Different people look for different things, hence the variety of bikes in the market. The CBZ is the bike for the hardcore motorcyclist, the Fiero an affordable substitute, the Caliber is the most economical package and the Splendor is a legend which also promises the most Fuel Efficiency. The YD125 is a good buy if your girlfriend is slightly on the heavier side or you are a blind Yamaha fan.
  
At OVERDRIVE most of us bikers - from bossman downwards prefer to  go in for the best. A changed scenario, and the Caliber and Splendor would draw a lot more appeal. On paper the Caliber seems to be the superior buy offering more power, features and better styling as compared to the Splendor. But the Splendor still retains a few aces up its sleeve. Its reliability, its longetivity and the HONDA name. Sometimes the loser can be a better bet.
  
Let's cut the loose talk and get to choosing the winner. We promised to pick one bike; and that is the Fiero. There can be no other choice. It wins hands down on plain and simple riding pleasure. The fact that the engine is the most hi-tech unit in the running, turns like a dream, makes 12bhp (just 0.8bhp less than the CBZ), promises 50kmpl (twelve more than the CBZ's 38kmpl) and still costs ten grand less than the CBZ, all help. There remain a few sore spots like the lack of a disc or a five-speed box but as a thinking man's choice there's no getting around or past the Fiero. Amen!
    

EDITOR'S CHOICE!

   
Motorcycles are a passion with us here at OVERDRIVE and for the right reasons. There is no way anyone shies away from getting astride a two-wheeler barring of course there is an insipid scooter or a moped. Even then you will see many of our staffers wanting to have first crack at the machine.
  
The motorcycle scenario is pretty dynamic these days and thankfully it will be so for the years to come. Change is ever constant and what we had perceived and felt and commented on just a mere 12 months earlier has been turned upside down. No wonder then that the immense upgradation in technology and style have made the motorcycle segment go ballistic, a glance at the SIAM charts being ample testimony.
  
The five bikes which Sachin, Rishad, Yogendra and Aspi had tested over two weeks and almost 1000km apiece have been well known to all of us. However there is no way that we would like to pit the Caliber against the CBZ on sheer technological grounds but with segments only now being defined we thought of testing the five most important motorcycles together and laying down our views on them.
  
Having first hand experience of all machines (the YBX more than the YD125 to be sure) I can say that the Splendor and the Caliber are equally ranged against each other as the entry level models of choice here in this shoot-out. There are of course the chepaer CD100 and the 4S Champion which could have been taken but we decided to start from a slightly higher base. The Splendor is the best selling motorcycle model not just in India but also in the world according to its maker HHML and therefore the Caliber has its work cut out. But the latter machine impresses with better and surer handling and with near enough Fuel Efficiency to even out the appeal. But the Honda name tag does tilt the odds in favour of the Splendor.
  
A year ago I raved about the CBZ as did the rest of the country. It yet is deserving of raves but the sheer technological brilliance of the engine housed in the double cradle frame of the Suzuki Fiero exposes the CBZ's inadequacies, especially in terms of power and the way it is delivered plus the high refinement levels. Of course again the Fiero is a compromise because it is TVS-Suzuki's first four-stroke commuter machine for the masses and the company wanted to make its first such offering ideal enough to impress a larger clientelle while also keeping costs low.
   
Ideally the writing is on the wall: if someone asked me what sort of motorcycle, Indian motorcycle I would like to own, the answer would have to be an amalgam of the CBZ style and proportions, a double cradle frame with properly dialled in suspension, a disc brake up front and the engine and transmission from the Fiero but with an extra cog please! NOw that the recipe has been revealed let us wait and watch as to whether HHML gets its act into gear sooner and comes back with a better powered and more refined engine in the CBZ or will TVS-Suzuki address the shortcomings in the Fiero's makeup and add a more upscale variant? Anyway if both do their jobs I am sure the duo would be laughing their way to the banks and the ultimate winner will be the Indian motorcyclist.
Power to the people!
   
Editor
Adil Jal Darukhanawala