u ask me ., i would settle in for a royal enfield thunderbird twin spark right away.... its expensive...but its got everything....

I really dont think there is a single person here who dislikes the legendary royal enfield...or are there any ?

lastly , if u still like the 220, ask any of ur friends to take u on a small test ride on it....its got everything.. immense power..good acceleration. killer looks. rider comfort, but no pillion comfort.. its got amazing headlamps...thanx to the projectors but its a body fixture...n he doesnt like it...kindly get back with ur views...

I wud suggest just two options either P220 or Karizma.........

No other bike wud make him as HAPPY as these ( my personal thought...no offense)