Moving beyond their features and into the real world of actual riding, the three bikes on a day-to-day routine reveal and assert a character which is distinctively their own. The first natural awareness comes across in the riding positions. The Fiero with its low seat and relatively higher handlebar feels small, tight and ergonomically bland. At 115kg, it is the lightest of the trio and also spans the shortest distance between the wheels, making it a comfortable, easy, everyday fit for most riders. Out On the Road, lacking the luxury of a fifth speed, the Fiero compensates by making riding a simple chore of just twisting the throttle and letting the torque from the refined engine do the job. Swapping gears becomes necessary only to sample the seamless surge build up as you change up.

Some limitations are placed on cornering speeds by the 3.00-18 rear tyre but afirm suspension and good weight distribution make it fairly stable all round. Exploiting its strong engine Performance and flawless gearshift, the Fiero can match the CBZ and the Pulsar when it comes to accelerating from a standstill right upto around 60kph. It starts to lose ground to the CBZ but levels with the Pulsar, the two reaching 80kph almost together. Then onwards the Fiero has the edge onto 100kph. When it comes to stopping time, the near-obsolescent drum brake set-up loses out heavily to the front disc brakes of both the CBZ and the Pulsar 150 in terms of image and more importantly in actual Performance too.

Moving on, everything from the rakish windscreen, the rear-set footpegs and the wide rear tyre mark out the heavier 130kg and longer wheelbased CBZ as a sporting tool. Although not everyone's idea of comfort, especially over long distances, the slightly forward leaning position does have its patrons and is not radical enough to warrant outright displeasure. A small enough issue, though it may seem, the need to fold the footpeg up to use the kick-starter remains an irritant. Although capable of a higher top speed, the CBZ builds its power higher up on the rpm scale than the Fiero and the Pulsar, which accounts for its inability to better them in the gear roll-ons. Even the high-speed capability is marred by the handling quirks that show up as a weave and mild wander in a straight line and the tendency to fall in on shut throttle in mid-corner; this is probably the result of the CBZ's softer suspension setting, although this set-up does deliver a plush ride.

All this could be tolerated or even ignored but for the severe vibration that sets in around 5000rpm which, happens to be right in the middle of the cruising range in the higher three gears. There have also been reliably reported cases of sudden loss of compression in many engines, traced to tightening valve clearances on warm engines. Poor Fuel Efficiency from some bikes has been another of the complaints of users.