The One and The Only – Dilip Bam

[Sam Dinkar]

Article credit : www.dilipbam.com

His (hilarious, as usual) review of the Karizma ZMR (the photograph of him riding the ZMR is captioned "Buddha Hoga Tera Baap" (Old is your father, not me) - incidentally, he is 65 years old.


Hero ZMR Road Test


STRiKiNG LooKs

The first thing to strike me about this bike, are the very prominent rear view (RV) mirrors. Being mounted on the front fairing (instead of on the handlebar like in most other bikes), they are much far ahead of the driver’s eyes than almost any other bike, and most conveniently give a much wider and more panoramic view of what is coming behind you on the road than any other bike, most important for safety.



I remember my sister once owned a Mercedes 220 in 1973 in Malaysia. I have been in Malaysia and driven that car. The car had Rear View Mirrors mounted in front at both extremities (LH & RH) on the frontest part of the bonnet, maybe four or five feet distance in front, ahead of the driver in front of him. These mirrors were so good and effective, that driver could reverse the car in and out of parking lot and garage without having to look backwards out of the window. The RV mirrors of the ZMR are as good as this Mercedes==Safety=live longer.



People don’t think much about Rear View Mirrors (except maybe for combing hair), but research shows that 13.2% of accidents in Pune are caused because you do not see traffic coming behind you! This makes the Karizma ZMR 13.2% safer than other bikes. You will live longer. Before I tested this bike, I had thought that being mounted on the fairing, the mirrors might vibrate, but much to my delight, I found that there is absolutely no vibration! In the old carburetor version of Karizma, the RV mirrors are mounted on the handlebar like in all other bikes. Recently, on a 230 km ride from Pune to Roha and return, both via Tamini ghaat (horrible road), the LH mirror was baar-baar droooping because of khad-khad (=bad road – and it was dheela==Character dheela hai!) and I was wondering how to tighten it. When I reached home, I tried to tighten the mirror on the stem by tightening the three screws which all other mirrors have, but to my surprise, there are NO SCREWs on the mirrors of the ZMR! I thought, dhatt-teri-ki, I am screwed! How do I tighten the bloody mirror? Kya Karen? So I decided to screw the mirror by turning the mirror itself clockwise, and prest0! It became tight! Then I looked carefully into the OWNERs MANUAL and Technical Training Handbook (=WORKSHOP MANUAL) whether anything is written in them about mirror tightening, but found nothing. So my discovering the mirror tightening procedure was just by chance! HeroMotoCorp should kindly write this in the 0wners Manual / Workshop Manual, otherwise how would owners know HOW TO TiGHTEN this dheeli-fication feature?



The second thing to strike you about this bike is its Fairing: It is fully faired and has a very prominent (loud?) road presence, more than any other bike in this class! In current language this bike is: “Mai Hu Na!” This bike makes a personality statement which no other bike of this size and price can make. If you own this bike, it means: YOU HAVE ARRiVED! And how!

Another point I must mention here is about the tyres. I removed the tubeless tyres (80/100 X 18 Front & 100/90 X 18 Rear) which came fitted on the new ZMR and fitted Ralco tubed tyres on it: 2.75 X 18 Front & 100/90 X 18 Rear). These Ralco tyres were the ones on which I rode Pune to Roha & back (230 km) thru Tamiini Ghat==TERRiBLE ROAD – but the RALCO tyres really took the bad road in its stride. It is a lonely forested mountain road with almost zero traffic these days. On the return journey (back to Pune from Roha) it had become dark (andhera), and iF I had a flat tyre (punchur), I would have to push the bike for maybe 40 km. The authorities are NOT going to repair this road bkoz the Forest Dept. claims there are three tigers there. If they repair the road, the traffic will inkreeze and the Tigers will get disturbed. I was quite scared. Bkoz of the almost zero traffic and night time, the few Dhabas on this stretch were closed. I am all for tigers and agree & believe that TiGERs are more important than TYREs. But because the dhabas were closed I could neither find a safe place to sleep (in case of punchur) nor got any food. But I surely did not want to become food for the Tigers! Yet since the tyres are Ralco, Tigers are no problem – I can run away, and I did! After all, Devjeet Saha had been on the same bike on the same RALCO tyres Hi-speed from Pune to Ludhiana and back safely.



WHAT IS IT?



The ZMR F-i has exactly the same engine dimensions as the old carburetor version which has been around for half a dozen years and more. With a bore X stroke of 65.5 X 66.2 mm the engine has a swept volume of 223 cc, and produces 13.15 kw==17.6 bhp==17.88 ps of power at 7000 rpm at a compression ratio of NiNE. As a comparison, the old carburetor version produces 12.68 kw==17 bhp==17.24ps of power, also at 7000 rpm at the same compression ratio of NiNE. The max torque of both versions as per the website is 18.35 Nm at 6000 rpm. The 0wners Manual and the Technical Training Handbook (Workshop Manual) DO NOT give torque figure – why? I wonder.



Being a long stroke engine, (stroke is longer than bore) & stroke/bore ratio being greater than ONE (1.0107 to be exact), makes for better Low End Torque (LET) as per Archimedes Law which is: Mechanical Advantage X Velocity Rati0==1 always! And hence better traffic ability and less need to change gears all the time in city traffic. (Incidentally Bullet 350 stroke/bore ratio is 1.29). In the ZMR, this leads to relaxed driving, which leads to greater safety which means you will live longer.


With the max rpm of this bike being a low 7000 rpm and a low compression ratio of NiNE, the Engine Life Factor (E.L.F.) is almost 1.6, which is higher than most other bikes, which means the life of this bike will be much longer than most other bikes. This is the bike to buy if you propose to keep it for a long time. Bullet has the highest E.L.F. ==2.24, among all the bikes in this hole cunt ree!



The ZMR F-i claims to produce slightly more power (0.6 bhp more) than the carburetor version. Apart from the obvious difference in the fuel induction system – this bike does not have a carburetor, it has fuel injection – the only reason for the extra 0.6 bhp has to be because of fuel injection instead of carburetor. I can see no other reason for this difference to be so unless it is a misprint or my stupidity.



