My 15th June 2003 Karizma : 50,000+kms

Background

The CBZ was responsible for giving birth to the biking bug in me! My dad, after weeks of pestering finally let me buy a 2nd hand silver CBZ (a June 2000) model on 26th Jan 2001. It taught me a lot, about biking, how to respect power (yeah 12.8bhp of power!), how to ride long distances and a lot more. I always wanted more and finally in May 2003, I saw the Karizma's launch on TV. Couldnt wait to get my hands on her. Finally on 15th June 2003, got myself a silver Karizma from the very first batch of Karizmas to roll out of the HH factory

New found love

My bike in the original silver color:

43% more cubic-capacity, 31% more power and most importantly, 48% more torque : was I a happy rider? Oh yeah. It was hard resisting ripping the bike for the first 1000kms but still I did :D
The rest is history. The bike was a stunner (in those days), an eye candy, a chic magnet to an extent too.

Looks, design 8/10

This has been a bit of a controversial topic but for many but for me, the ZMA looks just fine. Ok, the tyres need to be broad, but then we all know HH, dont we ;)
The fairing gives hints of the earlier version VFRs as well as the Varadero from the Honda stable. As the lines flow backwards, it gets better, with the tail light being the best in the business (back then.. now it is the p220 no doubt). I did crib about the thin tyre though.. (running a wider looking Michelin now) The alloys look cool too.
Going by the number of stares I got on the road, i can safely say the ZMA does look good.

Suspension/Handling 9/10 (cutting 0.5 for bad stock tyres)

This is one of the strongest points i see in the bike. I love offroading and I do it everytime i head out for a long trip, mostly in Himachal Pradesh. I dont consider myself a dirt-bike pro, but still, standing on the pegs and ripping thru bad roads, the ZMA holds itself very very well. No doubt, every passing year, the no of ZMAs taking part in the Raid too is going up. Handling wise, again, Im no Rossi, but like an avg rider, love leaning the bike around turns and it does not disappoint. The new p220 handles better but then I talking about my 2003 bike. I have toured a lot on this bike, across flats and across broken roads. She feels very planted at high speeds (pune-mumbai-surat-ahm-delhi, 1690kms, 31hrs) and even when i rode to Mlore and back from Pune in the bloody July 2005 monsoons, I had no issues with the bike.I seriously recommend users to switch over to better rubber. With the M45 Michelins, she handles even better.

Braking/tyres 8.5/10

Again the stock tyres spoil the fun, specially on wet/muddy roads. Otherwise, the braking and tyres for normal usage are just fine

Fuel economy 8/10

When you ride a 'power' bike (by indian standards), you should not worry about this. Neither do i. Ridden fast (not rash) in city, she delivers 34-36kmpl regularly85-90km/h cruising on the highway sees her stretching it to 40kmpl95-100km/h cruising with 120km/h blasts quite often brings the fig down to 32-33kmpl

Engine, performance, refinement 9/10

The best for the last :DSmoothness is the first thing that hits you when you ride this bike. HH engines are known for this and ZMA is no exception. Some say the engine has been picked up from the Honda CRF series.. have no idea about it.
Perf wise, in Delhi, during our xbhp meets, we have seen ZMAs going past the 140km/h mark. I myself have done around 138km/h (on the clock, around 125km/h true). Acceleration is good too (14.05 secs to 100km/h), but the best part is the torque low down in the rev range. Helps a lot while touring. The big may seem heavy, but you can really ride this machine fast.
The engine is quite reliable and has examples to back it up. OD mag's 24hr non stop run, Dr Arn's 1751kms in 24hrs on real road and the recent 2400+kms in 36hrs and my personal 1690kms in 31hrs. The bike can hold 105-110km/h all day long without a fuss and the softly tuned engine doesnt feel overly stressed.

Issues I have had

Often it happens that the product might be good, but with the company not backing it up properly, it generates a bad name. This is also the case here. Parts are very expensive (body as well as running parts). And on top of that their unavailability is a big issue (even in Delhi). The company should seriously do something about this. The horn is not good, the stock seat sucks for touring and so do the stock tyres. And yes, there is so much potential from the engine. If HH wants, they can easily generate a couple of more BHP but why they arent doing it is a mystery. Price seems high if you compare it with a p180, but seems ok when compared with a p220.

Trips undertaken on the bike

1. Nov 2003 : Del-Shimla-Fagu-Matiana-Del

2. June 2004 : Del-Shimla-Rohru-Mussoorie-Del

3. Aug 2004 : Del-Dhanaulti-Rohru-Larot-Shimla-Del

4. Sep 2004 : Del-Shimla-Kufri-Chail-Del

5. Dec 2004 : Del-Chail-Naranda-Rohru-Theog-Chaupal-Paonta-Del

6. June 2005 : Del-Shimla-Rohru-Larot-Narkanda-Del

7. July 2005 : Pune-Belgaum-Dharwad-Mangalore-Pune

8. Oct 2005 : Pune-Surat-Ahm-Del

9. Nov 2005 : Del-Shimla-Rohru-Narkanda-Jalori-Aut-Chd-Del

10. June 2006: Del-Shimla-Rampur-Peo-Nako-Tabo-Kunzum-Rohtang-Manali-Del

11. Dec 2006 : Del-Narkanda-Hattu-Chindi-Mandi-Mcleodganj-Del

12. Jan 2007 : Del-Shimla-Rampur-Kalpa-Rohru-Del

13. June 2007 : Mumbai-Amby Valley-Mumbai

Overall, I have been one satisfied happy HH ZMA owner. Love the bike a lot, it stood by me in tough conditions. Im currently using M45 Michelins (front and rear), heavily padded seat, HP perf filter, and the stock exhaust but w/o the cat-con. Yes, there a minute perf increase but due to the mileage clocked, the overall perf remains same. Im happy with the bike, but not with HH due to the above written things. I was looking at the p220, but now have decided to wait for something substantially more powerful to come

Some pictures of my Karizma over the years