The Enticer (how 1 abhor that nomenclature!) originates from a school of thought (that we will come to later) one still finds hard to associate with Yamaha, responsible as it were for the (legendary) R D and RX. The 1 25 cubic centimeter mill normally does duty in econo-misers but in these recession-hit times, anything that cuts costs is worshipped on bended knee. We are talking about the Japanese here, and efforts have been made to recover lost ground by focusing on weight reduction. Being 40kg lighter than the Kwacker makes the Enticer's power to weight ratio quite respectable, 94.83bhp/ton to the Eliminator’s 97.44bhp/ton. In terms of specific output, the Yamaha has the upper hand at 88.92bhp/litre to 87.41 bhp/litre for the Kwacker.

In the city, the 4.2bhp deficit doesn't manifest itself in such a big way, but on the highway blacktop, comes into sharp focus. The ideal means to extract Performance from the Enticer unit is to rev her to the limit. And sure 8.4 seconds to 60kmph and 16.9 seconds to 80kmph is not what pre-pubescent lads (or lassies) conjure fantasies about. But she is no contender to the snore and slumber class, being quite capable of whooping econo- miser butts. What bugs me is that 85kmph comes up quite quickly but then one slams into a wall, struggling to cross over to the 97kmph top whack.

Quick progress is not possible without extensive use of humdrum 4-speed gearbox. This failing is borne out by the roll-on figures (that 1 need not mention except that the 30-70kmph roll-on in fourth is almost a second slower than the Eliminator in fifth).

Riding is so much fun on the Eliminator because of its abilities around corners. It seems almost forbidden on a cruiser conventionally meant for straight line mile-munching. Much of this has to do with the C-of-G (centre of gravity) equation that plays an even greater part in the handling of a bike than a car. From the 17-inch front and 1 5-inch rear to the low saddle and overall height, everything is geared towards a low C-of-G that enhances cornering abilities. The flat wide bar also delivers good leverage in bends and the 130 section rear grips and grips all resulting in peg scraping that’s as thrill-raising as it is safe. The twin downtubes cradling the engine are sufficiently stiff to not even warrant a mention of chassis flex. However lazy chassis geometry and steering angles limit flickability and ultimately the ability to stay ahead of a propah motorbike on a twisty bit.