A lot of us wonder, what it must be like to ride a 600 cc or a 1000 cc bike. Just by reading the insane amount of Power and torque on the spreadsheet, we begin to drool at the thought of us riding those machines on a sunny day. Again, Who can blame us? According to the logical progression of everything, every rider is bound to ride such a big bike, one day in his life and probably even own one. So, before you go over to the expensive side with expectations, as high as our petrol prices, you need to know the truth which is “Not every expensive bike is a good one”. We all are hard-wired, myself included, to believe that every motorcycle from a foreign brand is a damn good one. They are not, it's the truth. Sure Motorcycles have a long way from being a gas guzzling motorized cycle but when compared relatively, many expensive bikes can’t hold their own against our domestic brands. So, today let’s take a look at some of the famous premium motorcycles in our market and analyze their cons.
Harley-Davidson Street Rod-
The new and revised version of Harley Street 750 is an amalgam of used parts from the same motorcycle. The Exhaust and the tank are the main borrowed components from the cruiser version, which are directly slapped on this “Scrambler”. As a result, the exhaust, which gets too hot too quickly, pushes the foot off the footpeg and the tank which is low and wide keeps the legs in an uncomfortably upward position. Combine this with the fact that, Harley also added a massive air-intake on the exhaust side and you have a seating position disaster. The engine despite being beefed up in this model struggles to climb the speed and gets really vibrational past 4500 RPM.Triumph Bonneville T100-
The bike costs a whopping Rs 7.98 lakh (Ex-showroom) and doesn’t offer proper brakes. It only has a single disc setup which lacks bite and feedback. You will have to squeeze the hell out of them to get anything worthwhile. The Engine heats up very quickly and the fake air-vents designed over the liquid-cooled engine just obstructs the flow of hot air coming from the motor. Making the bike super hot to ride during the summer. Despite having a 900 cc engine, it only has 5 gears and produces 55 PS of power. Harley Davidson Sportster Iron 883-
Probably the second most famous Harley in India. The 883 cc engine is air-cooled and reaches burning temperatures very quickly. The Chassis being used on the bike is age-old compared to the competition. The engine is full of vibrations past 4000 RPM and can hardly hold up its own against a Kawasaki Z650. Despite being a roadster/cruiser, the Fuel tank can only hold 12.5 liters and the bike returns a fuel economy of just 18 km/l. These are just a few examples of how bad these motorcycles are in terms of “Value for Money”. Just to be clear, I am not saying that a particular brand of motorcycles are bad and we should always buy from the domestic fleet. Absolutely not. What I actually mean, is that there are a lot of important short-comings, even with expensive motorcycles, which get overshadowed by the “brand name”. Although In today’s world it is hard to not get influenced by the glamour, what we can do is at least let the manufacturers know that they are not fooling anyone. Remember, it doesn’t matter whether you’re buying a Dominar or a Diavel, you have the right to get your money’s worth.
By: Yetnesh Dubey