Bike – Page 4 – Mileage Reviews

Bajaj Pulsar 180

The Bajaj Pulsar is available in 5 different engine variants. We have already seen the lower end 135cc and 150cc bikes. Today, we will see how good the mileage delivered by the 180cc DTS-i variant of Bajaj Pulsar is. Pulsar 180 is one of the original models being first introduced way back in 2001 along with the 150cc variant.

Let’s talk specifications. The Bajaj Pulsar 180 comes equipped with a 178.6cc 4-stroke single cylinder engine that can crank up 17.02 PS power and 14.22 Nm of torque (at 6500 rpm). The bike has a 15 liter capacity fuel tank that also has a 3.2 liters reserve capacity of which 2 liters is usable. Other important specs of the bike include a 150mm ground clearance, 147 kg kerb weight and a 260mm frontal disc/130mm rear drum brake. The Bajaj Pulsar 180 is available at a price of Rs. 70,321 ex-showroom in Delhi.

Official Fuel Efficiency Claim

As oft-quoted on this blog, with great power comes lower mileage. In our previous reviews, we have noted that the official mileage as quoted by the company for the 135cc and 150cc variants of the bike are 68.1kmpl and 64kmpl respectively. Now, the fuel consumption for the 180cc variant is expected to be lower than this, and it is. According to Bajaj, the Pulsar 180 delivers 58.1kmpl under standard conditions.

Customer Feedback

AutomobileUpdates has reviewed the revamped version of the Pulsar that includes equipment more modern than the ones they originally came with a decade back. They report a city consumption of 43 kmpl and on highways this appears to notch up as much as 51 kmpl.

MaxAbout calls the redesigned 2009 variant a ‘well-built vehicle with a lot of bulk’. In their test ride, the websites reports having seen between 45-50 kmpl on highways that falls down to 38kmpl on city roads. As they rightfully note, under these running cost conditions, the bike no longer remains an option to consider for those on a budget.

The reported numbers seem to hover around the 40+ mark across reviews. On BikeDekho, the reviewers call the new bike a ‘perfect blend of the vibrant contours of the older 180 and the muscular build of the 2009 model’. The fuel economy tests derive 43.4 kmpl under city traffic conditions that goes up to 46 kmpl on highways.

BikeAdvice in their comparison of the Pulsar against Apache RTR 180 note the better performance of the Pulsar in the fuel department reporting 41-46 kmpl on city roads and 46-51 kmpl on highways.

Let us next check out what the reviewers on MouthShut.com have got to say. There are over 150 reviews for the 180cc Pulsar and as rated by these users, the bike gets a 4/5 as far as fuel consumption is concerned. Most reviewers seem to get a mileage of around 45 kmpl which is definitely a good return from a 180cc bike. If you are looking for a range, then be rest assured, you should expect something between 43-50 kmpl. Only one user claims to be seeing around 40 kmpl on Mumbai roads.

Things are not very different on Olx, the classifieds website. A whole chunk of customers who have put their Pulsar 180 up for sale claim to see a fuel economy of between 40-45 kmpl on their bike.

So there you have it. The 180cc variant of the Pulsar is a pretty good bargain on the fuel front considering that except for a couple of sources, most of them report a 45kmpl economy which is a pretty decent expectation from this high power bike. Here is a snapshot of numbers as reported by various sources. From our side, we give this bike a thumbs-up!

Source	City kmpl	Highways kmpl
Official	–	58.1
AutomobileUpdates	43	51
MaxAbout	38	45-50
BikeDekho	43.4	46
BikeAdvice	41-46	46-51
MouthShut	43-50	—
Olx	45	—

Bajaj Pulsar 135 LS

There are currently five different variants of the Pulsar in the market. Although the Pulsar brand itself has existed for more than a decade, the Pulsar 135cc model has only been around for around 3 years. Bajaj introduced this light weight sports bike in 2009 and is the first bike in India to contain a 4-valve DTS-i technology instead of the 2-valve technology that has been the norm.

