The bike that I am privileged to own is rather unique, and I would like to share the story of how I chose this particular bike amongst the myriad of bikes on the market and I hope that this will be a pleasant read for the members of this forum.
I love mechanical objects. Typewriters, film cameras, tape recorders and old bikes most of all. I loved old bikes without ever riding one and I was desperate to own one (my father will say that I still am
![Cold Sweat](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/coldsweat.png)
). I especially loved the old Jawas and Yezdis. Just the sound of one and the experiences my father shared about owning one were enough to make me fall madly in love with these machines. For the past 2.5 years of competitive exam prep I motivated myself every day with a picture of a Yezdi Roadking pasted on the wall of my study table. I just wanted to clear the exam, buy a Yezdi and ride off into the streets of Bangalore. After my exams I started the hunt for my Yezdi. Browsing Olx and Facebook groups for new listings was a daily affair for me. I slowly began to realize that a Yezdi was not a great first bike and moreover I would be wasting a lot of time and money on what would essentially be an expensive hobby. Hence I decided to to ask the members of TBhp for advice.
]https://www.team-bhp.com/news/advice-needed-buying-using-30-year-old-yezdi-motorcycle-daily
After reading the responses and having a few discussions with my father about this I decided to drop the idea of buying a Yezdi.
My dad told me that I should first learn how to ride a bike safely before looking for a bike that requires tender loving care on a regular basis.
Hence I started the hunt for used commuter bikes but the issue was that I didn't know anyone who even owned a bike let alone someone willing to sell their bike to me. I felt that Olx and other used vehicle websites won't be able to get me a used bike that I could trust. Moreover any decent looking used bike wasn't available below 30000 rupees.
A few weeks later my dad and I were watching a program about the Hero bikes sold in India which was when we found out about the Hero HF100 and we went to the dealership to take a look. The Hero HF100 was the same bike as the more popular HF Deluxe with the only difference being the mode of starting. The HF100 is equipped only with a kick starter whereas the HF Deluxe is equipped with self start. I don't exactly know why but I love the idea of kick starting a bike. The feeling of actually doing something physical to start the bike rather than just pushing a button really appealed to me. It is in a way similar to how a stick shift car feels to drive when compared to an automatic.
The Price
Hero really missed out on marketing this bike properly. The ex-showroom price of the Hero HF100 is 49000 rupees which makes it the cheapest bike in the country. The on road price of the HF100 was 63000 rupees in Bangalore.
We booked the bike on a Thursday and just 3 days later the bike was ready for delivery. It has been 2 months since I have taken delivery of the bike and nearly 500kms later I have very few niggles to report about the bike.
The bike looks good from the rear and the side. I feel it looks a little too narrow from the front.
Here are some pictures of my HF:
Front
Side
Gauge Cluster
Rear Quarter
Rear
The picture of my bike after the first wax.
The wax used is Waxpol's Hard Cake Wax
The bike came with a few scratches and one tiny dent on the fuel tank which I was upset about but I was prepared to let it slide knowing that I can't expect concourse level quality from a large corporation which treats each bike just as a vehicle. My father felt otherwise and wanted to get the damaged parts replaced. Thankfully the dealer happily obliged and replaced the scratched parts.
Scratched Tail Light cover
Replacement Tail Light cover
Scratched Silencer Shield
Replacement Silencer Shield
The windscreen was scratched too, unfortunately I don't have a photo of the scratched part.
The Replacement Windscreen
The Tank also had a tiny dent and scratch. My dad wanted the dealer to replace the tank but I was not comfortable with the tank being replaced since I was afraid of any niggles that may show up because of the job. The problems that may arise due to the tank being removed and replaced improperly looked a lot larger to me than the dent hence I decided to let it be. I asked the dealer to polish the scratched area around the dent but they weren't able to make it much better. I managed to make it marginally better later on with some Motomax bike polish.
The Tank Scratch now after a light hand polish
After a week of ownership, I decided to install a seat cover and a tank bag to prevent the tank from being scratched and also to give me some extra storage. The tank bag and seat cover with installation costed 650 rupees.
Installing the seat cover was a timely decision because just a week after installing it this happened.
Damage inflicted by a bored stray cat.
Luckily only the removable seat cover has been damaged and not the seat itself.
A week ago, I decided to remove the tank bag to clean and wax the tank thoroughly and upon removing the tank bag I discovered that the paint surrounding the fuel filler cap had been damaged.
Paint Damage on the tank
How this happened is still a mystery to me and I am sure the members of this forum could help me with this. The only explanation I have is that fuel vapors from the tank upon prolonged exposure have damaged the paint. I have removed the tank bag because I want to see if the issue persists.I am going to be taking the bike to the dealer for the first inspection very soon. Any and all inputs are welcome.
Apart from these minor niggles the bike has been running perfectly fine. Since I haven't ridden any other bike apart from this one I am not qualified enough to say anything about the acceleration, handling etc.
I love to ride and take care of my bike and the fuel economy allows me to extract as many smiles per litre as possible.
![Smile](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.png)