It is the method I use. No sophisticated instruments costing lakhs. Just you me, and a stop watch. Here’s how I do it. There’s no visible traffic, and in any case, two lookouts are there in either direction to stop traffic if any, for a few seconds. Rider Amol on bike, at rest, engine running, bike in first gear. Standing ten feet in front of him is Kiran Chitnis who gives Amol the ‘GO’ signal. I am standing @ 100 metres ahead with stop watch. At the signal Amol takes off while I click the stop-watch ON. Rider Amol is looking at the speedo, racing straight ahead arrow-like. The moment needle touches sixty he clicks the pass-light switch and I click the stop-watch OFF, which shows the timing. Compared to el-sophisto, expensive equipment, there’s definitely room for error here, human reflexes in terms of time lag that is. How’s that? Between the moment Kiran gives the ‘GO’ signal and me clicking the stop watch there definitely will be some delay, maybe 0.2 seconds. Between the needle touching sixty and Amol flashing the pass-light, there would definitely be a time lag, maybe another 0.2 seconds (Amol is riding at breakneck speed, remember?). Then I see the light flash and I click the stop watch, again with a time lag of say 0.2 seconds. Adding these three time lags (there could be more, not less) gives you 0.6 seconds. Subtract this from 4.3 and you get figure of 3.7 seconds. Using sophisticated electronic equipment (costing many lakhs) may reduce or even eliminate these errors, but it sure cannot beat my method, which involves only a stop watch costing less than Rs.100/-. This timing was achieved in second gear. The bike couldn’t touch sixty in first gear. We tried starting in second gear, but it didn’t work. The engine stalled.

One painful fact that emerged during this test is that the Gear Shifter (GS) of the Karizma is exactly the same (toe-only) as the CBZ. Even the kick-starter is the same CBZ type, which necessitates folding the RH footrest for kicking. Even though having a self starter helps, I wonder why HH is so die-hard about this feature.

The other tall claim made in the leaflets of the Karizma is however definitely true, that is the claim of a top speed of 125 kph. Though I actually only touched a speedo indicated 121 kph, I could feel the bike had enuff “Dum” in it to touch 125 or maybe even 130 kph, but then I didn’t have the “Dum” to push on. Blame it on rain, blame it on traffic, blame it on publication deadline, blame it on Dilip Bam’s lack of guts, or Blame it on Rio! But I am not foolhardy enough to go racing on wet tarmac. Sorry.

Coming to more mundane things, starting from front, the huge 35watt multi reflector headlight has a bright beam having an excellent throw. The tail lamp too is large with two bulbs, the second filament in each bulb, lighting up upon application of brakes, to serve as the bright brake light. The Adrenoesque front face is massive, with the huge front fairing dominating the looks. As with such an arrangement, the headlight does not turn with the handle. Some people have misgivings about this fact, though personally I faced no problems on this score. The front blinkers are built into this massive fairing and would be the first casualty in case of a fall, but then blinkers are always the first casualty in any bike fall, except in case of bikes having blinkers built into the headlamp and tail-lamp unit, such as in the old Fiero. The bike I am testing came without crash guard. I am sure a crash guard (which is a dealer fitment – to avoid excise duty) would prevent blinker breakage. The headlamp is faired with a windshield as well, which further enhances the ‘biggy’ look of this bike.

The bike has a lot of features. There is a lockable helmet strap lock at LHS rear, which has a catch, upon pressing which the seat comes unlocked and can be lifted off. Under the seat, there is a snug, waterproof, dust-proof, latched plastic box, which holds the tool kit and battery warranty card. The first-aid kit also finds a place under the seat. The seat itself, the driver part of it that is, is cusped, leading to a slightly front-leaning riding posture, though less so than some other bikes having more deeply cusped seats. The pillion seat is higher than the driver seat. With the heavier (than me) pillion that I rode with sometimes, I wasn’t very happy. For one, it raises the total CG of the contraption. For another, I don’t see the logic behind raised pillion seats, unless it is raised for allowing the pillion to look over the shoulders of the driver, which I think is socially unacceptable. When I am the driver, I am in-charge, so why the hell should somebody look over my shoulders?

Further ahead is the massive, 15 litre fuel tank (FT) with a 2-litre reserve. The FT cap is removable (not hinged) and has a hinged flap to cover the keyhole in the cap to prevent water going in. The chassis is a single down-tube affair in the front, having engine as a stressed member. Massive rectangular section rear swing-arm makes for excellent flex-free riding and roadholding. The huge silencer comes with a heat shield topped with a heel-rest loop to prevent pillion shoe-sole burn-off.