 Bajaj
Auto is on a voyage of Discovery. By Discovering DTSi technology
it has Discovered the path back to the numero uno position where
it once upon a time was. Before Discovering DTSi somewhere along
the line, it had lost the Caliber to be numero uno. Then it started
Pulsating to the DTSi tune. Yet there was not enough WIND in the
Bajaj sail to match the sale of some other Splendid sailors. But
today thanks to its Discovery Bajaj is bajaOing CT, 100 times to
herald its success. So much so, that it is on the verge of Eliminating
the opposition. Welcome to the world of DTSi, which is Pulsating
the market so much, that Bajaj Auto has Discovered that fitting
DTSi into Eliminator makes it Terminator ! (==Arnold DTSi Schwarzenegger)
The denouement of DTSi has become almost a trademark of Bajaj Auto.
Whether it is the 180 cc class, the 150 cc class or the 125 cc class,
Bajaj is there ahead of all others. The only class where it doesn't
lead Splendidly, is the class where the Heroes are outshining DTSi
like the Aurora Borealis lights of the North Pole. But here in Maharashtra
where Bajaj is located, Bajaj is closer to the Equator than the
Heroes of the north, and it might be just a matter of time before
the equatorials equalize, and maybe neutralize and overtake, the
shining Splendor of Aurora Borealis !
I am talking about the 125 cc Bajaj Discover, during the testing
of which I Discovered, that if you want to be a class leader (and
market leader), you have to pay attention to detail. You have to
innovate, invent, adapt and adopt new technology. All of which,
Bajaj Auto has done. Discover has become the class leader. The rest,
as they say, is history, well almost.
DISCOVER : EXTERNALS
 The
fit-and-finish of this bike is, in supermarket language, "EXPORT
QUALITY". Indeed, the Discover, according to unconfirmed reports,
is going to be exported to the Phillippines and will be sold there
as a Kawasaki, even though it is believed that this is a pure Bajaj
bike! If this is true, then Bajaj will have gone where no (Indian)
man has gone before! And it will be the greatest achievement of
any Indian exporter ever! There are many best things about this
bike. One: the fact that the seat does NOT have a cusp like the
el-paino cousins of this bike. True the front (rider) part of the
seat does not have enough sq. cm. surface space to comfortably park
your ass (even if you are 59 kg like me), but if you're as tall
as me, 174 cm==5.85 feet, you can slide your ass on the seat, fore-and-aft
like you could do in the old venerable RX100, which had the best
seat this side of Bullet. The shape of the seat too is somewhat
unconventional, in that it narrows towards the front part, which
is good for shorties who can slide forward and reduce crotch angle
so that their feet can reach the ground (see photo). The seat itself
is 26 inches long, and 10.25 inches wide at its widest (in the middle),
reducing to just 5.5 inches wide at the front end, somewhat like
the old Bullet seat shape. Seat height from the ground is 77 cm
(bike off-stand, one rider of 66 kg sitting on it). Due to its lower
than usual seat height and its shape narrowing towards the front,
shorties would find this bike quite suitable.
Another unique thing about this bike is that its ground clearance
of 140 mm (bike off-stand, one rider of 66 kg sitting on it) is
the same whether measured at the rear end of the retracted main
stand, at the pivot of the side stand, or at the lowest point in
the exhaust bend pipe. Most people may think this is unimportant
except that most bike literatures which specify a ground clearance
figure, don't say exactly at what point it is measured, and my measurements
have shown that it invariably is different (always less) than the
stated figure, as well as different at the three points mentioned
above. Even in the Discover, while the Owners Manual mentions a
figure of 175 mm for an un-laden bike, it is actually 140 mm, measured
as specified above at any of the three points. The shape of the
Kick lever is round, like the Pulsars. There is a heat shield on
the silencer, topped by a metallic bracket (footrest for triples?).
Rear view mirrors (RVMs) are an item that most people don't give
much importance to, and remove them, saying they look like donkeys
ears. Yet they are life savers, and the RVMs of the Discover are
very good, have very firm cup-and-ball joints, and have a 32 inch
field of vision. Handlebar width is 26 inches without the end-pieces,
and 29 inches if end pieces are included. I always hold the handle
at the extreme end, i.e. at the end-pieces.
Switch-gear is high quality, A-class and very ergonomic, and thankfully
does NOT have one huge switch assembly at LH for cost saving, but
is most user friendly by having a stepped headlight ON-OFF switch
at RH, with the first step activating backlight of the two dials,
and the "Mandrake-Lights", i.e. the two small pilot eyes.
The Mandrake-lights give this bike (and the Pulsars) the attraction
which until now only Bullet had. The second step of this RH switch
activates the full headlight. Above this RH switch is the blue RIDE
CONTROL switch (off-on) and at the bottom is the self-start button.
The switch assembly at LH have buttons for pass-light (day-flash),
choke lever, hi-lo beam, turn-indicator (press-cancel type), and
horn button. The two same-size dials on the dashboard are quite
basic (in the spoke-wheeled, self-start version I tested), having
Speedo-0do and trip meter at LH and fuel gauge at RH. However, the
knob to bring the trip meter to zero is very difficult to operate.
