Hero Maestro - Does the name really mean it?

Hero Motor Corp's new addition - Hero Maestro. The 110cc scooter will all new feature ready to rock the city roads. But does the name Maestro really fit for the bike. Let's review and find out.

1. Design:

The Outlook of the Maestro doesnot disappoints you. Not so big as activa but not as small as scooty. The cosmetics have been well taken care by Hero so you get the blend of both the ends, like trendy colours, stylish lights, rear view mirrors but also bold look and solid body.

So the first step towards Maestro doesn't disappoint us.

2. Engine:

The Engine is smaller when compared to the market conqueror Access but equal in size to Honda series. :) no further comments on this point. However Hero Maestro managed to provide few more extra output power and torque to the bike. Not sure that there will be a huge difference in the pickup. Also the top speed should be lying farther to Activa. Also maestro is expected to deliver a mileage of 50+Kmpl on an average.

Second step also failed to disappoint since the engine more or less replicated our famous and successful Honda scooters.

3. Ground clearance & Wheelbase:

Most important aspect for Indian roads while choosing a scooter. Maestro doesnot beat Access in both ground clearance and wheel base but beats Honda Activa (specifically) which has a low ground clearance. Also wheel size 90/100 ensures that the bike is more stable.

Third step satisfactory.

All in all for a mid-range scooter I would say that Maestro really means that it is "Jack of all trades, but winner of none".

However compared with rivalries from 125cc scooter which are in the same price range Maestro has to be given a serious second thought.

The 125cc scooters provide better power in a lessr price to be chosen. Even when you think you are happy with 100-110cc scooters we have better option with Honda - Activa, Aviator.

Not sure how Maestro going to manage by placing a prodcut between this small gap.

All the best Maestro!!!

Cheers!!!

Tata Nano vs New Alto 800 - Fight Again?

The latest news in the Indian cars market is the new Maruti Alto 800. This is the first time real revamping in the design of Alto for which Maruti is eagerly looking forward the sales figure to go high.

The New Alto 800 looks exactly like the mini A-star which was the coin  for capturing all the Maruti customers to go for the better alto.

Ok before calling Maruti Alto 800 as the better alto lets compare it with Alto K10. Ufff. Alto K10 beats Alto 800 in all aspects except that Alto 800 carries a new design. So what only the exterior is different interiors is again not so exciting. It gives you the same old feel of getting in to a Alto K10.

So which one is the right car to compare yes our Tata Nano LX (to make any car in the world superior we can just compare with nano) because no cars are sold @ a price as low as 2 Lacs.

Ok, the New alto 800 carries 3 cylinder engine with 798cc and goodness of 47.5bhp and 69nm support the engine like the older one. No significant change. Again Nano with 2 cylinder but with 612cc with 37bhp and 51nm is far behind the 800cc engine.

Ok! The price factor was also one of the factor putforth by maruti with Alto starting from 2.4Lacs and 3Lacs for the Higher end version. But nano is avalable from 1.6Lacs to 2 Lacs (Both are in ex-showroom).

On-road price for Maruti Alto will reach 3.5Lacs and Nano will be around 2.5Lacs nearly 1 Lac lesser than the new alto.

So there is a huge price difference and there is no difference in the engine specs. So again Alto doesnot compete with the Nano.

So for whom the redefinition happened? Is there any fight that Alto is expected to manage?

Yes, The real fight of Alto is with Eon!

Will be updating you soon with all details...

Cheers!!!

KTM Duke 200 vs Pulsar 200NS - Who's the hero?

Pulsarmania has been there in India for the past 10 years and it still dominates Indian roads no matter whatever bikes enter the Indian market.

It is the pulsar fans who still don't want to change their mind to a new bike cos of its raw power and oozing speed and design. Also, Bajaj never lets their fans down by giving serious upgrades every year or two and most of the upgrades had a higher CC version. First 150cc and 180cc launched and rocked for nearly 5 years in Indian market later came 200cc which was again defeated by 220Fi and in year or two came 220F (not a fuel injection- carbueretted version)

Finally 200cc engine was eradicated from pulsar market. so we had 150, 180, 220 and smaller 135 version. It was rumoured like the 200cc engine was donated to Bajaj RE60. However bajaj proved that they did not remove the 200cc for the reason it didn't go well.

