Avenger any day. For Touring, the sport bike type riding position is not good - read: tiring. After riding 200kms, you will feel the pain in your butt if u drive pulsar / apache or similar bikes. So for touring keep away from pulsar / apache and even the suzuki.

suzuki gx150r: Whats the use of 6th gear if you are not comfortable to ride with ?

Avenger has a relaxed riding position than any other bikes. Hence I highly recommend avenger for touring. The low slung bike lesser affected by the cross-winds.

@ TS
Apache has an aggressive riding stance. I suffered badly from back pain when i exchanged my bike with a friend and drove for hardly 20kms. For long distance touring u need a comfortable ride which can also cruise at high speeds and be reliable. I dont think u would be on full throttle throughout. A P180 would be more comfortable than Apache 180 but is less powerful. I once again say Avenger is the best among ur list. Have a test drive of all the bikes and see which suits the bill. But if u can extend your budget by 5-7k u have P220 and Zma-R.

@pranav :- Actually you can tour on any bikes .,but still here are my few paisas !

Avenger - What about spares ?

Apache - they are good for trackdays and daily use isnt ?

Pulsar -I've seen a lot of members here touring in pulsars ., but VFM ?

GS150R - This is the bike .,you can commute .,tour etc etc .,it has got teh sixth cog,its a suzuki , good VFM !

Who says??? Its all about adjusting to the posture. Moreover the clip-ons are adjustable...you can adjust them as per your need...Just have a ride and get a feel of it. People have done Mumbai-Leh on it

Yeah the vibes have been reduced but its still there. About being intolerable...well..i ride a 2007 RTR and have done many 400-500kms trips(single day) and longest being 1113 kays. I didn't find any probs...

Basically on highways you want to cruise at 80-90kph and at this band vibes reduce. Its mainly evident in the 60-75kph range(Talking about RTR160 here)

All said and done...IMO the perfect touring machine in your list would be Avenger...solely because its meant for that...a cruiser it is afterall

yes.. its all about getting accustomed with the posture.. infact we did Mumbai-Leh-Mumbai & we had Karizma, P150, RTR & a Bullet..
so now its all about choice..! but from your list, I find Avenger to be good if you think about comfort ride in cruising mode. But need power, want to ride far & faster, than RTR180 could be the choice.!

avengers fuel economy is bad it seems......37kmpl.i need decent mileage too....ill either go for rtr180 or p180!what say???

If you are making a choice based on mileage, then Avenger and P180 are almost the same. 2 flatmates of mine have these 2 and they both get around 35-40 km/l and this remains similar for both city and highway use.

But the Avenger would be much more suited to touring. P180 or RTR is going to result in aches in some part of the body for sure...if not the back then the ass or the arms etc.

Among your list, the best tourer would be Avenger.. But talking abt Value for Money, Avenger is gonna give you a very poor mileage. Also if you plan to travel with a pillion, Avenger would treat him/her very badly as the seat is too narrow for a comfortable lo0o0o0o0ong ride. (Swollen ass guaranteed.. )..

RTR180 would give you a complete package.. revv friendly engine, power, city commuting (i hope you aint gonna buy a bike for touring alone), easy handling, features like FI, clip ons and above all, very good Mileage compared to other same class bikes..

Talking about Fatigue and Vibes, I have a 2008 RTR on which I have done B'lore-Chennai and B'lore Kerala trips... and I would say it has done an amazing job carrying me on long runs.. Yes vibes are there.. But I'm a person who is not going for refined mills..

Occassionally you could try out some aerodynamics with the sporty posture and rip like you would turn all heads.. It will be fun you know..

Think about posture that your body would support the most, your instincts as a biker on a plain straight tarmac, handling and VFM... you will get the answer..

My vote for RTR180..

Along with checking all the posts here, if you could find friends who are having any of the bikes you listed here, go on a small trip one day.. ride them and see.. That would be great..

avenger
GS150R
Pulsar180
in this order...
avengers fuel economy is not that bad.If you ride sanely,you'll be getting around 40.Gs is obviously for the 6th cog...you can consider unicorn too.amazing motorcycle for touring in that segment...

lots of votes going in for rtr180,ill take a look avenger ownership thread for more info on city riding/mileage....mostly ill either be going for p180 or rtr180

Topic starter

AVENGER is the best machine for touring

If you have zeroed in on P180 and RTR180, then no question on getting the latter one..
One of the four best performance bikes in India.. Others being Karizma ZMA/ZMR, P220 and R15

Ahem..just did a little fact check. There were are 28 posts at the time of counting. I did not include those bikes that are not on your list. Also did not include those that did not specifically mentioned one bike over the other. All in all, my vote count result should be 95-99% correct. Also not counting second choice.
Here are the votes..
Avenger --- 11
GS 150----- 0
RTR180 ---- 2
FZ --------- 0
pulsar ----- 1

Oh don't mind me. I've nothing better to do today so....

Why not Modified Apache RTR180.

I got a suggestion from Bike guru, Purchase Apache RTR180, ride it with clip ons if you adjust to it by time no problem.If you donot do the following:
1) Change the T which holds the forks to the old apache 150 T.
2) Change the clipons to a normal handle infact fit a handle which is closest to your body to give you the straight riding position.
3) Change the brake,clutch cables to new longer ones.

All this inluding labour should not cost more than 1500 Rs max.Guys please comment on this why not this be kept as an option? If we change the handle and the T bar why cant the Apache be made into a Light weight Sportscruiser?

Plus points of RTR180:
1)Best pickup.
2)Cheap spares.
3)Less plastic parts to vibrate and break.
4)VFM bike.
5) Good average of 40-45 surely,if you ride in a sedate manner even more say 45-50k.
6) Rear disc brake so no changing rear brake shoes often and related problems.
7)Fantastic brakes,front ones.
8)Goodies in LCD display.
9) Highest Horsepower per tonne of weight.
10)I would always vouch for TVS quality rather than Bajaj Quality(My perception).On a general the spares are of good quality and build quality is quite good.I own a 6 year old TVS victor GL,so from my experience.
11)Oh how did I forget the amazing handling and flickability of the vehicle.
12) Tubeless tyres surely a boon for those sudden punctures which can be fatal.
Cons:
1) Engine refinement not so smooth as a honda unicorn or a karizma but who cares if you get mindblowing throttle response.!!!
2) Vibrations ,apache owners please comment whether they are acceptable with respect to what we get in terms of power and response.
Disclaimer:I have not driven a RTR180 only driven RTR160 but my impressions of RTR were as above so I assume RTR180 would be surely better than 160.
Pulsar 180 is a old wine now and they are not the same like the initial batch of 180 pulsars which were quite good.(Pickup etc).
I strongly vote for APACHE RTR 180 with modified handle.Guys throw your comment on this please....

i test rode a P180&GS150R...i didnt like the p180....i liked the GS150R very much for its relaxed riding position..now i am choosing either rtr180 or GS150R