As far as I know, Horsepower (whether PS or BHP) is: 2 X pye (22/7=3.1416) X rpm X Torque divided by 4500 (if the Torque is in M-kg – for MKS=Metric system) which will give PS (=Pferde Starke=German=DIN horsepower) ; 0r divided by 33000 (if the Torque is in Foot-Pounds – for FPS=British system) which will give BHP (=British Horse Power). 1BHP is 0.74556 kw and 1PS is 0.73536 kw. Also 1PS=0.98632 BHP.



However since the Torque for both Carburetor Karizma and F-i Karizma is same=18.35, at the same (=6000) rpm, I cannot understand HOW the ZMR F-i can have 0.6 bhp more than the carburetor Karizma. This is a big mystery to me. The above formula is confirmed by DIN / JIS as well as Pythagoras, Archimedes, Newton, Galileo and Albert Einstein, so it cannot be wrong. Can anybody enlighten me on how & why there is this difference in power between carburetor Karizma and F-i Karizma? I will give Rs.1000/- to anyone who can solve this mystery!



WHAT ISN’T?

There is no kick starter on the ZMR. I am sad and disappointed. I feel very nervous when there is no kicker. It makes me totally battery dependant. And battery comes with only ONE year warranty. What happens if battery dies before I die? Sure as hell, I will die one day, but FACT is that battery will definitely die before I die. Then what happens? I MUST replace the battery Kwik Lee Like Bruce Lee! Which will cost Rs.1500/- or more. Udderwise I will have to PUSH START the bike – which would be highly painful for me bkoz the bike weighs 159 kg while I weigh just 49 kg! Just see my Law of Nature BABA photo on my facebook page! As Gabbar Singh said, “Gaadi 159 kilo aur dhakelne-wala sirf 49 kilo? Phir bhi dhakel raha hai? BAHooooT na insaafi hai ! Ab tera kya hoga bikeguru? Bikeguru may die Kwik Lee Like Bruce Lee!



DiMENSiONAL GEOMETRY:

When I ride a bike, I normally hold the handlebar at the extremes, with my palms on the end-pieces. But on the ZMR F-i, I found holding the handlebar slightly inside (on the grips rather than on the end pieces) more convenient. Handlebar width of this bike is 79 cm (=31 inches) including end pieces, while the handlebar width of the Carb Karizma handlebar is 72 cm (=28.25 inches). The ZMR handlebar is wider hence holding grips is probably more convenient. (For comparison – the KTM Duke 200 handle has no end pieces). The 10 cm Lever yawn on both sides is quite convenient and ergonomic for de-clutching and front braking.



The seat is 70 cm long and has a max width of 25.5 cm (=10 inches) and is quite comfortable. Rider Leg-room is a convenient 60 cm and pillion leg-room is 56 cm which is quite ergonomic for my height of 174 cm. I am however, not too sure about the rear split grab-rails. I have a nagging fear (unfounded?) that loose clothing might get caught in the horns jutting out behind. Ground clearance is 150 mm at the end of the retracted main stand.

In keeping with current technology and building geometry, the TWO feet long (61 cm) rear swing-arm is of rectangular cross section, having 51 X 31 mm vertical X horizontal sides are quite solid and flex-free due to wall thickness of sheet metal being TWO mm.



While both, the rider footrests and pillion footrests are 12 cm long, the PRiCK of the gear shifter (LH) is just FOUR cm long and the PRiCK of the foot-brake lever (RH) is SiX cm long. I dunn0 how much weight is being saved due to these short PRiCKs. If the PRiCKs had been longer, my report would have been shorter bkoz I wouldn’t have made this comment on short PRiCKs. The THROW of both: the brake pedal and the gear shift lever at 14, cm is quite effective.


....continued

 

[Sam Dinkar]

continued.....


FUEL CONSUMPTiON / MiLEAGE / AVERAGE:

On this bike, I had a chance to measure fuel consumption very accurately and very comprehensively over 4148 km of highway riding by 75 kg rider Devjeet Saha (DevjeetSaha). The measurement was done on a tankfull-to-tankfull basis. I filled the fuel tank right up to the brim, and to remove air bubbles (which are always there – and cause error in calculation), I shook the bike forward-backward & sideways, & tilted it low on both sides (LH / RH) to remove air bubbles and repeatedly topped up the tank till there were no more air bubbles. The 0d0 reading was 3854 km.

En-route to Ludhiana and back the ZMR was always filled with normal GREEN petrol at many places from different pumps of different companies. Thus this would also account for any CHEATiNG in quantity and quality almost throughout the Cunt Ree across the full range or 0iL companies including all kinds of cheating & be-imani.


Starting with a tankfull from Pune, Devjeet Saha filled various amounts of petrol at TEN different pumps, across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. After return to Pune, the fuel tank was again filled to the brim exactly as at the time of starting, including removing bubbles and all that. The total petrol filled was 106.24 liters and the distance covered was 4148 km. This gives the mileage of the Hero ZMR High Speed on highway==39 kmpL, which is EXCELLENT, given the kind of performance and reliability that the Hero ZMR gives! This mileage was achieved on sustained highway driving by Dev who is 26 kg heavier than me, riding at a minimum average speed of 80 kmph – going up to 110 kmph whenever possible, which is many times. I think this mileage is MORE THAN excellent!

Why MORE than excellent? Bkoz of the quantum of cheating & be-imani that happens all over this Hole Cunt Ree! I have a very good friend (an ex-student of mine) who owns a few petrol pumps besides other businesses in Varanasi. He told me, “Sir, 100% imaan-daar petrol pump owner does not exist. The true story of SatyaVaadi HrishChandra (our ancestor) is taught to us by our grandmother. What we should learn from his story is NOT about praising HarishChandra for being Satyavaadi, but to learn from his bewaquoofi & stupidity for doing what he did. He said, “I myself also cheat. All meters can be “fixed”, and are always “fixed”. Mixing few % kerosene or diesel is almost compulsory. So believing in correct quality and quantity is illusory. So if we assume a nominal 10% be-imani, the mileage is 43, which is definitely MORE THAN excellent!



