As the Discover range slowly eating up the share in 125 cc class market, Bajaj discontinued the Platina 125 a while ago. Suddenly, interesting snaps pop on the internet, showing a 100 cc Platina ES, spotted at a dealer in Mangalore. The designers gave it an update, replaced the front black visor with a body-coloured one, which resembles the Honda shine and the Hero HF deluxe when seen from a distance. The side panels and exhaust also undergo surgery, making it look better than its aged predecessor.
Technical specs? A 102 cc engine churning out 8.2 horsepower and 12.79 Nm of torque at 5000 RPM. It has a four speed gearbox, and clocks a maximum speed of 91 kilometres an hour. Braking duties are handled by 110 mm drum brakes at both ends Fuel efficiency: a massive 97 Km/l (ARAI, again). Expect real world figures to be about 75-85 km/l. The Platina 100 ES is available in three colours- Ebony Black, Electron Blue and Candy Red. It has self start as a standard option and we don’t have any other options to choose from, in this model.
Bajaj Introduced the Platina back in April 2006, to replace the ageing caliber series which was introduced when Bajaj had a partnership with Kawasaki. It was a fairly affordable bike, which tipped the monetary scales at INR 35,000 ex-showroom at the time of its release, a pretty steal deal for commuters on a budget, and returned Triple digit Mileage figures (100 Km/l as per ARAI) which was all that the commuters of those days needed (or may be they need it today as well).It received many hardware and cosmetic changes, like a 125 cc Platina with a twin spark engine and a “Swirl induction technology”, but the overall design remained unchanged everything from the headlamp to the speedometer console, which started to look like an eyesore, at least to the affordable bike market.
The new Platina 100 ES will be available alongside the current Platina model, but priced slightly higher than the top end model of the previous generation (54,000 INR vs 49,000 INR ex-showroom). Expect the official release to be as soon as next week. Picture courtesy: Bharathautos.com
By: Suraj