Touring Story – Bullet, R15, FZ, Hunk, T-Bird

Team OverDrive (June ’09) took a road trip to the cool and close-by hill station of Mahableshwar. The destination being just 120km away hardly does justice to a proper road trip but what made it interesting was the motley lot of bikes used – including the FZ, CBZ or R15 that are quite in defiance of touring tradition. So Vikram from OD was astride the Hero Honda CBZ X-Treme, Abhay (OD) was aboard the Yamaha FZ 16, Sirish and Martin (both OD) thumping on the Royal Enfield Bullet 500 and Thunderbird Twinspark respectively, Shumi with the Yamaha R15 and Betrand on the Bajaj Avenger.

Touring on a bike is a pretty democratic phenomenon and any bike with decent capacity can be used to go touring on in India. Here’s their story…

Bertrand/Avenger
Says Bertrand ‘I was ensured a comfortable passage with the Avenger, given its cruiser stance; feet played out in front, arms outstretched while being perched on a well cushioned seat. The Avenger suspension is fantastically sorted to offer a comfortable ride and the rear seat is roomy enough to hold a large haversack. However on open stretches of 100kmph-prone highway, the Avenger huffed and puffed to hit three digits and once there it strained to get any faster or even maintain that pace. But that said, the very reliable Avenger made for rather smooth going.’

Shumi/R15
‘The R15 is the most interesting motorcycle I’ve ridden’ says Shumi from the OverDrive team. He elaborates, ‘On the highway, the Yamaha will cruise at an indicated 120kmph which was much faster than all the other bikes on the tour. Mounting luggage though can be a hassle and the mirrors could be better. But other than that – the R15 is perfect for touring for anyone.’

Martin/ThunderBird
The ThunderBird is good for touring for a number of reasons says Martin, Team OD. It’s comfortable for pillions; it is the second most powerful bike of this lot and has good road manners to boot. Cornering is not one of its strong points though – too much of lean and you end up scraping the centre stand and at times also the brake pedal.

Vikram/Hunk
‘The Hunk’s relaxed seating and comfortable ergos meant I could stretch out and be comfortable’ enthused Vikram. On the highway, it never felt stressed while keeping up with the ‘big’ boys and overtaking the occasional truck wasn’t a bother either, courtesy a decent midrange. Where it really impressed was while climbing the ghats. Going uphill, the Hunk tackled most corners slotted in third and fourth gear. It felt absolutely planted around the bends with the stiff but nicely damped suspension set up soaking bumpy corners with élan. It proved extremely fuel-efficient too with quarter tank of fuel still left after the ride.

Abhay/FZ16
That the Yamaha FZ16 is the best 150cc motorcycle in the country today is no secret but what OD wanted to test was its ability on the highways. And the FZ did not disappoint. It showed enough poke at the top to keep up with the thumpers, the mid range torque helped accelerate out of corners without the need to shift down and ergos were spot on for touring – with the handle, seat, foot-peg combo making the rider feel relaxed.

Sirish/Bullet 500
There’s nothing better than a Bullet to chew up the miles says Sirish, Team OD. The enormously comfortable and commanding riding position, the huge lump of iron thumping between your legs, the endless wave of torque and man sized effort required for operating everything….but it also has the same horrible gearbox, a bad clutch and despite a disc brake this bike still manages to stop like she had drums; grabbing a handful of brakes results in little feel, little progression and equally little retardation despite which the front end tries to buckle!
Also the LB500 stands for Lean Burn but lean burning it definitely isn’t – the 500 being the only bike that needed a refuel.