I got her once again. And this time I roamed about the city at evening, just after it got dark. And once again she didn't fail to impress me. The R15 with its sporty looks, definitely attracts many on the road. And it doesn't just impress the youth but people from all age groups. I had some brilliant questions being popped at me from many curious people.
Anyways, so when I was riding the small bike around the city in daylight, she impressed me by gathering a lot of attention from many. Once it started getting dark, I put on the headlight. Once again, the bike made me happy. The beam from that headlight is fantastic. It illuminates exactly the section of road which you want to be illuminated. The low beam is quite impressive. But the high beam disappointed me a little. I guess there should be a setting for that but currently on the default setting, the beam is shooting somewhere in the sky. Actually the spectrum of the headlight is quite large and it illuminates from the road till the branches of trees above you!
One more thing that I noticed was that if the rider is able to ride the bike in high revs in the city, then the R15 is a great street racer as well! More on this soon....
Sign by Danasoft - Myspace Layouts and Signs
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Something apart from the R15
Those who are interested in reading some stuff apart from the R15, I have a blog dedicated for the Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India...
Its www.tricolorwings.blogspot.com
Its www.tricolorwings.blogspot.com
R15 upgrades
I have hearing a lot of stuff about upgrading R15 to higher bhp and stuff. I'll now do some research on the upgrade kits that can be put in the bike to make it even more powerful. But very frankly what i feel is that whatever the bike can deliver right now is not being completely used by everyone. Then why do they want more? And if ppl think that by upgrading the bhp, the power in the lower rpms is going to increase, then let me tell you guys that this not going to happen...
Anyways, more details will come soon!
Anyways, more details will come soon!
People felt insulted…. Humiliated!
Some of you guys might have read a lot if you have been reading my blog. I have put down my thoughts about the bike; and these thoughts had come from the bottom of my heart. Today I am writing about what others had to say about this bike.
As I told you guys, I had been to this road which is a self-proclaimed race-track. I had put some laps there and I was returning. On my way back I met four friends. They were on four bike– Honda Dio, Honda CBR400RR, Yamaha R6 (prepped up) and a wonderful MV Agusta F4 750. Guys, trust me, I am not kidding. There were these four bikes riding to that same track. I can understand that people who feel MV Agusta is impossible, for them, I shall post some pics of the MV Agusta in which I am myself riding that bike.
Anyways, coming back to the point. These guys saw the R15 and asked me to join them for one more lap. They wanted to see the capabilities of the bike. And I was more than happy to show them what the bike was capable of.
We started off from the start of the track. I let the MV and the R6 go first. Initially, there are straights where obviously the big bikes flew off. I took a proper launch, the one where I burnt the clutch and let the bike off at 8000rpm. Couple of corners and I was at the tail of the MV. Next corner and I had taken the MV. I tried to push my bike further. There was a straight and obviously the MV took me once again. Next was a hairpin and I could go in the corner way quicker than the Italian. From there, there was no looking back. Next left hander and I had caught up with the R6. Couple more corners and I was leading!
This might read to many as an exaggeration. But fellas, believe me, the small size of the R15 makes it much more controllable and tractable. It was easy to maneuver the small bike. Again, it had the right amount of power. On the bigger bikes, the power is too much and scares the shit out of inexperienced riders. That’s where the R15 scored a lot. I raced away till the end. I stopped at the finish and waited for the R6 to arrive. My friend on the R6 came, parked his bike and came and said to me, “Dude, you flew!” That’s all he had to say. We waited for like 10 min for the MV Agusta guy to come. He didn’t arrive. So went back the route searching for him and hoping nothing had gone wrong in any one of those corners. We reached the mid-point of the route and there he was standing, enjoying the scene around. When asked why he didn’t come to the finish, he replied (disgustedly) “This guy (myself) doesn’t even respect an MV on a puny 150cc bike. Why should I race with him???” I was flattered! The MV Agusta rider was actually humiliated and he didn’t intend to ride along with me! Ha ha! I was delighted.
Anyways, this is bound to happen if that’s a race between a small bike and an uncontrollably fast bike on a race track. In no ways I want to claim that the R6 or the MV Agusta is slower than the R15. I just want to put down that sometimes, lesser power and smaller size of the bike helps it. And I would like to point it out to those guys who have been cribbing about the small size of the bike that this is how the small size helps!
