Hero Karizma R V1 (Old Model)

Overview

Way back in 2003, Karizma set a new trend in our Indian bike market; the trend of sports bikes. It was India’s first own high speed machine which was launched by our market leader, Hero (then Hero Honda). It has always been a successful bike in our market and with recent up-gradations; this bike is ready once again to play the game.

Ever since its conception, Hero has never made any changes to the original design of Karizma. They have only played with stickers and this time also, it’s the same. Hero feels this design appeals to many and they don’t want to do anything which hurts the credibility of this bike. It still features twin pilot lamps in its crystal clear headlight which gives it an aggressive look with partly V-shaped tinted visor. New bike features gold finish on its front forks similar to its full fairing variant ZMR. When you move to the side of the bike you can notice the black coloured engine cowl and chrome finishing on its silencer which makes it look extremely sporty. Stepped seat is also eye catching but the most exciting thing perhaps in this bike is its semi fairing with integrated clear lens indicators. This thing made it instantly famous in our market and still it can turn around many heads on road. The new model features negligible graphic changes on it but one can surely notice the new printed R on its fuel tank. At the back, its unique twin tail lamps, long fender and skinny tyre remains the same.

There is not pretty much difference in its instrument console. There is still no digital speedometer in it. It features three instrument dials which feature an analogue tachometer, speedometer and digital fuel gauge and trip meter. There are also few other indicators in it.

Hero Karizma was the first bike from any Indian manufacturer to have an engine capacity of 223cc. It’s a single cylinder, 4-stroke, air-cooled engine which pumps out a peak power of 17 bhp at 7000 rpm. This OHC machine produces a torque output of 18.35 Nm which is available at 6000 rpm. This engine is served with a five speed manual gearbox featuring one gear down and four gears up-shift pattern.

This is the most powerful bike from Hero till date which is as powerful on road as on papers. Before Pulsar220, there was no bike from our Indian manufacturers which can beat Karizma. It builds up heavy amount of torque which comes in to play very early. According to Hero, it takes around 3.8 seconds to reach 0-60km/hr and you can realize it as soon as you get on to it. The gear ratios are very well set for this engine. They help you to get the best out of this engine without any drama. This engine works perfectly and gives you the real pleasures of high speed cruising. In fact, it’s been designed in such a way that you need no frequent gear shifting and the bike is ready to go in every gear without any stress. It’s a butter smooth engine with a lot of power. This Honda engine sounds really nice when you rev it hard and if you talk about refinement level then you can’t get anything better in its class. The power to weight ratio of this bike is even better than its elder sibling and that makes a lot of difference in their performance. The bike feels pretty relaxed and calm even at the top speed of 125km/hr.

The fuel efficiency of this bike ranges from 25-30 kmpl in city conditions and these figures tends to increase by 5-10 kmpl on highways. For a bike of this size, these figures are quite respectable.

Hero Karizma R has always been a comfortable bike. Its seat is very comfortable and you get a very sporty riding posture as you have to bend forward to reach the handle bar. However clips on handle bar won’t be a bad idea if Hero can consider it in future. The placement of foot-pegs is subjective as they are neither at the rear nor at the front and it also creates disturbance while using kick of this bike.

There is no storage space in this bike. For safety purpose, it features a very powerful headlight which gives a clear vision at night.

Hero Karizma R sports telescopic forks at its front while it features 5-step adjustable hydraulic shock absorbers at the back. This suspension system can’t match the quality of Pulsar 220 but it manages to give you a stress free ride. There is still no option of rear disc brake in this bike as it features a drum brake of 130mm at its back although it has a big 276mm disc brake at its front which helps it to stop effectively.

Hero Karizma R has always been amongst one of the best tourer bikes in India. The ride and handling of this bike has impressed many riders. Despite not having a much sporty stance like other sports bikes, it gives you amazing confidence at high speeds. The bike sticks firmly on road and its wheelbase of 1355mm brings extra stability to this bike. It also handles really nice and never lets you feel the actual weight of this bike. Things would have been even better around corners if it had wider tyres.

2012 Karizma R is available in five shades: Force Silver, Spotlight White, Sport Red, Darling Yellow and Power Black.

New Karizma R is priced at INR78.6 (ex-showroom, Delhi (approx., may vary)). Looking at its fan following, Hero has decided not to discontinue this bike and now they sell it along with the ZMR. This bike is much cheaper than its elder sibling and offers much better performance and mileage with similar engine. We won’t say its complete value for money bike as it lacks many modern features and has familiar looks but if you want to have a refined and reliable sports bike then it’s a perfect choice.