So in terms of specifications, this bike does not disappoint. The Pulsar 135LS has a 134.66cc single cylinder 4 stroke engine delivering 13.5PS maximum power and 11.4Nm maximum torque. The bike weighs 122 kg when dry and can hold up to 8 liters of fuel (1.6 liters usable reserve). The bike is being targeted at the adventure lovers and so has an above average ground clearance of 165mm. The Pulsar 135 is priced at Rs. 58,963 ex-showroom Delhi.

Official Mileage

As a category, the Pulsar 135 lies somewhere between the bunch of bikes available in the 125cc and 150cc segments. Consequently, we do not have a benchmark of what the ideal mileage for this bike is. Regardless of this, Bajaj claims the bike can offer a good mileage of around 68.1 kmpl under standard conditions. Considering this is a sports bike that would hardly be rode on standard test condition roads, it would be interesting to see how this bike performs on city roads.

Customer Reviews

MaxAbout has a raving review of the Pulsar 135 calling it a bike that “oozes style”. However it is unclear whether the city mileage that they report is from their own internal tests or something claimed by the company. In any case, according to them, the Pulsar 135 should offer 52 kmpl on city roads.

BikeDekho tells us about the signficance of the 4-valve technology on the Pulsar 135. They note that thanks to the 4-valves, the Pulsar 135 can deliver the same power as is offered by the regular 2-valve 150cc bikes. The mileage doesn’t seem to be affected by that though. Their tests report an average fuel consumption of between 58-65 kmpl.

The review on the blog AutomobileUpdates is less glorifying at least from the fuel economy perspective. Although the blog commends the bike for its “aggressive styling”, they report a city mileage of just around 50 kmpl with the highway performance going up to 65 kmpl.

On IndiaGarage, the reports are all over the place. While one user claims to see a mileage of between 40-45 kmpl with the Pulsar 135, another customer claims to see a much better 54 kmpl.

Sriraj, a small blog reviewing bikes and gadgets does a great job test-riding the Pulsar 135. For their review, the writer rode the bike for close to 150 kilometers in peak Delhi traffic between 5PM and 9PM. They report having seen a mileage of close to 61 kmpl under these conditions.

BikeAdvice has a similar verdict on their owner-review post. While the writer has not posted the mileage of this bike on highway roads, according to him, it would deliver a good 60 kmpl on city roads which is absolutely impressive stuff.

Finally, let’s check out what reviewers on the user-review site, MouthShut have got to say. There are close to 85 reviews of the bike with the customers rating the bike 4/5 on fuel economy. A striking feature of the reviews is the consistency at which a majority of the people have rated the fuel consumption of the bike. Barring a couple of outliers who report a mileage of either 45kmpl or 65kmpl, almost every other reviewer has reported seeing a mileage of around 55 kmpl on city roads.

So here’s the bottomline – the Pulsar 135 is as good as a 150cc in terms of power. In terms of mileage, it can consistently deliver a mileage as good as the bikes in the 125cc range. As I see it, this bike seems to deliver the best of both the worlds and is a definite buy. Here’s a snapshot of the mileage as reported by various sources.

Source	City Mileage (kmpl)	Highways (kmpl)
Official	–	68.1
MaxAbout	52	68
BikeDekho	58-65	—
AutomobileUpdates	50	65
IndiaGarage	40-54	—
Sriraj	61	—
BikeAdvice	60	—
MouthShut	55+	—

Suzuki Slingshot Plus vs. Hero Passion X Pro

Today we will compare two bikes that are in the entry level or mid entry level segment – the Slingshot Plus from Suzuki and the Passion X Pro from Hero Motocorp. While the Slingshot Plus has been around for a while, the Passion X Pro is one of the later additions to the Hero stable having been launched only in the early part of 2012.

First up, let us compare the specifications of the two bikes.

