Re: The Bajaj V - A motorcycle made with INS Vikrant's steel Been meaning to comment on this very interesting bike for awhile, especially after watching one pass my workshop daily for the past month or so:
Scanning the forum, my impression is that the styling is being a little over-scrutinized, to really minute levels in some cases, while to me the bike to me looks better in real life than what most of the promo photos depict.
But more broadly (and importantly): Taking the other market options into consideration, I have to ask: What kind of true commuters / practical all-rounders are out there that really have any sort of distinct uniqueness / visual appeal / road "presence", along with decent performance? Sales numbers are looking good, and I can see why, partly in view of the alternatives:
Honda's Unicorn has always been a great product and a good ride, but it's also always been fairly dull and uninteresting to look at (or to state it more positively, it is at best "solidly conservative"). Same goes for the GS, and few if any of the 125's are really even worth mentioning. The Dazzler is (/was) cursed with an extremely stupid name and gave up a bit of practicality in its efforts to try and be cool, likewise (very clearly) the better-named (and to me overpriced) Hornet. Similarly the FZ / Pulsar stables are full of bikes with bulbous tanks you can't sit a kid on, and rakishly stylish but generally uncomfortable / high C.O.G pillion seats; not to mention their rather needless (at this performance level) low handles and rear-set footpegs that put a lot of extra weight on the wrists; so IMO mostly show, a little "go" but low levels of practicality for anything but purely solo and generally shorter runs. Apache might be marginally better but still kind of low bars (friend finally traded his in for that reason), and still in my view a bit dull in the styling dept. Can't comment much on the Gixxer and a couple others as I've not ridden them, BUT
...What's clear is that there's really nothing else out there even remotely like the V in the 150 playing field. It would seem to have achieved that rare balance of practicality AND visual / performance appeal: It's not held back by a tiny 100/125 commuter mill; It's got a great exhaust note; It's not too heavy or too light; It's got a powerful 60W headlamp. It's got a rather flat and presumably comfy seating arrangement for two-up (or family?) riding - YET with all this it's got something of a real (if somewhat "alternative") sporting / enthusiast image. It looks kinda muscular and substantial, but it's presumably pretty efficient, too. The price is probably undercutting many/most of the 150cc-class bikes by a fair margin. You can call the styling quirky / unintegrated but to me it's in no way unappealing taken as a whole and/or when actually seen in motion. I think what I like the most here is the "honesty" of the design: nothing "fake" about this, no unnecessary extras thrown in: Clean, minimalist instrumentation, an all-steel tank with no senseless extensions or fake shrouding or other plastic bits to rattle about; graphics are simple enough and suitable to the form; The bike isn't trying to "be" anything it's not. It's certainly not a commuter trying to look like a super-motard or adventure tourer or moto-GP bike (won't name names here). As Popeye always said, "I am what I am". To me that's an immensely refreshing approach to things. We have far too many posers out there already. The patriotic / heritage theme of course can't hurt things in any way. It's been a long time in this market since anything but a Bullet could appeal to anything like a legacy, and I suppose this is a reasonable attempt at something like that. Modern bikes have always had this stigma of "use and throw" and I'd have to say this is an extremely interesting (if slightly ironic) twist on that - being that something very substantial (i.e., an old naval ship) has actually been "used and thrown" but is finding its way into this rather solid-looking new motorcycle.
12 bhp sounds a little weak, but numbers mean little and it all depends on the actual feel on-road. I'll let others with more experience comment on that; but IF the quality control / reliability prove as solid as the image, Bajaj may have a real winner here. Let's see if it turns out to be a fad / fleeting interest (an econo-cruiser like the Enticer comes to mind), or something that'll pay off for them longer-term. Whatever, I applaud Bajaj for daring to bring something very much "out-of-the box" - and yet probably very much needed - into the market.
It has always struck me that perhaps the all-time best-loved - I suppose almost the original "commuter" bike - the RX100 - was a (very) flat-seated/tanked, conservatively styled, great performing and (at least when fuel was cheap) extremely practical little crotch-rocket - Bajaj's RTZ perhaps even better balanced, with superior FE and a little more styling pizazz; I'd long wondered whether common sense would ever finally prevail and we'd again find a somewhat interesting/sporting sort of machine that would be as appealing and justifiable to family men as to youths. If Bajaj is saving demographic data re: sales, it would prove very interesting to have a look at.
-Eric
Last edited by ringoism : 13th December 2016 at 23:54.
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