Anyways, I’ll be back with more fun soon….
Expect some dramatic photo shoots later this month!
Till then, Ride safe!
As I told you guys, I had been to this road which is a self-proclaimed race-track. I had put some laps there and I was returning. On my way back I met four friends. They were on four bike– Honda Dio, Honda CBR400RR, Yamaha R6 (prepped up) and a wonderful MV Agusta F4 750. Guys, trust me, I am not kidding. There were these four bikes riding to that same track. I can understand that people who feel MV Agusta is impossible, for them, I shall post some pics of the MV Agusta in which I am myself riding that bike.
Anyways, coming back to the point. These guys saw the R15 and asked me to join them for one more lap. They wanted to see the capabilities of the bike. And I was more than happy to show them what the bike was capable of.
We started off from the start of the track. I let the MV and the R6 go first. Initially, there are straights where obviously the big bikes flew off. I took a proper launch, the one where I burnt the clutch and let the bike off at 8000rpm. Couple of corners and I was at the tail of the MV. Next corner and I had taken the MV. I tried to push my bike further. There was a straight and obviously the MV took me once again. Next was a hairpin and I could go in the corner way quicker than the Italian. From there, there was no looking back. Next left hander and I had caught up with the R6. Couple more corners and I was leading!
This might read to many as an exaggeration. But fellas, believe me, the small size of the R15 makes it much more controllable and tractable. It was easy to maneuver the small bike. Again, it had the right amount of power. On the bigger bikes, the power is too much and scares the shit out of inexperienced riders. That’s where the R15 scored a lot. I raced away till the end. I stopped at the finish and waited for the R6 to arrive. My friend on the R6 came, parked his bike and came and said to me, “Dude, you flew!” That’s all he had to say. We waited for like 10 min for the MV Agusta guy to come. He didn’t arrive. So went back the route searching for him and hoping nothing had gone wrong in any one of those corners. We reached the mid-point of the route and there he was standing, enjoying the scene around. When asked why he didn’t come to the finish, he replied (disgustedly) “This guy (myself) doesn’t even respect an MV on a puny 150cc bike. Why should I race with him???” I was flattered! The MV Agusta rider was actually humiliated and he didn’t intend to ride along with me! Ha ha! I was delighted.
Anyways, this is bound to happen if that’s a race between a small bike and an uncontrollably fast bike on a race track. In no ways I want to claim that the R6 or the MV Agusta is slower than the R15. I just want to put down that sometimes, lesser power and smaller size of the bike helps it. And I would like to point it out to those guys who have been cribbing about the small size of the bike that this is how the small size helps!
Anyways, I’ll be back with more fun soon….
Expect some dramatic photo shoots later this month!
Till then, Ride safe!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
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No words to describe her....
Finally I got to ride the R15 where I actually wanted to ride her. Yamaha launched the bike on a race-track and made the image of the bike very clear. The bike was made for the race track. And has been promoted as track tool itself. Yes, track tool! I wont really call it a track bike. Cause its more than a bike. Its a tool, a weapon. A weapon with which you are assured to win on the track. And here I am considering all the present Indian bikes.
I stay in Pune and there is not a single track around here. Well, there are only two tracks in the complete nation and both of them are quite far away from here. So practically it wasnt possible for me to ride down to the actual race-tracks. On the outskirts of Pune, there is a ghat section (a tarmac road which goes up and down a mountain with twists throughout the road). It is called the Mutha Ghat and that is our "illegal" track. Its a section of 6 km. The road is quite wide and the surface is fantastic. Apart from a couple of bumps, the road is just wonderful. A bike's handling capabilities can be easily judged here.
The other day my friend called me up and told me that his R15 had done its initial 500 km and he was ready to rip his bike. But well, as a matter of fact, he is quite new to biking or rather sportbiking. So he wanted me to come along with him to the muthas. I was more than happy to help him out. We went there and he started off with the laps on the track. After a couple of laps, he was overwhelmed with the handling and asked me to check out the bike and handed over the keys to me. The time had come when I was about to ride my dream on my dream track.