Spec	Hero Passion X Pro	Suzuki Slingshot Plus
Engine displacement	109.1cc	124cc
Max Power	8.7 PS	8.6 PS
Max Torque	9.36 Nm	10 Nm
Fuel Tank Capacity	9.5 L	12 L
Kerb mass	116 kg	129 kg
Usable Reserve	2.1 L	2.1 L
Delhi ex-showroom	46800	52271

The Slingshot Plus is supposed to be a higher power motorbike compared to the Passion X Pro. However, if you compare them side by side, you see that they are not really very different. Both bikes offer similar power and torque. In fact, since the X Pro has a smaller weight to carry – both in terms of the dry mass as well as the max fuel capacity, the mileage is likely to be better with the Passion X Pro than the SlingShot Plus; at least theoretically. Let’s see if that truly is the case moving ahead in this article.

Fuel Efficiency Comparison

Under standard testing conditions, the reported fuel consumption is often very good. This is because these tests are under very favourable road and wind conditions and so you get the maximum returns on your fuel. According to Hero Motocorp, the Passion X Pro can deliver close to 70 kmpl under these conditions. In comparison, Suzuki claims that the Slingshot Plus can deliver close to 73.5 kmpl.

Now this sounds contrary to whatever we discussed earlier. Let’s look at what the tests on real-world conditions. We looked at reviews from 5 different sources for the Passion X Pro in our original article. Two of these websites – PricesofIndia and IndiaGarage reported seeing close to 60 kmpl on the X Pro. While PricesDekho and Tech2Auto reported a better deal at 65 kmpl, ProDease reported seeing just around 55 kmpl. Overall, the average fuel efficiency under city road conditions seems to be 61 kmpl on the Passion X Pro

In comparison, we had looked at reviews from 6 different sources for the SlingShot Plus. The reported mileages were more varied here. Users on MouthShut were the happiest and reported between 65-70 kmpl. While WheelMela reported 60 and ZigWheels 66, the reported numbers from xBHP and IndianDrives were lower at 45-50kmpl and 58 kmpl respectively. Even Olx had a reported number lower at between 55-60 kmpl. The average number in this case was 59.4 kmpl.

Source	Hero Passion X Pro	Suzuki Slingshot Plus
Official	70	73.5
Average on city roads	61	59.4

So what do you think is a better deal of the two? When I look at it, although the Hero Passion X Pro is a lower spec bike of the two, it delivers better power, offers a better mileage and is available for a cheaper price. Both bikes rank similar on the looks quotient. So the deal seems pretty clear – the Passion X Pro is the winner here.

Best 150cc Bike In India 2012/2013

We have already reviewed most of the popular 150cc bikes in India. It’s now time for us to consolidate them all and put them up in one piece where you can know which of the bikes stands where in terms of performance, mileage and price. If you want to read the reviews of each of these bikes separately, you can view them by clicking here.

Specifications

Let us compare the most important specifications to get a feel of where things are going. The bikes are ranked in order of power.

Rank	Bike	Power	Torque	Official Mileage
1.	Honda CBR 150R	17.8 PS	12.66 Nm	—
2.	Yamaha YZF-R15	17 PS	15 Nm	46.93 kmpl
3.	TVS Apache RTR 160	15.2 PS	13.1 Nm	54 kmpl
4.	Bajaj Pulsar	15.06 PS	12.5 Nm	64 kmpl
5.	Hero Xtreme	14.4 PS	12.80 Nm	65.1 kmpl
6.	Hero Hunk	14.4 PS	12.80 Nm	65.1 kmpl
7.	Honda CB Unicorn Dazzler	14 PS	12.8 Nm	60 kmpl
8.	Yamaha FZ 16	14 PS	13.6 Nm	50.81 kmpl
9.	Suzuki GS150R	13.8 PS	13.4 Nm	55.7 kmpl
10.	Hero Achiever	13.5 PS	12.8 Nm	68 kmpl
11.	Bajaj Discover	13 PS	12.75 Nm	72.3 kmpl
12.	Yamaha SZ-X	12.1 PS	12.8 Nm	62.4 kmpl

So from the list of bikes that we have compared, the Honda CBR150R has the highest power. However, if you are also looking at a bike in the budget range, you should pick one that offers great mileage and comes available at a decent price. In that case, Bajaj Discover has the highest official claim for mileage among all the bikes that we have compared.