The real reason was identified when KTM Duke 200 (oops sorry i've uttered the truth).

The real reason was identified when Pulsar 200NS was announced. Every one knows that Duke is the top performer in 200CC segment and the only competitor will be Pulsar 200NS.

                                    

The Engine specs of Pulsar 200NS is exact replica of KTM Duke 200, however the chassis, body, etc... was built by Bajaj. So you will have the rich essence of pulsar and smoking power of KTM Duke.

So what is the difference between them!!!

Here comes the difference of whopping Rs. 44,000 (on Ex-showroom price).

Yes! Pulsar 200NS will be available @Rs.88K and Duke 200 will be available @Rs.132K (point is both available at PulsarMania showrooms)

So the decision is simple, when we are able to get the same power for nearly 33% lesser price, the Real hero is here the Pulsar 200NS.

Cheers!!!

Discover 125 ST - Mini Beast!!!

Discover 125 ST is the new beast from Bajaj. Well! When we say about the beast it is not the best in this segment however not like the rest of the bikes.

In 125cc segment of bikes in india, the most prominent criteria will be the mileage followed by power which should be (much) better than what an 100cc bike offers. Also a little flavor of sporty looks added to it will be the mantra for the success of a 125cc segment.

The new face lifted Discover i.e., Discover ST can be called as the best of all discover bikes that existed in the market. The reason behind it was the four valved engine which ensures capability of the bike taken to the next level.

Bajaj being leader in introducing new technology into india, they are now very cautious in implementing them one by one in their bikes. Pulsar 135 LS first of the four valved engine – already proved in the market both in sales and in performance. Now its younger sibling has launched with even more features that are not provided by its predecessor. The Looks of the Bajaj Discover 125 ST seems to be borrowed from Suzuki GS150R and Bajaj Pulsar 135LS. However the mixture has really brought up a better bike. 

Direct competitors for Dicover 125 ST is CBF Stunner however because of its  poor mileage and cost, the bike too fails to shine. One more important aspect CBF Stunner looses again to Dicover 125 ST is the higher end speed like when both the bikes crosses 6500rpm, the difference can be noticed where in the Stunner struggles to maintain the speed where is Discover rocks even after 6500rpm till 8000rpm.


Mileage of the Discover 125 ST should be on an average of 55KMPL (53KMPL in city, 58 KMPL on highway)

Well! From the technical perspective Discover 125 ST has won all the 125cc bikes in current scenario. Let hope for the same in sales figures too!!!

Cheers!!!

Engine Oil- How to choose the best one for your bike

Hi All, Happy to see you all after a long break. This time lets speak about the engine oils. Everyone owning a bike has their concern towards choosing the right engine oil for their bikes.

Even for Indian Bikes Review we could see that most of the comments are regarding the same.

Well! coming to motor cycle engine oils, we have not worried much since most of the bikes in indian market hold tiny engines (compared with other grown countries). However situaion is not the same nowadays as the demand for performance is growing more from the consumer perspecive even pro-sports bike started to show their faces in our market. Meanwhile the engine oils for the tiny engines also has slowly improved in standards and proved worthy enough to suit indian motorcycles.

We have many brands for Engine oils alone such as Castrol, Shell, Elf, Mobil, Motul, etc... because of these many brands in market choosing the right engine oil is always a confusion particularly when we can't find our usual engine oil in shop.

 Let me support our friends who need help in this part

Viscosity is the most important attribute for any engine oils (e.g.:20w40).

 For new engines:

1. 20w40 oil for normal engine size (<125cc)
2. 5w40 to 15w40 for bigger size (>125cc)

 For old engines:

1. choose engine oil with high viscosity 20w50 (<125cc)
2. For bigger engines make it 10w50 Next, standard plays an important part.

Generalising the standard API SL will be the base and greater (API SM or even higher standard) can be used. This standard helps corrosion resistance, preventing sludge formation and make engine healthier even in long runs.