We have our start lines and finish lines marked here. As i took off from the start line, I had some markers in my mind. I have done over 150 laps there. My lines are set. My corner speeds are set. Infact, my timings for the laps are also on my mind. I have done about a 4:09 min on Unicorn on this track and about 4:02 min on a Pulsar 200. Iwas keen on breaking this 4 min barrier with the R15. And I knew that the bike had the soul for this. As i started taking the corners, it immediately became evident what everyone had always been talking about; the handling of the bike! It was sharp. The bike just went where the rider wanted it to. It was leaning just about how much the rider wanted it to! The bike never wanted to leave her line. The bike never was nervous in the corners. The bike was just fantabulous!
The first lap was a warm-up lap for me. And believe me, I managed 3:58 in my warm up lap!!! The bike was bang on target in any corner. The riding posture of the bike is so sporty and so much for the track, that I could feel that I was riding something that had a standard, a racing pedegree. The foot-pegs of the bike are quite high. This gives you more room for leaning. Also, they help in getting the rider's butt out, knee down posture. I was totally impressed. I have ridden many Indian bikes and some international sportsbikes here as well. The R15's handling and behaviour can be compared to those international bikes. It was way ahead of the Indian bikes.
I went for couple more laps and my fastest timing came down to 3:50 min. This was it. It was unbelievable. I had been struggling for months at stretch to get my timing below 4 min and with just couple of laps here and there with the R15, I was like 10 seconds faster than my goal! While taking the corners, I could feel that I was going too near to the tarmac. I was hanging off the bike a lot. While riding the P200, I have always scrapped my toes in the corners, but that was not the case with the R15. I never scrapped my toes but I could still feel that I was much closer to the road than any other bike in those corners. So why was this happening? Why wasnt I scrapping my toes? I asked my friend to take some pictures of mine. We stopped at one of my favourite corners. Its a fast corner if you can hang off the bike. And this exactly is what I wanted. A couple of more rounds around the corner and I became quite fast. The third time I went through that corner, I felt something.... something scrapped!!! No, it wasnt my toe slidder! No, it wasnt the foot peg slider as well! Guys, it was my knee slider!!! I had scrapped my knee. All through the corner I could feel my knee going scrapping on the tarmac. I was delighted. I went straight to my friend and asked him to show me the pictures he had taken. It was evident. The bike was made for the track. My posture was just perfect. My knee was slidding on the road. The foot pegs are high up giving me more lean angle.
Sighhhh.... Enough said. I guess, you people must be now more excited to see my pictures than reading anything. My pictures will follow... probably in the next post!
I stay in Pune and there is not a single track around here. Well, there are only two tracks in the complete nation and both of them are quite far away from here. So practically it wasnt possible for me to ride down to the actual race-tracks. On the outskirts of Pune, there is a ghat section (a tarmac road which goes up and down a mountain with twists throughout the road). It is called the Mutha Ghat and that is our "illegal" track. Its a section of 6 km. The road is quite wide and the surface is fantastic. Apart from a couple of bumps, the road is just wonderful. A bike's handling capabilities can be easily judged here.
The other day my friend called me up and told me that his R15 had done its initial 500 km and he was ready to rip his bike. But well, as a matter of fact, he is quite new to biking or rather sportbiking. So he wanted me to come along with him to the muthas. I was more than happy to help him out. We went there and he started off with the laps on the track. After a couple of laps, he was overwhelmed with the handling and asked me to check out the bike and handed over the keys to me. The time had come when I was about to ride my dream on my dream track.
We have our start lines and finish lines marked here. As i took off from the start line, I had some markers in my mind. I have done over 150 laps there. My lines are set. My corner speeds are set. Infact, my timings for the laps are also on my mind. I have done about a 4:09 min on Unicorn on this track and about 4:02 min on a Pulsar 200. Iwas keen on breaking this 4 min barrier with the R15. And I knew that the bike had the soul for this. As i started taking the corners, it immediately became evident what everyone had always been talking about; the handling of the bike! It was sharp. The bike just went where the rider wanted it to. It was leaning just about how much the rider wanted it to! The bike never wanted to leave her line. The bike never was nervous in the corners. The bike was just fantabulous!
