Bajaj Platina - Packed with DTS-Si now

Bajaj has always been doing experiments with its variants... But "HAMARA BAJAJ" still lives in the hearts of indian people... Bajaj is already ruling the costly-segment bike market with PULSAR.. It has launched many flavours also, which makes it possible for even a common person to afford it nowadays... For a long time, Bajaj is trying to rule the mid-market segment also, but has been getting a tough fight from Honda's Splendor.. Also, the pattern observed in the past years shows that customer is happy to move towards 125cc segment from the 100c segment.. Of course, there would be a significant performance boost in this case..

Targeting the 125cc segment, bajaj launched Platina 125 DTS-Si in late 2008.. Reviews of the bike have been saying it good in most of the features.. I bought this bike a month ago and have already driven around 1500 kms on it ... And i think this is the time to comment about it...

1. POWER & SPEED: Bikes belong to different categories.. So don't expect the power of Pulsar from Platina.. But, with 125cc DTS-Si engine, the bike is ready to do well .. Its cool to ride in city and even on highways.. For those who like to ride upto the speed of 60km/hr, this bike is superb.. It touches 60 without any effort or vibration .. Only if u decide to go 80, u need to put effort.. The acceleration of the bike is also decent...

2. BRAKES: It has got only drum brakes and they perform well upto their capabilities.. Don't expect to stop instantaneously if u r riding above 60 .. But, upto normal speeds, its good.. Only one thing missing in this bike is Disc Brakes.

3. AVERAGE: This is the best feature of bajaj bikes.. People say that bajaj bikes don't have resale value.. what about this - "if your bike returns u a big amount, just by saving on petrol".. Claimed to be 111km/lt under standard conditions, the bike delivered me a decent average of 66km/lt for the first 1300 kms... I got this average while running the bike mostly in city and under traffic conditions; and most of the times it was out of Economic speed zone... On highway, no doubt it will be touching 75km/lt .. You can switch on Ride-Control to boost up ur average, it tries to keep u in the economy range of speed..

4. SHOCKER: the shockers are really cool .. i have been to bad roads, and I realised that their SNS stuff is not crap ... It works well...

5. SELF START: The self starting in the bike works fine, except for the first time in morning.. But, there is one problem with the battery.. The indicator always shows Low Battery, even when u run the bike for long distances.. But, don't worry the battery would be working fine ..

6. GEARS: Gear shift is very smooth.. They have removed the voice which used to come in BOXER while going from 1st to 2nd . . .

CONCLUSION: This bike is suitable for you, if u don wanna do stunt with the bike... Those who ride the bike at decent speeds and want a good average, this seems to be a good choice .. Also, price-wise, its the cheapest in the market of 125cc bikes ..