TOP SPEED:

The mileage has already been mentioned above. The top speed which I have done on the ZMR is 116 kmph: speed0 indicated – single seat of 50 kg==me. However, Devjeet Saha has done 130 kmph on this ZMR, single seat (75 kg) – inside the L-o-o-o-n-g Straight New Katraj Tunnel early morning (almost zero traffic) leaning as much as possible in front, chest almost touching the tank, head at handlebar level. This figure is also speed0 indicated.



I have not done the zero to sixty “stop-watch X headlight test on this ZMR, nor have I done sixty to zero, braking test. Every publication is giving these figures. I am not. Why? Bkoz I am doing more than that. What I need is “Getting-ahead ability and staying ahead ability” – which the ZMR has aplenty! When I go to college (16 km) on highway in weak traffic time, I am almost always ahead of all other traffic, which is what matters to 99% of people on the go. Nobody buys a stop watch (costs only 50 bucks) and does what I used to do in my earlier Road Test Reports on INDIABIKE.COM - Buying/Selling Two Wheelers, Bike Finance, Prices, Auto Industry News & Reviews and print magazines. Such figures figure only in verbal discussions among armchair nerds who quote different figures depending on WHiCH magazine they read. So by quoting the magazine’s name, these nerds give free publicity to that particular magazine, which is what magazines want – and are getting!



Real bikers DON’T quote magazine figures. They challenge the other figure claimer to a race then and there. If the other claimer is a biker, he will accept the challenge and race then and there. But if he is a NERD, he will say: Your magazine is not accurate, or wrong, or faltu, or some such thing. And just bkoz Shyam Kothari (top racer) can do zero to sixty on the ZMR in 3.5 seconds, doesn’t mean Dilip Bam and / or anybody else / everybody can also do the same on ZMR.



What matters is the capability of the bike. Did it / does it stop in time and in such a way that accident can be prevented? Yes it can and it did when donkey decided to stop right in front of Devjeet Saha who was doing almost 100 on the Ludhiana trip. So the bike can, but doesn’t mean that everyone can. Figures give facts about “Particular bike + Particular rider” as a single unit. If rider changes while bike remains same – figure changes; if bike changes while rider remains same – figure changes. So the figure doesn’t necessarily apply to me, or to you. Then why waste time creating them? From the magazine point of view it is not a waste of time. Investing this time makes the NERDs talk and quote your magazine’s name. Publicity! Verbal hype of your media! I am also media. So why am I not doing it?



I am not doing it bkoz there are practical problems. Earlier I used to do my braking tests on the approach road leading from Paud Road to ARAI hill. A Few years ago, ARAI just EXPANDED its area and gobbled up my test road into ARAI’s private property – with barbed wire, pillars, gates and watchmen preventing entry. This venue was no more available, so I moved my testing to NDA road, where I did the zero-to-sixty (pickup) and sixty-to-zero (braking) test. Few months ago, the NDA also EXPANDED its area, put up barricade and posted gun carrying soldiers, who ask questions. I am scared of soldiers, more so if they are carrying guns. So this venue is also closed. So a major reason for not doing these two tests is lack of suitable road space. However, the ZMR has proved its mettle in Devjeet Saha’s Ludhiana trip and my trip to Roha thru Tamini. Thus, the ZMR has excellent braking as well as excellent pickup and top speed, as good as any bike in this class – and then some!


VERDiCT: With an ON ROAD price of 0ne-Lakh-Ten, this bike is a bargain. The performance is superb. The mileage is MORE than you expect. Excellent bright headlight beam for night travel on lonely roads; highly reliable and needs hardly any maintenance. You can always stay ahead of the traffic. You are always a winner if you are riding the Hero ZMR!

 

[Gurrala74]

Re: The One and The Only – Dilip Bam

Posting his review of the TVS Wego for the benefit of members. Note his distinctive style (pay special attention to how he measures the fuel efficiency) :

(Mods: I hope we can make an exception for his way of using the English language)


WeGo :The scooter with a stance !
...
After enjoying much market share in the gearless scooter category with the 2-stroke Scooty and the 4-

KON-KLoo-Zi0N :
WeGo is available in four attractive colors: Midnight Black, Cappucino Brown, Golden Beige and Sporty White. Costing Rs.49,953/- on road Pune, you get a sturdy scooter which gives excellent mileage and has excellent road holding & pickup, and a comfortable stance ! .

Nice one buddy !!, and Sam you are alive too !! where were you for so many days not seen on the forum ?? . Was passing thru' Pune last week and thought of you man

 

[Sam Dinkar]

@Gurrala74: Yes. Very much alive and revving hard (though revving hard hurts when petrol is Rs. 72/litre). So nice of you to have remembered me while in Poona. Shall meet someday.

 

[Gurrala74]

Re: The One and The Only – Dilip Bam

@Gurrala74: Yes. Very much alive and revving hard (though revving hard hurts when petrol is Rs. 72/litre). So nice of you to have remembered me while in Poona. Shall meet someday.

Yeah, was just crossing pune in train and planned a meet in rly.station but no body turned up there. will try to meet you next time friend

 

[Sam Dinkar]

How many road testers today can answer the way he has answered the following question?

In practical terms how is max torque different from max power?

Like, if a bike has max torque at say 4000 rpm does that mean the bike can pull up faster from traffic signal or climb a hill faster than another bike having same torque at say 8000 rpm.

Again, if a bike has max power at say 6000 rpm does that mean the bike can overtake faster at say 60kmph with same load than another bike having less power at 6000 rpm.

How are these figures related to fuel efficiency?