The first lap was a warm-up lap for me. And believe me, I managed 3:58 in my warm up lap!!! The bike was bang on target in any corner. The riding posture of the bike is so sporty and so much for the track, that I could feel that I was riding something that had a standard, a racing pedegree. The foot-pegs of the bike are quite high. This gives you more room for leaning. Also, they help in getting the rider's butt out, knee down posture. I was totally impressed. I have ridden many Indian bikes and some international sportsbikes here as well. The R15's handling and behaviour can be compared to those international bikes. It was way ahead of the Indian bikes.
I went for couple more laps and my fastest timing came down to 3:50 min. This was it. It was unbelievable. I had been struggling for months at stretch to get my timing below 4 min and with just couple of laps here and there with the R15, I was like 10 seconds faster than my goal! While taking the corners, I could feel that I was going too near to the tarmac. I was hanging off the bike a lot. While riding the P200, I have always scrapped my toes in the corners, but that was not the case with the R15. I never scrapped my toes but I could still feel that I was much closer to the road than any other bike in those corners. So why was this happening? Why wasnt I scrapping my toes? I asked my friend to take some pictures of mine. We stopped at one of my favourite corners. Its a fast corner if you can hang off the bike. And this exactly is what I wanted. A couple of more rounds around the corner and I became quite fast. The third time I went through that corner, I felt something.... something scrapped!!! No, it wasnt my toe slidder! No, it wasnt the foot peg slider as well! Guys, it was my knee slider!!! I had scrapped my knee. All through the corner I could feel my knee going scrapping on the tarmac. I was delighted. I went straight to my friend and asked him to show me the pictures he had taken. It was evident. The bike was made for the track. My posture was just perfect. My knee was slidding on the road. The foot pegs are high up giving me more lean angle.
Sighhhh.... Enough said. I guess, you people must be now more excited to see my pictures than reading anything. My pictures will follow... probably in the next post!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Ahem!
"The bike has disappointed me, a lot! The bike is shit. It loses in drag with karizma and Pulsar220. The bike doesnt do a great top speed as well. It has a big speedo error."
This is all that people were saying about the R15. And I am totally disappointed with these "bikers". Its about time, these "bikers" learn to ride bikes the way they have to be ridden. Every bike has different characteristics and every bike has to be ridden in a particular way. Its just not going to work if you try to launch every bike in the same rev range. Its just not going to work the way these bikers are treating the babes!
I was standing at the signal the other day with R15. There was a Karizma right next to me. The Karizma guy got excited by seeing the R15 and he decided to go for a race. As the signal went green, he shot off. He took the holeshot. I didnt have any idea of his intentions. I decided to check the capabilities of the R15. Even I launched the bike and within couple of seconds, the Karizma was behind me. The R15 proved its point. The R15 has its powerband higher up in the rev range. If you launch the bike at say 8000 rpm, the bike will shoot off. Dont let the bike fall below 7000rpm and you will be flying. Have these guys who have dragged their brand new bikes ever tried to shoot at 8000 rpm? I dont think so. And if anyone has done it with his brand new bike then please go and teach them to do running-in first for the engine to settle down.
Anyways, this was about staright line spped of the bike. There are many more aspects to the bike which need to be talked about. I'll be back with much more. And yeah guys, the wait for my pictures will be over soon... its just that I am yet unsure whether I should reveal my identity here or not? Lolz... I am not a great person or anything... its just that i always wanted to be in this secret identity!
This is all that people were saying about the R15. And I am totally disappointed with these "bikers". Its about time, these "bikers" learn to ride bikes the way they have to be ridden. Every bike has different characteristics and every bike has to be ridden in a particular way. Its just not going to work if you try to launch every bike in the same rev range. Its just not going to work the way these bikers are treating the babes!
I was standing at the signal the other day with R15. There was a Karizma right next to me. The Karizma guy got excited by seeing the R15 and he decided to go for a race. As the signal went green, he shot off. He took the holeshot. I didnt have any idea of his intentions. I decided to check the capabilities of the R15. Even I launched the bike and within couple of seconds, the Karizma was behind me. The R15 proved its point. The R15 has its powerband higher up in the rev range. If you launch the bike at say 8000 rpm, the bike will shoot off. Dont let the bike fall below 7000rpm and you will be flying. Have these guys who have dragged their brand new bikes ever tried to shoot at 8000 rpm? I dont think so. And if anyone has done it with his brand new bike then please go and teach them to do running-in first for the engine to settle down.