City Mileage Comparison

If there is one thing that I have learned since I started the blog, it is that the real world mileages are hardly anywhere close to those claimed by the company. Bikes that claim amazing mileages sometimes are pretty par if not worse than competition when it comes to real world mileages. So keeping that in mind, let us do a side-by-side comparison of the city mileages based on the average numbers reported by the various automobile blogs and customers.

Rank	Bike	Average City Mileage (kmpl)
1.	Bajaj Discover 150	54.0
2.	Hero Achiever	52.7
3.	Yamaha SZ-x	50.7
4.	Hero Hunk	50.7
5.	Honda CB Unicorn Dazzler	50.3
6.	Suzuki GS 150R	50
7.	Bajaj Pulsar 150	49.3
8.	TVS Apache RTR 160	48.4
9.	Hero Xtreme	47.8
10.	Honda CBR 150R	42.8
11.	Yamaha FZ16	39.6
12.	Yamaha YZF-R15	38.2

The above averages were calculated based on reports from some of the most popular online automobile destinations like BikeAdvice.in, MaxAbout, IndiaGarage, MotorBeam, Overdrive, BikeDekho and Gaadi.com. Besides, we also considered the customer reports from websites like MouthShut and Olx.

So if you look at this, the Bajaj Discover 150 is a clear winner with an average reported mileage of 54 kmpl – that’s an additional 2.3 kilometers for every liter of petrol as delivered by the second best that’s Hero Achiever. You will also notice that bikes that hog the bottom rung of the ladder in terms of power offered are also the ones that deliver the maximum mileage.

Here are some take-aways from the analysis of the two tables:

1. Bajaj Discover is THE bike for the budget conscious. It is not great from a power perspective, but is really the best in class for mileage.

2. Hero Hunk is a decent deal to go for. It ranks 6 out of 12 bikes on power (a couple of those ranking above are in the 1 lakh rupees price range!) while it ranks 4th in terms of mileage.

3. Bajaj Pulsar is in a similar position as the Hunk, except a bit lower. It ranks 4th in terms of power (again two bikes higher up are in the 1 lakh rupees price range) and 7th in terms of mileage.

So here’s the bottomline: If you are looking for power over mileage, it is Pulsar. If you are looking for power and mileage, it is Hunk. And if you are looking simply for mileage, it is Bajaj Discover 150.

Is there some other inference you could make from the tables above? Please do mention them in the comments. I would be glad to add them to the pointers above.

TVS Apache RTR 160 Vs. Hero Xtreme

This is our third article in the bike comparison series we started late last month. We are yet again pitting two popular 150cc bikes against one another – the TVS Apache against Hero Xtreme.

The Apache is TVS’ marquee bike in the power bikes segment. The 160cc bike was launched in 2007 and is as popular among bike enthusiasts as the the Hero Xtreme which you may also know as the Hero Honda CBZ Xtreme of the yore! Here is a tabled comparison of the core specifications of the two bikes.

Specification	Apache RTR 160	Hero Xtreme
Displacement	159.7cc	149.2cc
Max. Power	11.19 kW	10.6 kW
Max. Torque	13.1 Nm	12.80 Nm
Ground Clearance	180mm	145mm
Fuel Tank	16 liters	12.1 liters
Usable researve	1.7 liters	1.5 liters

The Apache RTR 160 is available at a price of Rs. 71,340 ex-showroom Delhi while the Hero Xtreme is available at a commensurate price of Rs. 65,975.

