Game attempt to be modern but solidly put together.

The first things which dominate the senses once you lock eyes on the Karizma are its front end and the overall mass of the bike. The front fairing is a piece of art when viewed from certain angles and looks real rakish and sporty, being a scaled down rendering of the unit adorning the VFR800, right down to the design and cut of the headlamp. But if you even deviate a bit to any other side from its most pleasing angle, the ungainliness creeps in thanks to the side panels on which I frankly thought not much was done. The fixed fairing's meshing with the tank is blemishless but it is the style which has got jumbled for it just doesn't comes across harmoniously. This is one of the biggest let downs of the Karizma for as you move from the tank backwards, the style accents are there in the traditionally pleasing Honda sports bike fashion.

	Front end viewed head-on is the most distinctive of any Indian motorcycle. Large airbox feeds the Keihin CCVi carb and that nifty gearshifter tells all about this Performance offering from Hero Honda.

The tank with its sculpted knee recesses adds to the great biker feel as does the super saddle which makes the straddling posture so very inviting. Certain elements of the side panels running right to the tail of the bike look like they have been seen before (on the Ambition if you please) but Hero Honda has excelled in using different paint shades and finishes on the plastic and metal parts to contrast and gell well to accentuate the mechanical as aesthetically as possible. The finish on the engine (head, barrel and crankcase covers), the pseudo plastic cover denoting a mock-frame rail meging into the side panel, the black powder coated exhaust pipe running into the de-rigeur large diameter end can, the black-finished springs (on the shock absorbers) and also the mag wheels do take care of the aesthetic end of the bike in a big way.

	Great detail work abounds all across the Karizma with particular attention being accorded the accents on shades and finishes. Chassis has been beefed up, swing-arm stiffened and lengthened and front forks tweaked to give the bike an easy-to-ride character.

The front headlamp is a great job and Hero Honda brings modern day superbike style to India with it. The instrument panel with its three dial layout (large speedo in the centre flanked by the rev counter on the left and the digital read-out roundel on the right) is well conceived and treated but what spoils the visual appeal is the lack of shrouding at the top yoke area, daylight streaming through there. This detail should have been shrouded and maybe Hero Honda will take us up on this positively.