Anyways, this was about staright line spped of the bike. There are many more aspects to the bike which need to be talked about. I'll be back with much more. And yeah guys, the wait for my pictures will be over soon... its just that I am yet unsure whether I should reveal my identity here or not? Lolz... I am not a great person or anything... its just that i always wanted to be in this secret identity!
Phew!
Has anybody really read all that I wrote? I doubt. People have this tendancy of reading only short stuff and are not interested much in those long reviews and reports. And ofcourse I dont expect any special treatment for my article. But well, the whole report was written by me and I would love if people comment on my work, be it good or be it bad.
Anyways, I have got the R15 once again with me. Rode it a lot yesterday evening. And all that riding was in the city chaos. As I mentioned in my review, the bike lacks that punch in the lower RPM. Because of this, the bike bcomes a bit boring in the city. When you decide to overtake some vehicle quickly, its quite tough since the bike starts pulling so slowly in the beginning. This sometimes scares you since the bike takes more time than your calculations to overtake the ther vehicle in traffic and on-coming traffic just come even closer to you in opposite direction at high speeds.
I took the bike to some nice twists as well. Just a couple of them, but the kind of confidence that the bike showed while taking those corners was incredible. She was rock steady. The riding posture is just too good! I'll take her to my "track" today; hehehe! And then I shall provide the perfect views in corners! Some photography will definitey follow. So expect an eye-treat today!
Good bye, and Ride Safe!
Anyways, I have got the R15 once again with me. Rode it a lot yesterday evening. And all that riding was in the city chaos. As I mentioned in my review, the bike lacks that punch in the lower RPM. Because of this, the bike bcomes a bit boring in the city. When you decide to overtake some vehicle quickly, its quite tough since the bike starts pulling so slowly in the beginning. This sometimes scares you since the bike takes more time than your calculations to overtake the ther vehicle in traffic and on-coming traffic just come even closer to you in opposite direction at high speeds.
I took the bike to some nice twists as well. Just a couple of them, but the kind of confidence that the bike showed while taking those corners was incredible. She was rock steady. The riding posture is just too good! I'll take her to my "track" today; hehehe! And then I shall provide the perfect views in corners! Some photography will definitey follow. So expect an eye-treat today!
Good bye, and Ride Safe!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Finally ridden!!
Hey fellas,
After talking so much and for so long, I finally got to ride the R15. And I did get it for a long time. I rode it in the city; I rode it on the highways. And now I have my complete experience with me here!
When I put the key in the slot, and turned it on, the white backlit console came to life. The self-check was done and bike was ready to be ignited. I started the bike and the engine came to life with a slight sound. Immediately I understood that there was no great exhaust note on this bike. But then who cares about the exhaust note? And this is not a 4-cylinder engine which would have the exhaust note which could blow you off! I heated up the engine a bit and was ready to hit the roads.
As I came to the main road, the first thing that happened was that the bike started gathering a lot of attention from everybody. People who are not even remotely connected to biking started wondering about the bike. The bike's full fairing, twin headlamps and a different and sporty riding posture definitely attracts many people.
After a while, I decided to concentrate on the bike more and less on the people around who had their eyes fixed at me. It didn't feel as if the bike had that punch, the punch that everyone always expected from this bike. I could understand that there was something that was lacking in the bike. And this is what I felt. There have been so many reports all over the internet, the magazines. But I haven't read a single out of them. The reason being, I wanted to completely judge the bike by myself. Reading reviews of a vehicle and then judging it is not really a true judgment. You tend to relate the vehicle with the reviews that you have read. So, this was a completely independent review. Anyways, coming back to the point, I found that the punch was missing in the bike. But as I was flicking through the traffic, I could feel how awesome handling capabilities the bike had. The bike, without any grudge, was cutting through the traffic effortlessly. I was happy with its handling and road grip.