Mileage Comparison

A quote I often put up on this blog is that with great power comes a lower mileage. Considering that the RTR 160 has a higher power and a larger engine cylinder displacement compared to the Xtreme 150, the mileage you can expect with the RTR could be lower than what the Hero Xtreme could offer. That is in fact true by a mile according to the company claims. TVS says the Apache RTR 160 can draw around 54.1 kmpl under standard test conditions while the Xtreme, according to Hero, can draw 65.1 kmpl. That’s a huge difference in the official claims from both the companies. Let’s see if the real world tests also derive similar results.

Let us start with BikeAdvice. In our earlier report on the Apache, this was one report that was hugely positive on the bike as far as mileage was concerned. In their article, the website claimed to have seen 56 kmpl fuel efficiency on the Apache RTR 160 in the long term. In comparison, the website had a slightly worse mileage report for the Xtreme. In an aggregated report of reviews from over 70 customers, we had noted last time that BikeAdvice readers saw a mileage of between 45-51 kmpl on the Hero Xtreme. That’s pretty low compared to Apache.

To have a more real world feel of customer feedback, let us next jump on to the MouthShut forums. There are over 200 reviews for the Apache 160 on this site as compared to 187 reviews for the Hero Xtreme. Both these bikes have received an overall rating of 4/5 from the reviewers as far as fuel consumption was concerned. When it comes to the real numbers though, the race is a dead heat. The average mileage reported on city roads for both the bikes range between 40-50 kmpl which does not give any great insights into which of the two bikes is better.

What’s amusing is that we do not seem to get a better clarity on the winner even when we check the classifieds postings on Olx from people who own the bike. The average mileage reported for both bikes again range between 40-50 kmpl.

Source	Apache RTR 160	Hero Xtreme
Official	54.1 kmpl	65.1 kmpl
BikeAdvice	56	45-51
MouthShut	40-50	40-50
Olx	40-50	40-50

So what’s the verdict? Although Hero Xtreme has an obviously better mileage officially claimed, things seem to be different as far as the reviews from blogs and real customers are concerned. The mileages as seen by customers on real world are more or less the same on both bikes. That being the case, I would prefer to go with the Apache RTR over the Hero Xtreme. Why? Because Apache gives you a better power, torque along with much better looks at only a slightly higher price. Getting the same mileage as the Apache on the Hero Xtreme only means the mileage offered by the lower powered bike is not ideal. Apache is the winner in this race.

Bajaj Pulsar 150 Vs. Honda CB Unicorn Dazzler

Here we are to compare the Honda Unicorn Dazzler with one another impressive bike in the 150cc segment. If you are looking for more comparisons, please check our earlier review of the Dazzler against Hero Hunk.

Right, so this is one comparison that is so often made by potential customers becausae both these bikes are priced at a pretty similar range. The Pulsar 150 is available at an ex-showroom price of Rs. 67,110 while the CB Unicorn Dazzler is available at Rs. 66,738. Here is a comparison of the important specifications in tabular format.

Specification	Bajaj Pulsar 150	Honda Unicorn Dazzler
Displacement	149.01cc	149.1cc
Max. Power	15.06PS	14.19PS
Max. Torque	12.5 Nm	12.74 Nm
Kerb weight	143 kg	138 kg
Fuel tank	15 liters	12 liters

The above table gives you loads of information on some inherent advantages of the Unicorn Dazzler over Pulsar 150 with respect to mileage. Not only does the Dazzler come lighter by around 5 kgs, it also has a smaller fuel tank which means the weight pulled by the engine is higher on the Pulsar compared to the Dazzler for any given rider and hence the mileage “may” possibly be lower on the Pulsar. We will however test the same. The Pulsar however has a marginally smaller displacement which means the fuel consumed at any particular time is lower than the Dazzler and so the mileage delivered could be theoretically higher than, not considering the other parameters of course.

