Back in the year 2003 Hero Honda launched its first sports bike called “Karizma” which was among the few bikes to have an engine that surpassed the 200cc mark. This bike became the benchmark and a trend setter for the motorcycle industry which led to other manufacturers like Bajaj to introduce high capacity bikes like the Pulsar 220.
The Karizma gave the Indian bike enthusiasts the feel of a sports bike which was awaited for a long time. Karizma is a well balanced combination of power, style and performance, which is still missing from other sports bikes in India.
Although being in the market for so many years, there weren’t any upgrades for the bike. Hero Honda gave it a cosmetic makeover and launched Hero Honda Karizma R (Racing edition) recently. This version had carried over the same technical specifications from its predecessor, which was a big disappointment for its fans as they expected some power and torque improvement on the bike.
The Hero Honda Karizma has been fighting a tough competition. Bikes like Bajajs’s Pulsar 220 and Yamaha’s top end YZF-R15 until now, have not finished the Zma. However, waiting for a complete knock out before bringing in an upgrade isn’t going to work and Hero Honda has realized that.
click on the title to read the rest of this entry
Bajaj reverted back to the original carburetor configuration on their new Pulsar 220, and as a result they were able to reduce its price tag. This move did not go down well with many in the two-wheeler enthusiast community as today’s technology was traded for something from the past just for the sake of shaving costs and making it more affordable.
Provided the tendency in the Indian motorcycle industry where one impersonates the other, rather than taking a distinctive approach, Hero Honda surprisingly isn’t about to follow Bajaj, who feels moving backwards is the way forward. Their next motorcycle is what many of us have been dying to see for years now.
Behold the Hero Honda Karizma PGM-Fi. The war horn has been sounded!
click through for high resolution picture and more details
The Hero Honda Karishma Karizma is getting neglected, almost ignored in today’s world of Pulsar’s, FZ’s and Apaches. The Karizma is still one of the best bikes you can buy in the budget-performance bike category, but thanks to its outdated looks, the Karizma is finding it a tad too difficult to handle the heat.
The new Hero Honda Karizma is here to change all that. It will get a restyled front fairing, new side and tail plastics, and a rear mudguard from the Hero Honda Hunk.
Hero Honda, defying the recession has tried to maintain its sales by launching three new bikes, which are actually updated versions of the bikes presently in the market.
The new bikes are in the entry-level and the executive segment with prices ranging from Rs 35,800 to Rs 55,450 (prices are ex-showroom Delhi). The models receiving the updates are the very popular Glamour and the CD Deluxe and the not so popular Fuel Injected Glamour Fi.
Hero Honda is all geared up to launch no less than 7 two-wheelers this festive season (including a New CBZ variant). The only other bike manufacturer with such ambitions is Yamaha, which has a launch pipeline already working in full throttle! Instead of an official launch, the new bikes will be showcased at the company’s dealers. Hero Honda says that the bike sales are shifting back to economy bikes rather [ Read More ]