Additional advice:

1. Never change engine oil brands frequently (use same brand engine oils)
2. Change engine oils every 3000kms to 3500kms (If fully synthetic - contact seller for the life of engine oil)
3. Frequently check engine oil levels every 1000kms (Especiall when you use engine oils with lower viscosity, when the level decreases switch o engine oil with higher viscosity.

 For more info. or queries feel free to comment in this post.

 Cheers!!!

Pro-Sports bike Challenge - CBR150R vs R15 v2.0

Review follows very soon...

Tata Nano - What's in for 2013

Well! It's going to be a tough time for Tata to renovate their Tata Nano. Tata Nano 2012 changes has brought a slight change the way Indians look at Tata Nano. Tata is also very serious in evolving the all new Tata Nano for the Indian market!

What are the strategies taken by Tata to make nano evolve and catch the position of India's no.1 car!

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Hi All,

Its nice to see you back all with this post on the India's (sorry) world's cheapest car.

It's a known issue that criticism is one of the major factors that affect sales of Nano in the Indian Market. The reason is that Indian people unable to adopt Nano as a car since they have already accepted Tata Magic as their auto (Share-auto) even when they are from MUV segment (MUV - Multi Utility vehicle). When Tata Nano came up with the similar type of engine with resembling noise people isinterpreted Nano as an auto with Car body.

However the refined engine noise of 2012 which was far more better than Magic as well as old nano currently lifted up its face in sales and also people's opinion.

So it was the right time for Tata to bring up the brand name Nano in the Indian market.

How Tata is going to bring up its brand Nano after 2012 i.e., in 2013 is going to be our point of discussion.

Well! As per the updates we gathered about the next set of Tata Nanos are (i.e., Tata Nano 2013 and there after)

1. Tata Nano Diesel
2. Tata Nano CNG
3. Tata Nano 800

Tata Nano Diesel:

Diesel variant of Tata Nano is a known news and already they are manufactured and by the year end they are expected to hit the roads. The specs that was expected was 700CC Dicor engine (exact small version of Tata Safari Engine).

Tata Nano CNG:

It is one another version that was released in Auto Expo 2012 as a concept car. However not sure if there is an requirement for an CNG version of car which is again ultra cheap Tata ould surely consider bring it up to the market. Speculation is that CNG version will be combined with next version of Tata Nano i.e., Nano 800.

Tata Nano 800:

In India, the most successful small cars are loaded with the 800cc engine (M800, Omni, Alto...) and the Nano will soon join the team with its similar 3 cylinder engine but with the better power and torque. It s also hyped that this version will be released on 2013 along with the Diesel version of Nano.

Whatever be the new releases the New Tata Nano 2012 sounds pretty good to me!!!

Cheers!!!

Pulsar 200 NS - New Male

Well! Pulsar 200NS is the new Male of the Indian Motor cycles!

Let us review the new male this time!

In the series of spots bike from Bajaj - We had many technologies like DTSi (Digital Twin Spark Ignition) and Four Valved tiny engines (Pulsar 135).

After the success of both the technologies bajaj wanted to bring in a new technology where it should combine both twin spark and Four valve technology and bring a little more better bike in the market.

This paved way for the all new Pulsar 200NS. The Twin spark ignition went to a level up with Triple spark ignition and it really worked for the bigger 200cc engine which will ensure more smoother drive than Twin spark ignition at slower speeds. The Four valves of the engine also improved easier breathing of the engine at higher revs (which is already proved in P135).

Well what is more?

You also have a six speed gear box with satisfactory gear ratio.

Was that's all?

No, you have one more! Its the price of the bike which is going to be as low as 85k-90K.

Also we have one more good news, mileage!!! which is the most important aspect of this bike. Even when it drinks a lot in the higher revs breathing high with four valves, at lower speeds it would be very conservative with the help of the Triple spark which allows us to reap the fruits of mileage in city traffic!

Even when all the specifications favours, riding comfort cannot be reviewed unless or until we have a test ride on it!

Am eagerly waiting for the test ride on Pulsar200NS.

Will update very soon on my experience!

Cheers!!!