Mileage Comparison

The official fuel economy as reported by the company officials is under standard test conditions. These are primarily highway-type roads with favourable wind conditions and minimum load. Consequently, the economy reported here are always on the higher side. According to Bajaj, the Pulsar 150 can draw 64 kilometers for every liter of petrol under standard conditions whereas Honda claims their Unicorn Dazzler can only reach up to 60 kmpl. Fret not however, since real-world conditions are much different and there is always a possibility of a different winner here.

We will first look at what MaxAbout has to say. In their review of the Pulsar 150, they note that the bike was not great during their city road test. Pulsar 150 could only offer 45 kmpl whereas in a similar test on the Unicorn Dazzler, they were able to see 50 kmpl. On highways though, the Pulsar returned 62 kmpl while the Dazzler was stuck around 60 kmpl.

BikeAdvice in their review though give a thumbs-up to the Pulsar 150. They report a fuel consumption of between 50-52 kmpl on the Pulsar whereas a similar road test on the Dazzler returned just 48 kmpl.

MouthShut is a website that I often refer to considering the plethora of real-customer reviews available there. We had close to 46 reviews for the Bajaj Pulsar 150 DTS-i and the customers have rated the product 4/5 in terms of fuel efficiency. The reported mileage from these customers though varied quite a bit between 40-53 kmpl. So you have happy as well as not-so-happy customers here. In comparison, there were close to 76 reviews for the Unicorn Dazzler on MouthShut. Although the ratings was still a 4/5, the reported mileage figures are more consistet between 48-52 kmpl.

So there you have it. Pulsar seems to be a good bike on the highways. But when it comes to a road test on inner city conditions, the Dazzler appears to win the race in a photo-finish. Although BikeAdvice gives the Pulsar a higher rating, in terms of the sheer number of reported figures, the Dazzler seems to have a more consistent mileage that seems to better the Pulsar 150.

Source	Bajaj Pulsar 150	Honda CB Unicorn Dazzler
Official	64	60
MaxAbout (city)	45	50
MaxAbout (Highways)	62	60
BikeAdvice	50-52	48
MouthShut	40-53	48-52

Hero Hunk Vs. Honda CB Dazzler – A Comparison

Hero Hunk and the Honda CB Unicorn Dazzler are two wonderful bikes in the 150cc segment. Although the Hunk has been around for a much longer time, it has not taken the Dazzler much time to catch up to the Hunk in terms of popularity.

To start with, let us start with the comparison of the two bikes on the specs

Spec	Hero Hunk	Honda Dazzler
Displacement	149.2cc	149.1cc
Max Power	10.6 kW	10.44 kW
Max Torque	12.80 Nm @ 6500 rpm	12.74 Nm @ 6500 rpm
Front Brake	240mm Disc Dia	240mm Disc Dia
Rear Brake	220mm Disc Dia	220mm Disc Dia
Ground Clearance	145mm	162mm
Kerb weight	146 kg	138 kg
Fuel Tank Capacity	12.4 liters	12 liters
Reserve	2.2 liters usable	N/A

The difference between the two specs is pretty marginal on most counts. It is only with ground clearance and kerb weight where you find any significant difference between the two.

Mileage Comparison

Both the Hunk and Dazzler have similar engines although the Hunk is expected to pull 8kgs more than the Dazzler at any point due to its inherently higher kerb weight. This could pull the mileage marginally down. Despite that, the official claim on the mileage of the Hunk is higher than Honda CB Unicorn Dazzler. Hero claims the Hunk can draw 65.1 kmpl while Honda says the Dazzler can offer only 60 kmpl of fuel economy. Do note that both these claims are under standard test conditions.

Let’s look at what the neutral reviewers have to say. According to MaxAbout that has reviewed both the bikes, the Hero Hunk is expected to deliver 52-58 kmpl on city roads whereas the Honda CB Unicorn Dazzler can extract a lower 50 kmpl under similar conditions. On Highways though, both the bikes are seen to deliver similar economies at 60 kmpl.