Regards,
Arunbabu.R


BikeGuru's reply:

<1>YES, if there are no gears, then the bike that has max torque at say 4000 rpm should THEORETiCALLY pull up faster from traffic signal or climb a hill faster than the SAME bike having same torque at say 8000 rpm bkoz 4000 rpm will be reached before 8000 rpm. But in real life bikes this may not necessarily happen, bkoz of DIFFERENT gears (gears are torque multipliers) and different gear ratios in different bikes; different ignition timing and advance characteristics in different bikes; different stroke lengths etc. in different bikes.

<2>Not necessarily: for the same reasons given above.

To understand the difference between max torque and max power, you must first understand WHAT IS TORQUE? And what is power. The easiest way to understand the difference: Among all creatures on Earth: Elephant has the Maximum torque and Cheetah has Maximum power.
Torque is also called TURNiNG MOMENT. Take a ONE METRE long foot ruler / scale or any one meter long STRAiGHT rod and clamp it at one end. Now if you place a weight of ONE kg at the other (unclamped==free) end, it will tend to push the free end downward, and the rod will have a tendency to turn (rotate) around the clamped end if possible, or it will bend or break. This bending force or tendency to turn is called TORQUE.
Since your rod is 0ne meter long and the weight on the free end is 0ne kg, the bending force (also called bending moment / turning moment / Torque) will be: 1 Meter X 1 Kg== 1 MKg, also written as 1 KgM, which is the unit of measuring Torque. MKg stands for Meter-Kilograms & KgM stands for Kilogram-Meters. Both mean exactly the same thing just like Dilip Bam is the same person as Bam Dilip.

If you reduce the length of rod ten times to (say) 10 cm (=0.1 meter), and keep the same (1 kg) weight on the other end, the torque would be: 0.1 meter X 1 kg==0.1 KgM. But if you keep a weight of 10 kg on the free end of a shorter 10 cm (==0.1 meter) rod, then Troque would be: 0.1 meter X 10 kg==1 KgM. Conversely: if you inkreeze the length of the rod to 10 meters, and reduce the weight at the free end to 100 grams==0.1 kg, then Torque would be: 10 meter X 0.1 kg==1 KgM. Do you get the point?

In the case of a motorcycle engine, the STROKE of the piston (the maximum piston travel) is like the length of the rod, and the longer the rod the lesser the load needed at the free end to produce torque, as you can see from the above equations.
This is ARCHiMEDES LAW: Mechnical Advantage X Velocity Ratio==1. (always). Archimedes lived around the same time as The Buddha, Socrates, Pythagoras and Confucius, which is @ 2600 years ago.

In a bike engine, the up-and-down reciprocating motion of the piston is converted to rotating (==rotational) motion (==Torque) of the Crank Shaft, and through clutch+gears+drive chain it is transmitted to the rear wheel. I hope I have made myself clear. Power, or Horse Power (HP) is calculated by the formula:

Power is defined as: the rate of doing work, which is==Work divided by Time (work/time)

Work is done when a force moves over some distance, which is: Work==Force X Distance. Thus, units of work are: units of force X units of distance, and units of power are: units of work divided by time taken to do that work. Thus Power== Kilograms X Meters divided by minutes, or KgM/minute.
Power==[2 X pye (=22/7) X RPM (of engine) X Torque] divided by 4500 in MKS system (DIN) which is used in Hindustan and every udder cunt ree in the hole world EXCEPT America (USA), who are still using the old British FPS system, which even the British themselves are not using anymore! In this MKS=DIN system, the unit of Torque are MKg or KgM, and ONE MKS=DIN=Metric Horse Power is defined as: 75 KgM per SECOND or (60 seconds=1 minute) 75X60==4500 KgM per MiNUTE.

In the American FPS system:

Power==[2 X pye (=22/7) X RPM (of engine) X Torque] divided by 33000. In this FPS system, units of force is pounds & units of distance is foot (=12 inches). Also, in this FPS system, One HorsePower is defined as: 550 FootPounds per SECOND or (60 seconds=1 minute) 550X60==33000 FootPounds per MiNUTE.

Unit of time in both MKS/DIN system and FPS system is same==Seconds, minutes and hours.

Regarding Fuel Efficiency, Try and understand as follows: All creatures need OXYGEN to breathe, that is: Oxygen is the FUEL which makes creatures live and work. Thus, what is Petrol for bikes is Oxygen for us. Thus the fastest animal in the world=CHEETAH breathes 150 times per minute (CONSUMES FUEL), while slowest animal in the world=Tortoise breathes 15 times a minute.

Thus: Higher power and Higher Torque will consume more fuel.

If you want any further explanation, you are welcome to ask.

 

[dharmesh]

Among all creatures on Earth: Elephant has the Maximum torque and Cheetah has Maximum power.

All creatures need OXYGEN to breathe, that is: Oxygen is the FUEL which makes creatures live and work. Thus, what is Petrol for bikes is Oxygen for us. Thus the fastest animal in the world=CHEETAH breathes 150 times per minute (CONSUMES FUEL), while slowest animal in the world=Tortoise breathes 15 times a minute.
Thus: Higher power and Higher Torque will consume more fuel

The above 2 statements explain everything . Thanks very much Sam for sharing, loved reading every bit of it.

 

[Sam Dinkar]

Amusing article on which Honda motorcycle and scooter to buy:

The official website of Honda Honda
as at 19:30 pm on Saturday 8th June 2013, Lists 17 models on its above website.

The largest FOUR models are:

<1>VT 1300 CX – whatever The F*** VT means or CX means I dunn0. I am idiot. And I will cunt in you to be an idiot bkoz I don won to kn0!

<2>VFR 1200 F – somehow I interpret VFR as Very Fast Revving and F as Fast!

<3>CBR 1000 RR – dunn0 what is CBR or RR. I interpret CBR as short stroke, something I learnt from the engines of the CBR150 & CBR250, which are both Maha=Very-short storke. WTF the RR and R at the end mean, I dunn0. I don won to kn0. Maybe it is Honda secret. On their website they donn tell. So how to kn0?

<4>CB 1000 R – same story! WTF is CB and WTF is R?

