Month: January 2013

Bajaj Discover 150

The 150cc variant of the Bajaj Discover was launched in 2010. The bike comes equipped with a 144.8cc displacement engine that is naturally air-cooled and has a 4-stroke DTS-i feature. This engine can deliver a maximum power of 13 PS (9.56 KW or 12.8 BHP) and a max torque of 12.75 Nm. If you compare this with the other bikes in the segment, you shall notice that 13PS is in fact one of the lowest power among 150cc bikes. Only Yamaha SZ-x has a lower max power than this at 12.1 PS

Bajaj Discover 150cc

Other features of this bike are pretty standard. The bike has a telescopic suspension on the front wheel and a nitrox suspension on the rear. The fuel tank has a max capacity of 8 liters which does not include the 2.3 liters reserve of which only 1.5 liters is usable. At Gaadi.com, the Bajaj Discover 150 is priced at an ex-showroom price of Rs. 47,030 at New Delhi.

Official Mileage Claim

With bikes, an oft-repeated quote is that with lower power comes higher mileage. With the Discover 150, it is no different. In fact, the Bajaj Discover offers the highest possible mileage claim from any 150cc bikes we have discussed so far. According to the company, you can draw 72.3 kmpl under standard test conditions which is by far the best we have in this segment. The second best is at 68 kmpl as claimed by Hero Achiever. That’s a 4.2 additional kilometers for every liter of petrol!

Customer reviews

The official claim on fuel efficiency means squat if the on-road performance does not equally deliver. MaxAbout calls the manufacturer’s claim on mileage generally test-worthy. From their tests, they report an average fuel consumption of 55-60 kmpl on inner city roads while on highways, this increased to around 65 kmpl.

On TopSpeed, the reported city mileage on the Bajaj Discover 150 is around 49.7 kmpl while the corresponding number for highways is 54.8 kmpl. But it is not clear if these are numbers sourced from a third party or if they were test in-house. There is no word on that.

BikeAdvice calls the Discover 150 as the most efficient bike in the segment beating the GS150 and Unicorn. They note a mileage of between 58-60 kmpl which is again not clear if it is an internally tested figure.

Let’s look at some real world customers for feedback now. On MouthShut, there are close to 27 reviews for the Bajaj Discover 150 DTS-i. The reviewers here have given the bike a 4/5 rating on fuel efficiency. According to one customer who has rode 400 kilometers, the mileage they are noticing is over 45 kmpl which they say can rise up to 55 kmpl with time. That could actually be true. Another customer who has clocked over 10,000 kilometers on their Discover 150 say they have been able to report over 55 kmpl mileage with their bike. Another customer who claims the Discover 150 to be the ‘best economy 150 cc bike’ says their average reported mileage  was 50-55 kmpl that went as high as 60-70 kmpl on the highways. On an average, you can say the reviewers on MouthShut report a fuel consumption of between 45-55 kmpl on city roads and 60-70 kmpl on highways. The Discover 150cc, as MaxAbout had claimed, is in fact a very reliable bike as far as the official claim on fuel goes.

Here is a snapshot of what the various reviewers have written about the bike. This is easily the most economical bike in the 150cc segment. So if other features on the bike are okay with you, this is definitely a must-buy.

Source City roads (kmpl) Highways (kmpl)
Official – 72.3
MaxAbout 55-60 65
TopSpeed 49.7 54.8
BikeAdvice 58-60 —
MouthShut 45-55 60-70

Honda CB Shine

We have already discussed the Stunner CBF from Honda in the 125cc segment. One another bike in the same range is the Honda CB Shine. The motorbike comes with a 124.7cc engine that can deliver a maximum power of 10.12 BHP (7.55 kw) and a max torque of 10.54 Nm. If you compare this with the Stunner, the latter offers a slightly higher power of 11 BHP. Other features on the bike include a spring loaded hydraulic suspension on the front and the rear, a 4 speed gear and a strong but light weight diamond frame. The Honda CB Shine is priced well below the ex-showroom price of the Stunner. It is available at a starting price of just Rs. 54,782 ex-showroom, Delhi.

honda-cb-shine

Honda CB Shine Mileage

If you are a Honda fanboy and are looking to buy one of these two bikes from the Japanese auto major, you have to compromise on either the buying price or the mileage. If you remember from our writeup last time, the officially claimed fuel economy on the Stunner is 68.3 kmpl. According to Honda, the CB Shine can deliver a slightly lower economy of around 65 kmpl under standard test conditions. It goes without saying that these are under ideal conditions and may not always be what you can see in real on city roads.

CB Shine Customer Reviews

Let’s start with the folks discussing the bike on IndiaGarage. According to the various posters, you can expect to see between 50-55 kmpl on city roads while this can increase between 58-62 kmpl on highways. Reviewers though point out other issues like noticeable engine vibration at higher speeds.

Deepak from BikeAdvice has reviewed this bike way back in 2008 and in his review, he points out the average mileage on the Shine to be around 50 kmpl. He however notes that you can optimize the fuel consumption by taking the right steps like maintaining air pressure and regular servicing.

In a discussion thread on Yahoo, people who have tested the bike report an economy of between 55-60 kmpl on the average that can rise to 62 kmpl on city roads.

MaxAbout has an entirely positive review at least as far as highways are concerned. According to their review, the CB Shine can deliver close to 58 kmpl on city roads that can go insanely high to 73 kmpl on highways. I would suggest you to take this highways economy with a grain of salt.

On MouthShut, there are over 158 reviews for the CB Shine and the reviewers have given the bike a rating of 4/5 with respect to fuel economy. The average mileage on city roads appears to be between 50-55 kmpl although some people report lower economies of around 42 kmpl. Again, depending on the driving style and conditios, this can also go to the other end of the scale of around 60-65 kmpl.

Overall, this seems to be a good bike with respect to mileage. Here is a snapshot of the fuel consumption as reported by various reviews. There are of course other issues as reported on various reviews. But regardless of that, if you think a mileage of around 55 kmpl is good for you, you should go for this bike!

Source City Mileage (kmpl) Highways (kmpl)
Official – 65
IndiaGarage 50-55 58-62
BikeAdvice 50 —
Yahoo 55-60 62
MaxAbout 58 73
MouthShut 50-55 60-65