Sunday, November 28, 2004

Honda Unicorn Review

Finally here comes the review of HONDA Unicorn. Last time i wrote something on Unicorn my frineds asked me whether Honda is paying me for all the stuff i wrote. This time it's my personal expereince of HONDA Unicorn. It's been 22 days since i have laid my hands on this beauty. I have really enjoyed the bike.

I guess by now every bike freak would have gone for a test drive and knows the specification, anyways here is the comparison of Honda with the rest of them in the same category. Click here for the comparison chart.

Appearance:

Well the beauty comes with 5 colors Red,Black,Silver,Blue and Grey. I love black but u get to see so many pulsar with Black, even my cousin owns a black Pulsar so the other color i liked was Grey. The grey is not the usual one, click here to see what i am trying to say. The looks aren't as appealing as Pulsar. The styling of the tank is done well. The tank looks huge and your intial guess is that it would hold as much fuel as Pulsar does, but youwill be shocked to know that it an hold just 13 Litres. But one good thing about the tank is that it has got knee recesses. One thing i didn't like about the tank was that it fuel lid pops out on to your hand when u open it, i like the design of fuel cap of Pulsar. I guess Honda changes it in future models. The look and feel of head and tail lamps are done neat. Well the tail lamp is similar to that of Karizma. Unicorn get it's looks from behind too, because of it stylish tail lamp which gels well with the side panels. The exhaust pipe is also done neat, i guess the exhaust is pretty big when comapred to other bikes in the same category.

I guess Honda should take a note on two things, one is that of the Fuel lid which pops out and the other is too have Biking fairing. One thing for sure, it ain't as macho as Pulsar twins, that's why Pulsar is called definitely male.

Rating: 3.5/5.

Ergonomics:

It gives u a very comfortable saeting position, you don't feel fatigued even after long rides. The handle is designed the usual way. The chasis is very stiff and the suspensions as every one nows Unicorn comes with a Mono-shock and it works well.

Rating:5/5

Perfomance:

Unicorn with 13.3 bhp engine has gone enough power to reach a speed of 60kmph in around 5 seconds. When the engine reaches 8000 rpm it gives enough power for u to beat any bike on the road. The engine is very quite and smooth when compared to its rival Pulsar. You have 5 gears with universal standards 1 down-4 up manner. One thing i realised today morning while i was riding my cousin's Pulsar was when u release the clutch half-way and throttle the engine revs but the bike doesn't move anywhere. It's not the case with Unicorn u release the clutch and give throttle the bikes gets the momentum. The best part is u can ride at 35kmph in 5th gear and u don't need to shift gears for that, when u raise the throttle it picks up it power. After finishing 600 kms on this bike i am quite happy with its performance on Bangalore roads.


Rating: 5/5

Instrumentation:

The dashboard comes with your normal stuff like Tachometer, fuel indicator, a single indicator console for both the left and right turns. If u are looking for a side stand indicator that which comes with the DTSI version of Pulsar here, u will not find it.

Summary:

Overall it's a good value for your money. I paid Rs55450/- on road, with basic acessories it moves upto 56800/-. Unicorn doesn't come with a ES(Electric start) in this launch, but the disk brakes come by default. Honda debuts into the 2-wheeler bike category with many first's like the mono-shock, Tuf tubes for the back wheel and paper filter for its exhaust which is eco-friendly. Honda is trying to shake up the industry by giving value for our money.I hope others in the 2-wheeler segment also start giving back some value for the customer.

And if your wondering about the mileage Unicorn gives, it gives me 56kms/litre. I guess that's pretty decent mileage for a 150cc bike with 13.3 bhp. I know Honda is quoting 60kms/litre. After 2 services i hope it will settle aroung 60 i guess. I am happy with the mileage i am getting.

You would definitely feel the difference while riding the Unicorn, the advertisment asks to be a wing-rider for those who couldn't relate to what they mean by that here is the reason,"Wings" is their official logo for 2 wheelers. I guess now u know what they mean by a "Be a Wing Rider".

Overall Rating: 4.5/5.

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Maria Sharapova does it again.

I know the news is old but i wanted to blog it anyway. Well i like the way she plays her tennis and also the way she looks. Ain't she beautiful guys??? She has defeated Serena Williams in the finals of WTA championship, Los Angeles, for the second time in span of less than five months. She won her first Grandslam by defeating Serena at Wimbledon and now she does it again.

Most of her critics were very skeptical about her capabilites and she winning another major chamionship in near future,after she had won her first Grandslam at Wimbledon. And they were being skeptical with her, as everyone knows is familiar with what happened to Anna kourinkova. She failed to win any major championship, as she was in news for all the Glamour other than Tennis. Sharapova has proved them wrong by defeating one of the best in Tennis for a second time. Well i saw this match till the end, Sharapova lost the first set. She won the second. The thrid set being the decider, were Sharpova was down by 4 games and then she came back to win the decider. There were lot of volleys during the match which kept the crowd entertained.

Thats the reason i am a big fan of her. Also she is beautiful.
Here is an interesting article on number of Russian teens ruling the world tennis circuit these days. I am sure u will be surprised by reading this article From Russia with Love

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Goodbye to my Bajaj scooter


Finally the day has come to say goodbye to my good old Bajaj scooter. I have been riding the scooter regularly from the past 9 months now. Well i have had my share of pleasant and unpleasant incidents while driving this vehicle.


I have to finally say goodbye to my Bajaj two-wheeler which has been my carrier for so many years, as i am getting my Honda Unicorn delivered tomorrow.