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Nov 9, 2006

20 Best 100 c.c "Executive Segment" Motorcycle in India: Bajaj Platina Vs Hero Honda Passion+ Vs TVS Star Vs Yamaha G5

The original review was carried out by India's first and only magazine dedicated to Bike and Bikers, "Bike India" and was carried in the July 2006 issue. Here I present my summary of the review.

Before that lets answer a question.
  • Q: Now what is "Executive Segment in 100 c.c"?
  • Ans: It is a segment "just" above the above the entry level (read "entry level" as the cheapest Motorcycles money can buy in India.) More about entry level bikes later...

The 100 c.c "Executive Segment" models considered:
  • Bajaj "Platina"
  • Hero Honda "Passion +
  • TVS "Star City"
  • Yamaha "G5"




My Summary of the "Bike India" review:

All the bikes featured above displaces near about 100 c.c in cubic capacity

  • Price (On Road Pune): The cheapest bike in the above segment is Bajaj Platina at Rs. 40, 624. The rest are priced as follows: TVS "Star City" Rs. 41,265, Yahama "G5" Rs. 44,951 and Hero Honda "Passion +" being the costliest at Rs. 46,150

  • Fuel Efficiency (Overall: Town+Highway): According to test conducted by Bike India, the most fuel efficient is the Bajaj "Platina" delivering an overall figure of 74.5 Km/l. The Yamaha "G5" delivered the least fuel efficiency at 68.85 Km/l

  • Build Quality: The Hero Honda "Passion +" seems to have the best build quality with the others followed by TVS "Star City", the Bajaj "Platina" and the Yamaha "G5" respectively. It has to be mentioned that the build quality did not differ by a large perceptible margin as quoted by the magazine.

  • Handling & Comfort: The TVS "Star City" seems to be most confidence inspiring in handling while the Bajaj "Platina" had the best ride.

  • Engine Performance: The Bajaj "Platina" had the best performance figures according to the magazine.. it had a top speed of 88.9 Km/hr. The other models though did not differ by a large margin. The TVS "Star City" posted the least top speed at 84.4 Km/hr.



Bike India Verdict: Best 100 c.c "Executive Segment" Motorcycle in India-

Bajaj "Platina"



My thoughts: With the purchase life cycle of a new motorcycle in India falling from 5-6 years to about 2-3 years (at least in the urban areas).. both the Bajaj "Platina" and the TVS "Star City" provide excellent value for money.

The quality of these bikes can be compared to be almost near if not at par with the Japanese models. Addition of alloy wheels on both the Bajaj "Platina" and TVS "Star City" (as options; the above quoted prices are for the alloy wheel versions) and still priced below the Yamaha and the Hero Honda makes it even more an attractive buy.

Recently TVS has released an "Electric Start" version of the "Star City" with new graphics but there is no news whether there is any price increase as a result. Yamaha has also launched the "G5" with alloy wheels, but here also it is not confirmed whether there is an increase in price.

If I had to buy a 100 c.c motorcycle for maybe for the next 5 years or maybe even 10 years, I would have simply closed my eyes and gone for the Hero Honda... just because of the gem of the engine it has. (I have heard many of my friends narrate how their Hero Honda CD 100/ Splendor has run for maybe 5-10 years without any problems).







Disclaimer:

This is to remind that the Views or Opinions in the blog are entirely mine unless explicitly stated. The Views and Opinions published in this blog should in no way be related to any other person or organization associated -- directly or indirectly -- with me.




20 Comments:

Anonymous said...

TVS StaR City with electric start ex-showroom price is approx 38,990/- roughly 3,000 costlier than the Alloywheel, kickstart version

Payeng said...

Thank you very much for ur information...

Timely Information like this is valued greatly by visitors looking for them...


If there is any incorrect information on my blog, then please go ahead and point that to me.. It will be greatly appreciated.


P.S: It would have been even better if you could tell in which part of India is the Ex-Showroom is from. Still thanks you very much for your info.

Anonymous said...

Hey Payeng, I've seen that most of ur reviews are full of partiallity, you seem to be very generous to bajaj, also ignoring its great drawback i.e. maintainance. It is fact that any bajaj bike including pulsar get screwed after 1 year, and its re-sale value never makes the buyer happy as compare to any hero-honda bike. Hero Honda is most promising and reliable company in 2-wheeler automobile industry. I've seen any bajaj bike, inspite of its great average are headache for maintenance

Payeng said...

Anonymous... thanks for ur comments..

>> I Agree that there has been too much of "BAJAJ" in my posts so far..

>> I have been very generous of Bajaj so far BECAUSE IT IS ONLY BAJAJ WHICH SEEMS TO BE DOING EVERYTHING RIGHT (among 150 C.C and bigger capacity bikes)

>> Among 100 C.C bikes I maintain my opinion that the 100 C.C engines from Hero Honda (Splendor/Passion) are the best in the country and have been unbeatable in quality so far.. (MY CONCLUSION IN THE ABOVE POST JUSTIFIES THIS)



>> BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT BIKES BELOW 150 C.C DOESN'T EXCITE ME EVEN A LITTLE BIT..!!

>> AND BAJAJ RULES 150 C.C AND ABOVE CAPACITY BIKES..!! Its not just me who is saying this.. but the Market has been saying so since the Pulsar twins have been released..

Srinivas said...

