Crash guards may have its uses on minor falls. But when bike falls hard, I would prefer bike without crash guard. Here's why I think as far as affecting the chassis is concern.
Crash guards are solid piece of metal bolted on the chassis. During hard fall. The force of impact is directly transferred on the chassis and may bend chassis if force is great.
However, without crash guard, the force of impact is absorbed by the body fairing/tanks etc. and act like crumple zone. Yes, you might get a badly bruised bike, but the chances of affecting the chassis is lesser, which in my book is more important than the body.

bro, u have to ignore the fear of discontinuation of current models, take the example of honda city, wagonr, santro, 220 fi etc........are the owners of prv models are fool........no they are not.....manufacturers will keep coming up with new models/////.....who knows bajaj may relaunch the 220 S with fuel injection.

u have to give up this fear dude else u wont be able to buy anything. i got my zma-r even after launch of zmr, and many are still getting.

How would you explain the badly bruised body of the rider when having a fall on a bike with no crash guard. I for one am not in favor of knee surgeries just to preserve the chasis of the bike. To hell wid the bike.. i ll get a new one.. and it will cost me less than the cost of surgery. And thats not the only benefit...

i had a bad accident on my zma and was bed ridden for a month with a broken leg.having experienced this first hand,i'd say,fitting a crash guard is worth it.and like antz said, you can get a new bike or get it repaired for some amount but your safety is of utmost importance.... @ts:You may not have had any accidents so far but better go for one coz you never know...

For all your above conditions, there is no other than the karizma r. It may seem outdated but its the best cruiser out there for our indian roads. The overprices zma performs even below this one. Being a hero honda, service is not a problem and adequate power and a mileage of 30-40 is assured.

The only thing about 220s is it looks like the old pulsar 200. The only advantage here is a reduction in weight so a 2-3 increase in mileage. However, it has more power and torque but its good only for 2 years and after that problems shall riddle you.

My opinion, go straight for the zmr.

A lot in response . Though my post was specifically in response to crash guard in relation to chassis (not rider). If you look up to my post, come on..I have taken trouble to make it bold so misunderstanding like this may be avoided .

I might be able to respond to your post though that would take us further away from the topic.

lets call it a truce then and get back to the topic

crashgaurd's job is to absorb most of the impact when bike falls on sides.

Carsh gaurds come with softspots which make the garud to bend at those points first. So not transforming any force on to chassis. The crash gaurd on Xtreme/Hunk/Unicorn have such similar spots. When the bike falls on side.the impact is taken my crash gaurd at the joints where it is connected to chassis.


@Thread starter

Even if a bike is discontinued, the manufracturer is leaglly bound to supply its spares for 15 years i think. And I dont see any reason for HH to phase out ZMA so soon. It is not much of pollutin vehicle too so that it can be sacked under Bharat Stages rules.

One more questions. Which bike has good suspension and also good pillion seating position?

suspension is good in both the bikes for normal use though the Zma/r is more stable around corners.Pillon comfort is definitely better in HH...

See it is not so easy to select one over another,both bikes are alot different from each other.when talking about zma-r(my previous bike)

zma-r

pros
1.very reliable bike
2.good power(17ps@7000rpm)
3.good touring capability
4.excellent handling
5.top end 125kmph
6.smooth engine
7.good suspensions

cons
1.vibes after 90kmph
2.f.e 35-40kmpl (depending upon ur riding style)
3.very very costly spare parts.
4.Outdated

Now comming to p220 dtsi(my current ride)

p220

pros
1.amazing power throughout (21ps@8500rpm)
2.contemperory
3.f.e 40-42kmpl.(atleast for me)
4.Much better topspeed than any bike 144kmph(company claimed)
5.Smoothest pulsar ever(personal feel)
6.very good suspensions
7.other goodies included.
8.cheap spare parts


cons
1.looks are similar to its siblings
2.handling is slightly inferior to zma-r when it comes to cornering else straight line handling is much better than zma(personal experience)
3.rvm are useless.
4.I have not felt any vibes or any other issues till date.
5.average touring capability due to its a little sporty seating position,you have to couch a little bit on p220 but it gives you a good confidence at high speeds.


Now reliability is something which depends upon the owner very much.If can take a good care of p220,it will never let you down.

Now you can see there is neck to neck competition between these two monsters,one is 6 years old still very good competitior.other one p220 is a monster when comes to power delivery still a capable tourer.

I will suggest you to go for p220 but take a good care of it ,in terms of servicing and maintainance etc since I don't think it will be good to go for old machine when you have more advanced one but it is totally my openion no offenve to anyone and due to the same reason I switched over to p220 from zma-r.

http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Album?ui...1231632467&p=0
...... u don't have to compromise with the engine cowl if u look around !!

IMO zma-r is not going to be phased out any time soon......

people were looking for a zma upgrade and with the introduction of zmr many felt like going for the older zma-r (as more VFM), i think the sale of zma-r has increased with the introduction of zmr.

..... and for pulsars, every 6 mths U will see a new one
..... may be the new 4 valve, 220dtsi is in its way

GO FOR ZMA-R .... U WILL NEVER REGRET !!

He.he.he
I agree with you mate.right now I have p220 faired one but very soon I am expecting to see a 150 or 135 pulsar dtsi with same fairing or better say body replica parked near my 220 with his proud owner.Bajaj has a tendency of frying the old rice again and again adding some spices and serving to simple people than cooking new food,this is a great example of reusability of their r&d. shame on bajaj

Pulsar 220 F is proved to be one of the best tourers in last two years...U can c p220 fi versions running proudly on the road even after 2 years of its release...

To compare 220's reliability over Zma...u have to wait another 4 years..( as zma is 6 yrs old by now )
dont forget...Bike india quoted

220 may dominate the touring even than RE in years to come...

Bhai...maintain ur bike like a baby...which brand may it belongs to...Its serves ur purpose for atleast 5 years

I Guess the faired version would be more suitable to touring than the S version.