Bikeguru is not going to analyze the above so-called Superbikes bkoz bikeguru believes that anything bigger than 250 cc is for EGO boost, not for city transportation for aam janata! For the time being this is a policy decision for the time being!

Now coming to the sensible category==250 cc and below:



<1>Coming downwards from the top, First is CBR 250 R, which is a short stroke engine. Bore is 76 mm and stroke is 55 mm. stroke/bore ratio is 55/76==0.724. Therefore as per Archimedes Principle, this engine will have poor Low End Tork but pretty good high end. It produces 18.64 kilowatt ==25 bhp of power at 8500 rpm at a Compression Ratio=CR of 10.7 to 0ne. So Engine Life Factor (ELF) is 100000 divided by (max rpm=8500 X CR=10.7, which is=90950). So ELF is 0ne Lakh divided by 90950, which is==1.1, which is quite low. All current Bullet UCE models have ELF of 2.24, which is more than double the ELF of this Honda CBR 250 R. Actually 8500 is not a too high max rpm. Hero Xtreme and Hunk max rpm is 8500. Most Pulsars are at max 8500 rpm. The max tork of this bike is 22.9 Nm at 7000 rpm. Bikes maximum torking at 7000 rpm is still quite rare (KTM Duke 200 maxing tork at 8000 rpm notwithstanding!). The high revving nature of this 4valve engine is managed by SiX gears in a 0ne-down-five-up pattern. Drive chain is a sealed chain. Driving this bike in city will need much gear changing= =much work for the driver! This bike would give a mileage about same as Bullet 350, varying much, as per road, load and traffic conditions. Riding on wide low [aspect ratio 70] profile, 17 inch tires [110/70 front and 140/70 rear] having disc brakes front (296mm) and rear (220mm). Backed by a 12V-6Ah maintenance free battery, the powerful 60/55 watt headlight is a boon at night and a great safety factor at night. This 167 kg HEAVY bike on a wheelbase of 1367 mm at a ground clearance of 145 mm would be able to do @ 420 km on a tankfull (13 Liters) to tankfull basis. The biggest negative point of this bike is that it DOES NOT HAVE A KiCK STARTER!
Never buy a bike without kick starter, bkoz if battery is dead (which happens very often) you have to push start=PoO0o0oSH! And pushing a 167 kg bike is a very strenuous effort! You can fall down and get badly hurt! You can even get heart attack and even young people can die. 0lder people are more likely to die!



<2>Next step down the line is the150 cc engine size. Honda has FOUR models in the nominal~~150 cc category. The largest in this category is the 149.4 cc CBR 150 R and the other three are based on 149.1 cc Unicorn engine. These are: Unicorn, Unicorn Dazzler (without kick start) and Trigger having slight differences in accoutrements & graphics.



The CBR 150 R has a very short stroke: Bore X Stroke is 63.5 X 47.2. So (taking the value of ‘pye’ [22/7] as 3.14159, the Swept volume is exactly 149.47857 cc, which is closer to 149.5 than to 149.4. Therefore Honda is advised to make this correction on their website or prove me wrong!

It is interesting to note here that stroke/bore ratio in this bike engine is 47.2/63.5, which is 0.743307. This means stroke is 74.33% of bore, whereas in the CBR250R, this ratio is 0.724, i.e. stroke is 72.4% of bore. Now, as per Archimedes Law which is: Mechanical Advantage X Velocity Ratio==1 – always. Yet bkoz 250 is a bigger and more powerful engine than 150. I feel, the difference between 74.33% & 72.4% is very small and statistically insignificant and would make no difference in road behavior as far as LET is concerned.

Yet the CBR150R is a performance oriented bike. It maxes 13.1 kw= =17.57 bhp at 10,500 rpm, which is as much as 2000 rpm higher than most other high revving engines and even higher than KTM Duke 200 which maxes at 10,000 rpm! And even the tork of 12.66 Nm maxes at 8500 rpm, which is bluudy high! Even KTM Duke200 maxes Tork at 8000 rpm, which is 500 less than CBR150R! And this is an F-i engine==fuel injeXion, no karburetor – and has DOHC operated 4valves, just like the 250. With a high Compression Ratio [CR] of 11.0:1 and the engine revving at 10500, the ELF of this bike engine is just 0.866, which is less than 1, which is very low, even lower than the 250. This engine will have a fairly short life, shorter than the 250.

Keeping with its RACiST RACiNG image, the CBR150R has no kickstart! This is terrible! If battery is weak or dead you have to push start! I am a 67 year old man weighing only 48 kg. Does Honda think it is easy for a man of my age and size, to push start this 138 kg bike? Does Honda want old men to die Kwik Lee Like Bruce Lee?

More: The six speed gearbox. Has to be six gears! With the engine revving at 10500 rpm, how else do you spread out the torque? Yeah, sure, six gears spreads the torque, but shifting thru six gears all the time to cope with city traffic is a LOT OF WORK for the driver and jerks for the pillion.There is danger of pillion getting Jerked-0ff! And if the pillion happens to be your FAT “heavier-than-thou” wife who sits sideways, heaven help her! This bike is NOT for married people, and if you have children, totally FORGET IT!

But for adrenaline pumping youngsters, the CBR150R would be much more exciting than the other three nominally 150 cc (149.1 cc) bikes based on the Unicorn engine. And if you have a buxom GF sitting behind you horse style, ***********.

The wheelbase of 1305 mm is shorter than the three Unicorn based models as well as the 190 mm Ground Clearance is more (=higher) than the three unicorn based models. The 13 liter fuel tank has the same capacity as the 0riginal unicorn. The 60/55 watt headlight backed by a 12V-6Ah battery is much brighter than the 35 watts of the three unicorn based models.

The CBR150R rides on 17-inch low profile tires front and rear, which are wider than the unicorn models. The rear being 130/70 and the front being 100/80. Stopping is by a 276 mm disc front and 220 mm disc rear.

If a bike riding on 130 mm wide tires of low 70 aspect ratio, revving at high rpm & having high compression ratio, and having six gears is dubbed a Sports Bike, then I would say, the CBR150R would qualify as a sports bike more than any pulsar or maybe even KTM Duke 200!

