Why I chose Bajaj Avenger and not any other motorcycle

My first Bajaj Avenger

Disclaimer: This blog is not against any motorcycle make or model. Motorcycling is more of rider’s preferences and the motorcycle’s capabilities together.  If I choose a motorcycle it means that it suits my requirements to the best and need not necessarily mean that it is the best motorcycle for everyone.

I was done with riding 2 stroke scooty and dio. I wanted something of bigger displacement. I had a thing for cruisers right from childhood. Race and motocross types never impressed me. Speed was never my priority. It still isn’t. I leave to every place much before time and never in hurry. However, I felt that my new vehicle should be powerful enough to take me to my destination quickly when needed. I always dreamt of owning an eliminator during early days of college. Other commuter motorcycles were out of question. Back when I bought my 1^st motocycle the only budget performance motorcycles were P220, Avenger, RE, R15, Karizma, Apache RTR and a few more.

I ride daily. My daily commute used to be around 33 Kms. Occassional long rides was something that had been there in mind.

Royal enfield was in consideration. My main problem with RE is its sound. (You read it right.) I can happily admire an RE passing in front of me but being compelled to listen to that thump everytime I ride didn’t seem like a good idea. Besides, RE comes with its own maintenance demands and I was not sure how respectfully I can keep up with it.

I read a few reviews of avenger. It seemed pretty okay. I took a test ride after which I was convinced that I will be comfortable on it even if I ride for 150 plus kms at a stretch. The motorcycle seemed very balanced and steady the 1^st time I sat on it. I was not too much into motorcycle tech specs but the comfort and the styling made me finalize on it. The other advantages were the price and waiting period. Going for an RE at that point would have made me cut down on other expenses.

It’s only after about a few thousand KM on your motorcycle you will start understanding your chemistry with it. Servicing was done exactly as recommended in manual. I did a few short distance trips and a few long ones. Did a 1300 Km ride from Bangalore to Gulbarga and back. In 2 years I was done with 25000 plus Kms.

What I liked in Bajaj Avenger 220:

·         Extremely comfortable ride quality

·         The top speed isn’t as bad as I had thought. I have done 120KPH on Hyderabad highway
The bike has started in all sorts weather Bangalore has seen.  The coldest start that my motorcycle saw was when it was 10 degrees Celsius in a hill station.

·         Not affected too much by cross winds

·         According to me it is the best looking Indian make motorcycle

·         Fuel economy is decent if you ride at moderate speeds. It has given me 48 Kmpl many times

·         Low rpm torque is something that surprised me. The figure on paper is just 17 Nm but has seen the bike performing quite well when stuck in mud, pot hole and rain water. It impressively goes up hill and does offroading quite well though it is not meant for it.

·         Maintenance is easy. Just get the regular servicing done, keep the tyre pressure appropriate, wash regularly, lubricate the chain and get the wheel alignment checked.

New Bajaj Avenger

What could have been better:

·         Sometimes rare brake seems inefficient. Front brake compensates for it. Yet rear disc brake would have helped I feel

·         Durability of clutch cable

·         Crash guard

After about 25000 Kms I have fallen in love with this motorcycle so much that I don’t want to ride any other. A couple of months ago my 1^st avenger got stolen (mentioned earlier in another blog post). I bought another avenger. This time the price and waiting period both didn’t matter yet I chose the same vehicle. My tuning with this motorcycle has been great and it has served me well in short and long rides without cable cuts or oil spilling problems. 

Some of the common questions I get asked/statements made in front of me and my replies

Bajaj? Really?
Yeah does that make a difference when the product is great

Avenger Lacks thump
I prefer it that way. Sparta makes a lot of noise. Buddha never did. Both have fans following

It can’t do off-roading
It can but you may not be very comfortable doing it. If you have a strong back please do give a try

It’s a poor man’s bullet
Seriously? Both are made for different purposes.

It is nothing but Pulsar with a different body
True but tweaked to be a cruiser. Even I follow news about bajaj. Thanks

It does not have resale value
No problem

It’s not durable
My friend’s well maintained avenger is 6 years old and it still works like new.

It’s not great in traffic
Turning radius is huge. It helps you stick to lane discipline.

If you have any doubts about the motorcycle, feel free to leave your doubts in comment section. I will be more than happy to answer.

The sillest thing ever done on a motorcycle Q&A

This is the collection of answers of real motorcycle riders for the question
"What is the silliest thing you have ever done on your motorcycle?"

Read on for some funny and some not so funny answers 

Pic courtesy: Sunny Sawrav's facebook profile

• Have done it lot of time...started the bike and left with handle lock......  - Syed Salman Hafiz
• Was wearing my old skull mask (not the one I'm wearing now). Went beside a scooty with girl riding on it, made sure she looks at my mask and suddenly turned towards her screaming "Haaaaarrrgh!!!" 
  
  Tried it with vehicles full of kids too.  hehehehe
  Love the jaw drops!! - Sunny Sawrav
• Start a race and do not overtake just chase the person - Amiy Amritansh
• During night times, have actually pointed towards d headlight of the bikes coming from other side...n trust me some of them switch it off...n then realize and put it back on! - Gagan Prasad
• Ride to the left of an auto in which there are no passengers. Keep your visor up. Wait for a girl to signal the auto to stop. Now look into her eyes and act like you are denying her a lift. Put your visor down and ride ahead. Look at her expression in your mirror. - Gowtham Shravan Kumar
• Many dumb things i do and best till now is, race a guy for first few seconds and later see the guy rip in front of me and start laughing as I would have come back to my 40-50 km/hr  Also have been doing this all the time. I don't put handle lock near my home, but wen I take out I do lock. I forget that I'm out and switch on the bike and then regret that my handle is locked - Athrey Kadambi
• Mine - no silly laughable incident  only exciting ones though!  lol , the closest to a silliest thing that I have done is while returning back from Yelagiri hills two years back on a rainy day - was riding downhill on neutral. - And then went on to gear up to the first one - quite a shocker - bike was skidding. Somehow managed to pull her back without falling down - she gave me quite a scare! - Siddharth Selvarajan
• Accelerate in neutral and see why bike is not moving - Raghunandan Bagare
• Started bike ...accelerated high...and left with handle lock... 2 times til now. Very humiliating - Amar Srivastava
• Once i did not take bike to office and was missing her badly.. then while i returned home.. i sat on it and just was doing vroom vroom for two feeling(key was at home) - Pranish Urankar
• (it's raining) I licked once and kissed my crystal clear windshield as it was WET  AND my friend was like, "damn! porn show!" - Jupiter Lobo
• Dressing it with my shirt - Ram Prasad
• Once my right hand thumb stuck & cut in Chain during lubricant ... but now its alright - Ajay Jadeja
• Tried to start bike without key for 5 mins, later realised i did not put the key - Prakash B R Ripponpete
• Overtook on the left of a parked car, a woman opens the door just at the right moment, me making love with bike in the drain... - Anand Ramanan
• Forgot to open side lock.. Took a U turn. Had a bad fall twice! - Srikiran Gosangi
• Started the ignition without opening handle lock - Abhinav Chakraborthy