You have to be an Olympic Gymnastics Gold Medalist (or a monkey),
to be able to operate it. Also, in the two dials, the graduations
are in red color against a black background, difficult to see. Either
the background should be white for red graduations, or the graduations
should be white against a black background.
The tell-a-tale (tt) lights on this bike are about the best, most
distinct and most visible. The green tts for LH turning and RH turning
are different and located quite a distance apart, very good. The
blue hi-beam tt is at LH, exactly mirror opposite to where the green
neutral indicator tt is. Lower down, where the gear- shift-lever
is, there is a diagram indicating the all-down gear shift pattern,
and a table printed on the chain cover gives the recommended tyre
pressures. Tyre sizes are 2.75 x 17 front and 3.oo x 17 rear, both
6 ply rating.
ELECTRICALS & CAPACITIES
 Electricals
are 12 volt AC + DC. There are two different headlight powers for
different versions of the bike. The Electric Start (ES) version
has a 35/35 watt headlight, while the Kick Start (KS) version has
a 60/55 watt headlight. (Why Bajaj is giving low wattage light to
high end version and high wattage light to low end version, I don't
understand. Why not give 60 watts light on all?). The brake light
is of 21 watts, which is excellent. Battery capacity is 12v-9Ah
for ES version and 12v-2.5 Ah for KS version. Built on a wheelbase
of 1305 mm, the double cradle chassis has rectangular section swing
arm, which is almost a norm in all bikes now. Kerb weight is 125
kg. Fuel tank capacity is @ 10 liters including a usable reserve
of 1.5 liters.
ENGINE & TRANSMISSION
 The
bike is powered by a 125 cc engine having bore x stroke of 57 x
48.8 mm,
which develops 11.5 PS (8.47 kw) of power at 8000 rpm at a compression
ratio of 9.5. The Owners Manual does not specify how much torque
is produced, but other literature from the manufacturer mentions
that max. Torque is 10.8 Nm at 6500 rpm. Fuel is ignited in the
cylinder by TWO Champion RG 4 HC spark plugs, the LH plug being
traditionally located in the vertical engine, while the RH plug
is embedded deep inside the engine block. The spark is controlled
by a digital CDI unit. Carburetor make and model is not mentioned
in the manual, but I note that the bike I am testing (MH.12.CN.6376)
is fitted with a Kei Hin NCV Z 63 unit, which is a Constant Vaccum
(CV) carburetor. Transmission is through a four-speed constant mesh
gearbox, having an all-down shift pattern.
ON THE ROAD
Press the start button, press toe to shift into first gear and gently
let go the clutch and the bike moves smoothly. Exhaust note is the
typical DTSi throaty rumble, very healthy and pleasing. Gear shifting
is quite slick, with no notchy-ness or any other impediment. To
save on petrol, one can quickly shift to top (fourth) gear by the
time bike attains a road speed of 25 kmpH and then continue in top
gear at 25 kmpH or just gradually turn the throttle to increase
speed without the need to shift to lower gear. What this means is,
that the Low End Torque (LET) is EXCELLENT and driving this bike
even in heavy traffic is quite effortless. What's more, due to this
excellent LET, the mileage is also excellent. Contrary to most other
bikes (which have cusped seats), the seating geometry of this bike
is quite flexible and driver can adjust his seating geometry to
his most preferred comfortable posture. This single feature (no
cusp in seat) makes this bike preferred for long drives as well.
 The
excellent LET is because of the Exhaust-TEC technology used here.
(TEC stands for Torque Expansion Chamber). If you look carefully
at the bend-pipe coming out of the engine as it goes under the crankcase,
you will see that at a certain point in its length, the diameter
increases in one step (not conically) from 3.8 cm to 4.45 cm. At
this spot, is welded into the bend pipe, a (9 x 9 x 5 cm) hollow
square box of @ 400 cc capacity, which probably creates turbulence
in the exhaust gases (exactly like the resonator / power-box fitted
on the inlet manifold creates in the incoming fuel+air mixture),
and enhances LET (see photo).
 Shifting through gears and keeping up with traffic is a breeze,
no matter how fast or how slow the traffic is. Handling and road
holding is as good as can be with tyres of this size. Same goes
for cornering ability. Braking is better than expected in drum brakes.
Bite is quite good. The Bike tested by me, had spoked wheels with
130 mm drum brakes on both wheels.
Night riding was not very bright. The headlight beam quality of
this 35-watt headlight of the ES version of Discover was less than adequate for me. The
headlight power of 35 watts is same as most other bikes, but quality
of beam is not satisfactory. I assume that the 60/55 watt KS version
would have better headlight beam quality, but that version was not
tested by me, so I cannot say for sure. Enquiries at the Bajaj Auto
company showroom (at 15:30 on Thu.3.Feb.) revealed that the fully
loaded (ES +disc + mag-wheels) version has 35 watt headlight, not
60 watts. I do not know why this is so. I would expect the most
expensive version to have the most powerful headlight. |