But don’t expect much mileage. I think a mileage of 45 for this bike should be more than satisfactory. Even the website makes no claim of mileage as it does <60 kmpl> for the Unicorn based models. And don’t forget, this bike has no kick starter, and to me, that is a problem! Battery die, I die! Push starting makes me die! Battery cost 1500/-. Kick cost nothing.

I prefer things that cost nothing! Who doesn’t?

Resale value of CBR150R will be quite low. Like DTSi.

<3>Now are the THREE 149.1 cc Unicorn engine based models. The HMSI=honda2wheelersindia.com website does NOT mention the bore and stroke of the engine. Aha! But I have Honda Unicorn hard copy Workshop manual which mentions bore as 57.3 mm and stroke as 57.8 mm, which is almost a square engine having swept volume of 149.04814 cc, which is closer to 149.0 cc than 149.1 cc. Somebody is in error. At some places they even wrote 149.2 cc. This is terrible. Not expected. Puts many other things in doubt!

THREE Honda models using this engine are: basic 0riginal Unicorn, unicorn Dazzler (without kikk starter) and Trigger (having kicker). The stroke/bore ratio is 57.8/57.3 which is=~=1.008726, which is almost 1.009. So the LET characteristics of this 150 cc bike will be definitely better than CBR150R.

Here the website is claiming 60 kmpl, which you can get, which I also actually got, but only if you drive according to the text book, which traffic hardly ever allows. A 53/54 kmpl figure is more realistic, which is still much better than the CBR150R. You can read my detailed test report of the 0riginal Unicorn at HONDA UNICORN: Road test by Dilip Bam

The main difference(s) between the Unicorn, Dazzler, & Trigger are:

<1>Unicorn rides on 18-inch diameter tires. Dazzler and Trigger ride on 17-inch tires, of which the rear tire on both Dazzler & Trigger are broader at 110 mm, while Unicorn is 100 mm broad. While the front tire on Dazzler & Trigger is 80/100, that on Unicorn is 2.75 X 18.

<2>While all three have 240 mm front disc brake, the old Unicorn has 130 mm rear drum brake, while Dazzler & Trigger have 220 mm disc brake at rear.

<3>While all three have self start, 0ld Unicorn and Trigger have kicker also. Dazzler has NO KiCKER, SO DAZZLER IS A FAiLED MODEL as per bikeguru standard which has been defined earlier.

<4>While the 0ld Unicorn produces 9.9 kw==13.3 bhp of power at 8000 rpm, the Dazzler & Trigger rev max at 8500 rpm, which is 500 rpm more than 0ld Unicorn. Dazzler produces10.44 kw which on the website is shown as==14 bhp; while Trigger produces 10.3 kw, which is also shown as==14 bhp. If this be taken a correct (is Honda ever wrong?), then 10.3==10.44, which is impossible.

Somebody goofed!

It could be me; 0r the people at SwaranSoft who are mentioned on the website as “Developed by”, 0r it could be Honda. It is probably me!

Whoever is the site developer, finally Honda is the owner of the site, and is hence responsible. Will Honda please explain or admit its goof?

Like I said before, there are several non-uniformities and some goof ups in the website. I am commenting upon ONLY the technical part, that is SPECiFiCATiONs!

For example, on the Trigger page, specifications mention Rear Brake Type as KDisc 220 mm dia. What the hell is KDisc? What does K stand for? Kookaburra – an Australian bird? Another goof up?

Tank capacity and kerb weight. These are not significant and should not influence buying decision.

My choice is dictated by Maintenance freeness, ELF, Comfort, Road Holding, headlight power, Seating Geometry, Tire diameter, Power & pickup, top speed, mileage & price in descending order.

Unicorn max rev is 8000 while Dazzler & Trigger max rev is 8500.

Compression ratio [CR] of none of these three is given on the website. The hard copy SHOP MANUAL of the 0riginal Unicorn gives CR as 9.1:1. I assume it should be same for Trigger & Dazzler. It is obvious that ELF of Unicorn is higher than the other two. Sure, Trigger & Dazzler have 0.7 bhp more power than Unicorn, which is @ 5% higher. To me this difference is very little and is over ridden by the other +ve factors of the Unicorn that I have mentioned.

Unicorn tires are 18-inch while other two are 17-inch. I prefer larger diameter tires.

Headlight power of all three is same 35 watts.

For me, Dazzler is a failure and is out because NO kick start.

Between Trigger & Unicorn, the positives of Unicorn outweigh Trigger. So my choice between these three is Unicorn, the rear disc brake of the Trigger notwithstanding! The front disc brake and 130 rear drum on 18inch tires of the Unicorn are safer than both front & rear having disc on 17inch tires! This is my gut feeling. I wonder what Shyam Kothari would say about my claim. He is the best rider this country has produced in the last 28 years!

continued......

 

[Sam Dinkar]

.......continued

<4>Next down the line are the two 124.7 cc models: Stunner CBF & Shine.

While the Stunner site does not mention any bore/stroke dimensions [as at 11:00 am on Tue 11.June.2013] of the cylinder 0nly mentioning 124.7 cc as swept volume. The same 124.7 cc is mentioned for Shine. Therefore it is safe to assume that the bore X stroke for both Stunner & Shine is the same, which is B X S==52.4 X 57.86.

The stroke bore ratio here works out to 1.1042, which is a positive for L.E.T. (Low End Torque), but applies equally to both Stunner & Shine, so nothing to choose from on this parameter.

Coming to max rpm, Stunner turns at 8000 rpm max, while Shine turns at 7500 rpm max. Compression Ratio [CR] of both HAS TO BE SAME because both have same bore X stroke. Therefore it is obvious that Engine Life Factor [E.L.F.] of Shine will be higher (=better for long life) than Stunner. How to calculate the ELF without CR?