Soon I came to an open straight and obviously I down-shifted one gear and pulled the throttle. The throttle response of the bike is fantastic. The way the engine revs with slightest throttle wring is fantastic. And this made me play with the throttle all the time through traffic. Anyways, as I twisted the throttle completely and pushed the bike in higher revs, I could feel that the R15 had something special in store for me. As the engine crossed about 7500 rpm, the bike started flying. It was just awesome the way the bike was gathering speed. As I crossed the 10000rpm mark, I could feel that the bike had started dying out. The red line was at 10.5k. But the way the bike responded in that final rev range was mind blowing.
While riding the bike, you can feel that the bike has a different feel. The tank is slim and the side fairing is wide. Even the front nose is so wide that it gives a weird look to the whole thing. The small console sits under the visor comfortably. The clip-ons are off a high quality and the overall fit and finish of the bike is of international standards.
Coming back to riding, the bike proved to be a good commuter in the city. The braking was awesome, the pick-up was not that great and the flickable characteristic of the bike will definitely make every street-racer happy.
Now it was time for taking the bike to the highways. I took the nearest exit from the city and hit the highway. As soon as I reached the highway, I once again did a down-shift and twisted the throttle. Red-lined the bike in every gear, and yeah, the bike did impress me with its top end. The 2nd gear red-line took me to about 67 km/h. I haven’t tried it much with p220, but the P200 can do about 55km/h when you red-line in 2nd gear. So, this 150cc bike was better than the 200cc Pulsar. Definitely! As I went shifting up through the gears, I could feel the bike becoming very fast. I managed to hit a top speed of 138km/h indicated on speedometer. Fortunately, I was carrying a GPS device with me which gave me the exact top speed that I had managed and it was a good 130 km/h. I was riding on an almost flat road. There might be a little bit of gradient but not much. This top speed was definitely an impressive one. I wonder if any other Indian bike can do this kind of top speed so effortlessly. And here I am talking about all those 200+ cc bikes.
While coming back to my starting point, I took a less crowded road to check some different abilities of the bike. I have heard people talking about the bike's handling and top speed and pick-up. But I haven’t heard anyone talking about stunting on this bike. As I came to this lonely road, I went down in 1st gear and pulled a wheelie. Man, this bike comes up so effortlessly! I was stunned. A few wheelies here and there and I was carrying them for few meters! It was time for stoppies. The bike impressed me once again with its brilliant front disc brake! The bike lifted her ass as soon as I hinted at doing a stoppie. I just had to pull the brake lever a bit and a little bit of weight transfer to the front. The bike would just come up. And it was a totally controllable thing. I was totally impressed with its stunting capabilities.
The bike impressed me in almost all factors. Except the power delivery in the initial rpm range, everything on that bike is just perfect. The looks are awesome. People have complained about the rear tyre, but well, it has one of the best grips I have ever felt. The quality of materials used on the bike is awesome. The high technologies like liquid cooled engine and deltabox frame make the bike worth its price. The top end is killer; it kills even the higher cubic capacity bikes. The handling is just perfect! I hardly have anything to crib about. I haven’t taken it to track yet. But that will happen soon. And the pictures of the bike taken by me will also follow soon.
After talking so much and for so long, I finally got to ride the R15. And I did get it for a long time. I rode it in the city; I rode it on the highways. And now I have my complete experience with me here!
When I put the key in the slot, and turned it on, the white backlit console came to life. The self-check was done and bike was ready to be ignited. I started the bike and the engine came to life with a slight sound. Immediately I understood that there was no great exhaust note on this bike. But then who cares about the exhaust note? And this is not a 4-cylinder engine which would have the exhaust note which could blow you off! I heated up the engine a bit and was ready to hit the roads.
As I came to the main road, the first thing that happened was that the bike started gathering a lot of attention from everybody. People who are not even remotely connected to biking started wondering about the bike. The bike's full fairing, twin headlamps and a different and sporty riding posture definitely attracts many people.
After a while, I decided to concentrate on the bike more and less on the people around who had their eyes fixed at me. It didn't feel as if the bike had that punch, the punch that everyone always expected from this bike. I could understand that there was something that was lacking in the bike. And this is what I felt. There have been so many reports all over the internet, the magazines. But I haven't read a single out of them. The reason being, I wanted to completely judge the bike by myself. Reading reviews of a vehicle and then judging it is not really a true judgment. You tend to relate the vehicle with the reviews that you have read. So, this was a completely independent review. Anyways, coming back to the point, I found that the punch was missing in the bike. But as I was flicking through the traffic, I could feel how awesome handling capabilities the bike had. The bike, without any grudge, was cutting through the traffic effortlessly. I was happy with its handling and road grip.