Hi all, i am using G5 for more than a year. i have driven to 23000 kms. i felt very much comfortable. just take a note of it that the G5 has the longest fork motion. as u all noted it its a city cruiser. its obeys as u say. suspension -- "ur traveling in a car".


please leave a comment. my mail id: rajagopalan.srinivas@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

well platina is the best !!!

Anonymous said...

Nice blog... more information... no fake info... once again i want to say.... nice blog

Anonymous said...

Will TVS Star City have better Resale value than Passion Plus?
Can we count a 10% deprceation for TVS Star City 110 cc curently in sales?

rajeev said...

Hello Folks i've been on Yamaha city Cruiser g-5 for almost 4 yrs now and beleive me that i am finding it hard to part with it now ......its like that i want get a new one again .....all these stories about Platina, HH Passion are fake ...Everything on earth is a MOPED in comparision against YAMAHA-G-5.......But you see in india its a Bher Chaal

k.v.srinivas said...

Bajaj Platina is the cheap and The best in Economy and maintenance cost is very less.

kvsrinivas said...

My cousin had bought a New Bajaj CT100 in the Nov 2004. Till now it had crossed 1.5 lakhs Kilometres.As he is a marketing guy,every day he travels atleast 100 kms. He will use the bike very rough & tough. All his friends use to drive his vehicle whenever the vehicle is free.
The money which was spent for maintenance for all these 5 yrs is very less.

Even today also, the bikes's Engine is in a good condition.It has completed 5 yrs already and he wanted to exchage it for a New bike. So we went to Bajaj show room & asked to quote it's present value. The show room guys tested it and offered 14,500 for it.

So By this experience we came to conclude that the Bajaj Engines are equally efficeint to Hero Honda interms of reliability(5 yrs long period) and performance.

But we found that some the bajaj spare parts are at very low quaility & CT 100 Dome is fitted with quality less plastic material. Inside the dome, the screws fitted to very thin plastic material and all the screws will be broken if you hit the bike once & it's difficult to buy those dome parts.

As Dome is fitted at front part of the vehicle,Bajaj should take care about the Quality.

Except this every thing is OK with Bajaj CT 100.Same Engine is fitted to Bajaj platina Now a days.

krish said...

I've been using Platina for 3 years now......have ridden Pulsar, Passion +, and yamaha Crux too for few months.
I definately have felt pulsor to be the best bike among these. But lets leave this 150 cc bike out. Then mong 100 cc bikes Platina is the best in almost allllllllll aspects. It gives best mileage.....it gives best speed [believe me...i touched 100 km/hr on this thrice]. It has best looks, best ride comfort and many extra features. EWven maintaince is cheap and best.
The only negative point of platina is its weak body and no resale value.......

I fould passion+ to be least deserving.......the only positive is its body....heavy and steady...... everything else including engine is highly over-rated..... cost is too high.....no mileage.... dumb pickup and terrible speeds. waste bike.

Yamaha Crux has a high pickup and lovely sound......but rest is avg.
Dont know abut TVS star....but among those i've ridden, Platina is definately the best by a huge margin.

Anonymous said...

Passion plus is overpriced.So is splendor which looks like a bicycle and costs rs6000 more than platina.The platina and tvs star offers very good vfm.Yamaha's 100cc is as costly as a HH . So why would you buy a yamaha 100cc when you have HH!
I'd blindy go for HH cd deluxe!

kvsrinivas said...

My cousin had bought a New Bajaj CT100 in the Nov 2004. Till now it had crossed 1.5 lakhs Kilometres.As he is a marketing guy,every day he travels atleast 100 kms. He will use the bike very rough & tough. All his friends use to drive his vehicle whenever the vehicle is free.
The money which was spent for maintenance for all these 5 yrs is very less.

Even today also, the bikes's Engine is in a good condition.It has completed 5 yrs already and he wanted to exchage it for a New bike. So we went to Bajaj show room & asked to quote it's present value. The show room guys tested it and offered 14,500 for it.

So By this experience we came to conclude that the Bajaj Engines are equally efficeint to Hero Honda interms of reliability(5 yrs long period) and performance.

But we found that some the bajaj spare parts are at very low quaility & CT 100 Dome is fitted with quality less plastic material. Inside the dome, the screws fitted to very thin plastic material and all the screws will be broken if you hit the bike once & it's difficult to buy those dome parts.

As Dome is fitted at front part of the vehicle,Bajaj should take care about the Quality.

Except this every thing is OK with Bajaj CT 100.Same Engine is fitted to Bajaj platina Now a days.

Anonymous said...

hi,

can anybody say which is best among discover 1oo & hero honda passion plus ?

Anonymous said...

Bajaj bikes although quite fuel efficient lacks the finesse of a top quality motorcycle mainly due to its average build quality, mismatched gear ratios, difficult handling, poor gear box and high maintenence. Hero Honda is a good bike with exceptional build quality but average engine performance. TVS bikes have build quality, fuel efficiency, perfect gear ratios and decent ride, only styling needs to be improved. If you prefer style, Hero Honda or Bajaj will do and if you really want a good performance bike, its TVS.

basudev said...

platina is best

basudev said...

bajaj bikes r quiet good

Anonymous said...

no one can beat hero honda in 100cc bike segment, it is just superb.....

viajy said...

i like bajaj platine 100cc because good milaige & pickup

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