Luckily, I have the Shine hard copy SHOP MANUAL of 16.June2006, which gives CR as 9.2 : 1, which MUST be same for both. Thus E.L.F. of Stunner is 1.36 and ELF of Shine is 1.45. So, ELF of Shine is (1.45—1.36)==0.09/1.36==6.62% higher than Stunner, which for LONG LiFE of bike engine is higher=longer life=better.

In terms of power, Stunner produces 8.2 kw==11 bhp, while Shine produces 7.55 kw==10.12 bhp. Thus Stunner produces @ 8.7% more power.

The choice is yours: Do you want 8.7% more power or 6.62% longer engine life? More power=Stunner. Longer engine life=Shine.

Looking at Torque delivery, Stunner max Torques 11 Nm at 6500, while Shine max Torques 10.54 Nm at 5500. The 0.6% extra torque in the Stunner is not worth the lower 1000 rpm of Shine. My choice on this parameter is Shine.

Then there is Torque Spread. With Stunner Five gears versus Shine four gears, the Spread is 0bviously better in Stunner, but FiVE gears means more work for driver than four gears. I am LAZY. I prefer four gears, the lesser the better, because lesser work for driver.

Do you know that Escorts made RAJDOOT 175 cc, 2-stroke motorcycle (which died 20 years ago) had only THREE gears!

Even by Looks, on which I usually don’t comment Shine is definitely my choice because Stunner is too pokey looking. It has pokeys protruding front from the fuel tank, it has a poking belly pan and its tail is again pokey. I just don’t like Poki-Poki. I like well rounded like JLo=Jenifer Lopez, who shines. As Looks go, my preference is Shine.

I prefer Shine 18inch Tires. They are safer than Stunner 17inch. Both have same size disc brake front and drum brake rear so nothing to choose between.

Shine has Higher ELF=Longer life. I have fully tested Shine. That was 7/8 Ears ago. I had probably wished for five gears at that time. Now I am much older and LAZiER. Four gears are fine with me, especially since Shine has XLNT L.E.T.!

The worst part is that Stunner has no Kicker, so if battery weak (happens very often), you have to push start, which is a invitation to HEART ATTACK! Gawd! I donwont0 po0O0osh start! I donwont0 die! I donw0ntobe Stunned to death! Therefore I d0nw0n Stunner!

Between these two, for me it is SHiNE!

<5>At the smallest end of the Honda2wheeersindia website is the 109 cc engine, which powers three (or four?) gearless (=ungeared) scooters and three geared bikes. The geared bikes being: TWiSTER, DREAM YUGA and DREAM NEO; and the scooters being ACTiVA, AViATOR AND DiO.

Looking at this 109 cc engine first: It has bore X stroke of 50 X 55.6 mm, giving a stroke/bore (stroke divided by bore) ratio of 55.6/50==1.112, which is quite good for the 109 cc engine, which for L.E.T. is better=higher than the 1.1042 of the Shine&/Stunner 124.7 cc engine, which again is better than the 1.09 of the Unicorn / Dazzler / Twister 149.1 cc engine. You can see: As the engine cc dekreezez, Stroke becomes longer in proportion/comparison to Bore!

By playing with different CR and rpm, Honda has been able to kreate THREE SLiGHTLY DiFFERENT versions of this engine, just as Honda has done with the 149.1 cc Unicorn engine, and TWO different versions of the 124.7 cc Shine engine.

Starting with the highest power version of this 109 cc engine, the TWiSTER version has the highest power: 6.67 kw==9 bhp at 8000 rpm and max Torking 8.97 Nm at 6000 rpm at a Compression Ratio [CR] of NiNE is to ONE or 9.0 : 1.

Next, lower down the line is dream YUGA version producing nett power of 6.35 kw==8.5 bhp at 7500 rpm and max Torking 8.91 Nm at 5500 rpm at the same Compression Ratio [CR] of NiNE is to ONE or 9.0 : 1.

Note that while CR is same for TWiSTER and dream YUGA, rpm of YUGA is LOWER by 500 rpm for both: max power as well as for max torque.

Last down the line is the dream NEO, which revs at the same 7500 and 5500 rpm as the YUGA for max power and max torque, but has a higher CR of 9.9:1. Thus the dream NEO produces 6.15 kw==8.25 bhp at 7500 rpm and Torking 8.63 Nm at 5500 rpm at the higher CR.

0f course, the website does not clarify or explain how the CR could be different for an engine have same bore X stroke.

To me this is an anomaly, a paradox, a contradiction! How can an engine of same bore X stroke (fed by the same carburetor) running at the same rpm but at a HiGHER Compression Ratio [CR] produce LESSER Power? The bigger anomaly / paradox / contradiction is that how can an engine having same bore X stroke have different CR? KYA? Kuchh gadbad=gad-bad hai, ya goodbad=good-bad hai? !

To me this is possible only if piston top surface shape is different 0r, cylinder head bottom surface has a different recess. Which means Total cylinder volume – minus Swept volume is different for the two engines. Does this make economic sense? Having different cylinder head / different pistons does not make economic sense to my stoopid brain.

Am I goofing? Maybe I am goofing.

Making a choice between these three, FOR ME is not difficult. The power and torque difference between them (9 – 8.5 – 8.25 – which to my understanding may or may not be true or correct) is not significant enuff. Neither are the torque figures. Yet, 18inch tires are significant to me. Therefore TWiSTER with 17inch tires is out for me even though it has front disc while NEO & YUGA do not have front disc.

NEO is also out for me bkoz inspite of higher CR (how?==explained above) it produces least power at same rpm as YUGA. kuch gadbad hai kya?!

So my choice in this 109 cc class of Honda India is dream YUGA.

<6>Finally let us look at the THREE scooters which also run on the same 109 cc engine: Activa, Aviator and Di0.

On all three pages Honda is making a klaim / klame / Claim of 60 kmpl which no vari0matic scooter can give in city traffic in real life. 40 kmpl should make you more than happy.

While all three klaim power of 6kw==8 bhp, Activa does it at 7500 rpm while Aviator and Di0 do it at 7000 rpm. None of the pages gives the Compression Rati0==CR, which has to be the same for all three since bore X stroke is same. So how much is the CR? Maybe it is 9.0 or 9.9! Or even something else as per my stoopid understanding of Honda website data!

