Hero Karizma - On to Regain Its Lost Reign
Born out of the legendary collaboration of Hero with Honda, Karizma is one of the most popular commuter super bikes in the country. Karizma was the first 223 cc bike in the country launched in the year 2003. Later when Hero and Honda parted ways, Karizma came under Hero Motocorp.
Karizma was introduced at a time when the market was ruled by 150 cc bikes and the country had not seen much super bikes. And this made it immensely popular and it soon turned out to be a favourite among the new generation bikers. Hero Karizma blended the perfect balance between performance and handling. Soon other manufacturers followed the trend, and slowly Hero was left behind their better and superior models. It became inevitable for Hero to upgrade the Karizma and thus emanated the Karizma R and Karizma ZMR. Karizma R is available in the market at a price of Rs 80000 onwards whereas Karizma ZMR is more costly at Rs 1 lakh.
Hero Karizma is equipped by a 223cc, 2-valve, 4-stroke, single-cylinder, air-cooled OHC engine. The carburetted engine of Karizma R churns out a maximum power of 19.2 bhp at 7500 rpm and releases a maximum torque of 19.35 Nm at 6000 rpm. These figures improve to 20 bhp power and 19.7 Nm of torque in Karizma ZMR. The engine is mated to a 1 down 4 up 5-speed transmission. It has a kick start in addition to an electric start system.
This bike has a kerb weight of 154 kg and a ground clearance of 159 mm. The front suspension has telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers and the rear has a five step adjustable type hydraulic iGRS system. It has a bigger fuel tank which can store up to 15.3 litres of fuel. It has a comfortable and wide soft seat. The bike has alloy wheels and their stopping power is provided by well responsive front disc and rear drum brakes. The mileage yielded is around 35-40 kmpl, but this greatly depends on the riding and usage aspect. A few minuses in a Karizma are the lack of an engine kill switch and projector lamps and moreover it faintly vibrates at a lower rpm.
All said the new models have not yet been able to repeat the success of the original Karizma. Rivals like KTM Duke 200/390 or Pulsar 200NS or CBR250R have been able to provide higher satisfaction to its customers in terms of looks, performance and ride quality. Hero Motocorp has now launched a new HX 250 R model in the same segment. We will have to wait and see whether this bike will be successful in regaining its long-gone supremacy.
Karizma was introduced at a time when the market was ruled by 150 cc bikes and the country had not seen much super bikes. And this made it immensely popular and it soon turned out to be a favourite among the new generation bikers. Hero Karizma blended the perfect balance between performance and handling. Soon other manufacturers followed the trend, and slowly Hero was left behind their better and superior models. It became inevitable for Hero to upgrade the Karizma and thus emanated the Karizma R and Karizma ZMR. Karizma R is available in the market at a price of Rs 80000 onwards whereas Karizma ZMR is more costly at Rs 1 lakh.
Hero Karizma is equipped by a 223cc, 2-valve, 4-stroke, single-cylinder, air-cooled OHC engine. The carburetted engine of Karizma R churns out a maximum power of 19.2 bhp at 7500 rpm and releases a maximum torque of 19.35 Nm at 6000 rpm. These figures improve to 20 bhp power and 19.7 Nm of torque in Karizma ZMR. The engine is mated to a 1 down 4 up 5-speed transmission. It has a kick start in addition to an electric start system.
This bike has a kerb weight of 154 kg and a ground clearance of 159 mm. The front suspension has telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers and the rear has a five step adjustable type hydraulic iGRS system. It has a bigger fuel tank which can store up to 15.3 litres of fuel. It has a comfortable and wide soft seat. The bike has alloy wheels and their stopping power is provided by well responsive front disc and rear drum brakes. The mileage yielded is around 35-40 kmpl, but this greatly depends on the riding and usage aspect. A few minuses in a Karizma are the lack of an engine kill switch and projector lamps and moreover it faintly vibrates at a lower rpm.
All said the new models have not yet been able to repeat the success of the original Karizma. Rivals like KTM Duke 200/390 or Pulsar 200NS or CBR250R have been able to provide higher satisfaction to its customers in terms of looks, performance and ride quality. Hero Motocorp has now launched a new HX 250 R model in the same segment. We will have to wait and see whether this bike will be successful in regaining its long-gone supremacy.