Soon I came to an open straight and obviously I down-shifted one gear and pulled the throttle. The throttle response of the bike is fantastic. The way the engine revs with slightest throttle wring is fantastic. And this made me play with the throttle all the time through traffic. Anyways, as I twisted the throttle completely and pushed the bike in higher revs, I could feel that the R15 had something special in store for me. As the engine crossed about 7500 rpm, the bike started flying. It was just awesome the way the bike was gathering speed. As I crossed the 10000rpm mark, I could feel that the bike had started dying out. The red line was at 10.5k. But the way the bike responded in that final rev range was mind blowing.
While riding the bike, you can feel that the bike has a different feel. The tank is slim and the side fairing is wide. Even the front nose is so wide that it gives a weird look to the whole thing. The small console sits under the visor comfortably. The clip-ons are off a high quality and the overall fit and finish of the bike is of international standards.
Coming back to riding, the bike proved to be a good commuter in the city. The braking was awesome, the pick-up was not that great and the flickable characteristic of the bike will definitely make every street-racer happy.
Now it was time for taking the bike to the highways. I took the nearest exit from the city and hit the highway. As soon as I reached the highway, I once again did a down-shift and twisted the throttle. Red-lined the bike in every gear, and yeah, the bike did impress me with its top end. The 2nd gear red-line took me to about 67 km/h. I haven’t tried it much with p220, but the P200 can do about 55km/h when you red-line in 2nd gear. So, this 150cc bike was better than the 200cc Pulsar. Definitely! As I went shifting up through the gears, I could feel the bike becoming very fast. I managed to hit a top speed of 138km/h indicated on speedometer. Fortunately, I was carrying a GPS device with me which gave me the exact top speed that I had managed and it was a good 130 km/h. I was riding on an almost flat road. There might be a little bit of gradient but not much. This top speed was definitely an impressive one. I wonder if any other Indian bike can do this kind of top speed so effortlessly. And here I am talking about all those 200+ cc bikes.
While coming back to my starting point, I took a less crowded road to check some different abilities of the bike. I have heard people talking about the bike's handling and top speed and pick-up. But I haven’t heard anyone talking about stunting on this bike. As I came to this lonely road, I went down in 1st gear and pulled a wheelie. Man, this bike comes up so effortlessly! I was stunned. A few wheelies here and there and I was carrying them for few meters! It was time for stoppies. The bike impressed me once again with its brilliant front disc brake! The bike lifted her ass as soon as I hinted at doing a stoppie. I just had to pull the brake lever a bit and a little bit of weight transfer to the front. The bike would just come up. And it was a totally controllable thing. I was totally impressed with its stunting capabilities.
The bike impressed me in almost all factors. Except the power delivery in the initial rpm range, everything on that bike is just perfect. The looks are awesome. People have complained about the rear tyre, but well, it has one of the best grips I have ever felt. The quality of materials used on the bike is awesome. The high technologies like liquid cooled engine and deltabox frame make the bike worth its price. The top end is killer; it kills even the higher cubic capacity bikes. The handling is just perfect! I hardly have anything to crib about. I haven’t taken it to track yet. But that will happen soon. And the pictures of the bike taken by me will also follow soon.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Its finally here!!!
I have been promising for so long that I'll give the ride report of the bike of here. But the time came pretty late. I couldnt lay my hands on the R15 really. I got a chance of riding the bike but I didnt accept it since it was a brand new bike of a customer. Didnt want to rip it apart. Now I have got a proper running in done bike and I am all set to ride it and test it. Lets see how it comes through.
The first impressions of the bike are mixed. The initial is too low and the top end is too high. The bike feels small and big at the same time. For an in detail report, let me get out of this internet and ride it over few kms. Here i go....
The first impressions of the bike are mixed. The initial is too low and the top end is too high. The bike feels small and big at the same time. For an in detail report, let me get out of this internet and ride it over few kms. Here i go....
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