I know many of you might not agree with me when I say, making a buying decision based on an auto mag review is a good idea.
But this is where I am coming from – We generally form opinions based on what we see, hear and feel. So, if we find the bike good looking, like the Pulsar or the Hunk, we are already bitten by it. We then hear and read about the bikes and their performance, on blogs, from friends, and from a lot other channels, besides auto mags, of course. We also, more often then not, take a test ride of our short listed models.
It’s all very good, till you realise, all that you have read about are impressions gathered on a new bike. No one really speaks about how the bike is aging up; whether the clutch is slipping; are rust patches forming all over; or the switchgear or instrumentation has gone haywire, or how many times a month does one need to adjust the brakes (if they do it at all).
But the shallow reviews aren’t exactly the writer’s fault. To begin with, the test rides offered by all company dealers is just too short to understand anything.
Then there’s the question of lack of experience. And no, I don’t mean the lack of riding experience, but the lack of experience riding a variety of motorcycles. If, all you have ridden is a Splendor all your life, or maybe a friend’s Pulsar off and on; you’d be completely blown by the P220, or even the Karizma or the P180 for that matter.
But if you have experienced a plethora of bikes, of various segments, back-to-back, you begin to understand who is short changing you, and who is delivering as promised.
The auto mags have this advantage, the advantage of sampling any model, at any time, and for any duration. Needless to say, they are in a better position to deliver the correct verdicts on a motorcycle’s handling, ride quality, ergonomics (both for city use and for the highway), and also things like performance and driveability, the latter, obviously is backed by test data.
Mags, thanks to running a long term fleet, can also tell you and me, how the bike is aging up, and how well or poorly is it doing compared to the competition.
The biggest issue, I believe, you guys have with mags, is the disparity in their test figures, and at times in their judgment.
Here’s a pointer which helps me make sense of it all, and I hope it might help you too.
Every magazine has a different outlook, so while one might lay more emphasis on performance, the other might choose to base its verdict on the user friendliness of a bike. There’s a reason behind that too – the varying needs and preferences of the Indian buyer. My last post on ‘why we buy, what we buy’ tells you a bit about it.
In fact, you can try it yourself. If you own a 150cc motorcycle, let’s say the Pulsar (cause it’s the best selling model in its segment), try asking other P150 owners en route to work, college, or home at a traffic signal, or at the chai tapir, why they bought the motorcycle, dig a bit deeper and you’d realize, he reasons are quite different from yours! You can try the same with your friends even.
As for the difference in performance figures, a few tenths here and there shouldn’t really matter, cause mags use different test routes, different riders, and moreover different bikes for their tests, and just like no two people are the same, neither are two Pulsars, Apaches, or CBZs.
I have bought bikes and accessories based on magazine reviews, and truth be told, besides making a wrong choice of tyres, it has all gone very well.
But this is where I am coming from – We generally form opinions based on what we see, hear and feel. So, if we find the bike good looking, like the Pulsar or the Hunk, we are already bitten by it. We then hear and read about the bikes and their performance, on blogs, from friends, and from a lot other channels, besides auto mags, of course. We also, more often then not, take a test ride of our short listed models.
It’s all very good, till you realise, all that you have read about are impressions gathered on a new bike. No one really speaks about how the bike is aging up; whether the clutch is slipping; are rust patches forming all over; or the switchgear or instrumentation has gone haywire, or how many times a month does one need to adjust the brakes (if they do it at all).
But the shallow reviews aren’t exactly the writer’s fault. To begin with, the test rides offered by all company dealers is just too short to understand anything.
Then there’s the question of lack of experience. And no, I don’t mean the lack of riding experience, but the lack of experience riding a variety of motorcycles. If, all you have ridden is a Splendor all your life, or maybe a friend’s Pulsar off and on; you’d be completely blown by the P220, or even the Karizma or the P180 for that matter.
But if you have experienced a plethora of bikes, of various segments, back-to-back, you begin to understand who is short changing you, and who is delivering as promised.
The auto mags have this advantage, the advantage of sampling any model, at any time, and for any duration. Needless to say, they are in a better position to deliver the correct verdicts on a motorcycle’s handling, ride quality, ergonomics (both for city use and for the highway), and also things like performance and driveability, the latter, obviously is backed by test data.
Mags, thanks to running a long term fleet, can also tell you and me, how the bike is aging up, and how well or poorly is it doing compared to the competition.
The biggest issue, I believe, you guys have with mags, is the disparity in their test figures, and at times in their judgment.
Here’s a pointer which helps me make sense of it all, and I hope it might help you too.
Every magazine has a different outlook, so while one might lay more emphasis on performance, the other might choose to base its verdict on the user friendliness of a bike. There’s a reason behind that too – the varying needs and preferences of the Indian buyer. My last post on ‘why we buy, what we buy’ tells you a bit about it.
In fact, you can try it yourself. If you own a 150cc motorcycle, let’s say the Pulsar (cause it’s the best selling model in its segment), try asking other P150 owners en route to work, college, or home at a traffic signal, or at the chai tapir, why they bought the motorcycle, dig a bit deeper and you’d realize, he reasons are quite different from yours! You can try the same with your friends even.
As for the difference in performance figures, a few tenths here and there shouldn’t really matter, cause mags use different test routes, different riders, and moreover different bikes for their tests, and just like no two people are the same, neither are two Pulsars, Apaches, or CBZs.
I have bought bikes and accessories based on magazine reviews, and truth be told, besides making a wrong choice of tyres, it has all gone very well.
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