Torque figure of 8.77 Nm at 5500 is same for Aviator & Dio but is different for Activa at 8.74 at the same 5500 rpm. How? I dunn0!

Then I checked the website again at 08:00 am on Saturday 15.June.2013, and whaddyu kno? There are two Activas shown on the website! First there is an Activa-i which shows engine as 109.2 cc and power as 5.83 kw (=8 bhp) at 7500 rpm while torque remains same at 8.74 Nm at 5500 rpm!

Then there is an Activa without the i which shows engine as 109 cc (where did the 0.2 cc disappear?) but the power inkreezed to 6 kw (8bhp) at same 7500 rpm! Eh? How? Especially when Tork remains same 8.74 Nm at same 5500 rpm?!? How?!?

What I don’t understand is how 6kw (of Aviator)==8 bhp at 7000 rpm==5.83 bhp (of Activa-i)==8 bhp at 7500 rpm==6 kw==8 bhp (of Di0) at 7000. I must be dumb!

Luckily or UN-luckily I have 8.Aug.2002 SHOP MANUAL of Honda Activa, which shows engine of 102.1 cc having bore X stroke of 50 X 52 mm at a CR of NiNE to ONE, which is a totally different engine from the 109 cc engine that is shown on the website today at 19:11 pm Tue.11.June.2013.
So, I am assuming that this 11 year old hard copy SHOP MANUAL of Activa as well as the hard copy Owner’s Manual which I have is now irrelevant / UltraVires since the engine itself has changed (as per the website) from 102.1 cc to 109 cc. So I ignore the 0ld shop manual as well as the 0lder 0wners Manual and stay with the today website.
To me this~109 cc~109.1 cc~109.2 cc~engine appears to be the same which powers the DREAM twins Yuga and Ne0 as well as Twister
Just as confusing to me as this above~~109cc~~engine of the Yuga, Ne0 and Twister was/is, the same goes for the~109cc~engines~of Activa~i, Activa without i, Di0 and Aviator.
Looking beyond the engine, except the larger [12inch] front tire of Aviator – which raises its seat height to 790 mm – compared to the other three: seat height=765 mm. So Aviator seat is 2.5cm=exactly 0ne inch higher (shorties watch 0ut!). Also Aviator has 190 mm disc brake in front. Other than this, all the four scooters are almost identical & there is nothing much to choose from, except, LoO0oKs and Price.

My personal choice between these four is Aviator, because of the larger front tire and front disc brake, even though it is the most expensive.
The consideration in this segment – which is a very LARGE segment, is COMFORT. My height is 174 cm and the 0ne inch higher seat is fine with me.

Best is to go to Honda showroom, take short ride and check out SEATiNG COMFORT and Riding Posture double seat. Buy whichever suits your your body shape, size and dimensions!

Today even 20 something healthy male youngsters like Himanshu (name changed) is looking for ungeared scooter which gives very poor mileage compared to geared bike. WHY?

It is either because of COMFORT and ease of driving 0r, possibility of female (=babe) being involved in the consideration of purchase. And babe is maha-important. Just think – babe is driving scooter and you are sitting behind. Just imagine ********. Now I understand why the Vespa LX125 is increasing its footprint!

 

[Gurrala74]

@Sam Excellent share of article and it justifies my Dream Yuga in that segment

 

[amit1km]

Thanks to Sam Dinkar for keeping this thread alive.
Today only I came to know that, a thread on Dilip Bam is rolling in this forum.

I came to know about Dilip Bam about 7 year before when I was planning to purchase my first bike in fact my first vehicle from my earning. That time Bajaj Pulser was craze for everybody.
That time when I was researching about the bike review I came across the site IndiaBike.com. There I went through his review on TVS Apache, and was so impressed with his in detail review that, I left the 'bike market leader (Pulser)' and went ahead with TVS Apache and I never regret my decision. Kudos to him.

That time people were asking like Apache is slower then Pulser like that. He use to give the same answer "Cheetha Run faster but dies earlier" .

Whatever he had reviewed for this bike it was all true. I think he can forecast the bike's condition year after year

He is a real reviewer of the machine. My greatest salute for him.

 

[Iron Rock]

Dilip Bam

Gentlemen Its a great honor for all of us today, especially every biker here on the forum!

We have Mr.Dilip Bam himself on our forum - yes you heard it right , the BikeGuru himself.
As a kid many of us have grown up reading his reviews, he has been reviewing bikes since the times many on this forum would not have been even born! I for one have always enjoyed his inimitable style and explanation - been a big fan of his style and attitude when it comes to writing bike reviews - expect dollops of humor, rhymes and brutal honesty thats Dilip Bam - the BikeGuru and yes he is on TAI now!
He crossed the Sahara Desert in a Kinetic Honda in 1992 (Yes blistering barnacles! )

We are extremely honored to have you here Sir and look forward to your wisdom, guidance and years and years of experience - I am sure the bikers on TAI are all excited, it was a pleasure talking to you over the phone (Many Thanks to Sam Dinkar aka Neeraj for initiating this thread and also conversation with Dilip Sir ) - We look forward to hear your views.

 

[dilipbam]

Gentlemen,
I feel it is an honor to be invited to your forum. Thank you!
I am just a motorcycle mechanic who knows English.
Fire away, and I will answer to the best of my ability.
Awaiting
Dilip Bam

 

[350Z]

Re: The One and The Only – Dilip Bam

I feel it is an honor to be invited to your forum. Thank you!
I am just a motorcycle mechanic who knows English.
Fire away, and I will answer to the best of my ability.

It’s our immense pleasure to have a respectable figure from the industry like you with us. A very hearty welcome. Your posts will certainly benefit several readers who visit our forum on regular basis.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[Gurrala74]

@Dilip Sir,

A whole hearted welcome to you on TAI !! I am very glad to see you here and eager to learn many things from you about bikes