BikeAdvice has an alternate take on this comparison. In their reviews, they report the fuel economy on city roads to be somewhere between 45-50 kmpl on the Hunk while the same has been pegged at 48 kmpl from Dazzler. While the website does not have a number for the highways mileage from Hunk, they say customers can see close to 62 kmpl on highways from Unicorn Dazzler.

On MouthShut, the 210+ reviews for the Hunk rate the bike 4/5 on fuel consumption. A similar rating is offered by the 75+ Dazzler reviewers. However when it comes to putting down a number against the fuel consumption column, Hero Hunk customers have reported varying mileages between 45-55 kmpl on their bike while customers of Honda Dazzler have a more consistent report of the city mileage to be between 48-52 kmpl.

Here is a tabled report of the comparison:

Source	Hero Hunk	Honda Dazzler
Official	65.1	60
MaxAbout	52-58	50
BikeAdvice	45-50	48
MouthShut	45-55	48-52

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

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 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

Hero Karizma ZMR

I normally do not report much on the 200cc+ segment on MileageInfo simply because at that engine power range, people aren’t even looking for information on fuel economies. But regardless of whether we are looking at a 100cc or a 200cc, there are bikes that perform better on the fuel efficiency scale and this is one reason it is important to look at what mileage these bikes offer.

The Hero Karizma ZMR is a 223cc bike with a 4 stroke single cylinder engine that can deliver a good 17.8 PS of power at an 18.35 Nm torque. The bike claims to speed up from 0-60 kmph in just 3.7 seconds. With a kerb weight of close to 159kg, it is no wonder this bike does not deliver as much mileage as smaller bikes, not withstanding the higher power (even though this is the same power as delivered by the 150cc Honda CBR 150R.

Official Mileage Claim

The Hero Karizma ZMR is a bike that is available at a price of Rs. 98,800 ex-showroom Delhi. At this price, the power and not the mileage should be a concern. Regardless, Hero Motocorp has a pretty tall claim on the fuel efficiency of the bike. According to Gaadi, the company claims the Hero Karizma ZMR to deliver 51 kilometers per liter of petrol!

Customer Reviews

BikeDekho has a raving review of the bike calling it ‘sporty and attractive’. What’s not is the difference in the fuel economy on-road vis-a-vis what the company has claimed. They report 35 kmpl which again, I should point out, is not bad at all for a 223cc motorbike.

On MotorBeam, a test drive of over 5500 kilometers showed an average mileage to be around 37.24 kmpl. The report posts the best figures to be close to 41.51 kmpl while the worst seen was 31.87 kmpl. Looking at the comprehensiveness of this report, I am skeptical about a report from IndianCustomers.in that pits the economy at 40 kmpl for the Karizma ZMR. I’m not sure if this was indeed arrived at after a proper test ride.

But not to worry, since the mileage does seem to go as high as that, if not more, if you ride exclusively on highways. According to a user on the xBHP forums, riding consistently at 70-80 kmph could get you between 47-50 kmpl fuel economy which is very impressive.

There are 36 reviews for the ZMR from users on MouthShut and they have rated the bike 4/5 for fuel consumption which in itself is a terrific achievement for a 225cc bike. The reported numbers though are all over the place although you can probably arrive at a consensus of somewhere between 35 kmpl – 42 kmpl for city roads and 48 kmpl on highways.

Overall, this is definitely not a bad bike in terms of mileage. In fact, for a 225cc motorbike to deliver such an economy is pretty nice. Here is a snapshot of what the various reviews have reported.

Source	City Mileage (kmpl)	Highways (kmpl)
Official	–	51
BikeDekho	35	—
MotorBeam	37	24	—
IndianCustomers	40	—
xBHP	–	47-50
MouthShut	35-42	48