Odds in the crowd…
125cc segment is crowded with many products such as TVS victor GLX, Victor Edge, Bajaj Discover, Hero Honda (HH) Super Splendor, Hero Honda Glamour, Suzuki Heat, zeus and Honda Shine. These are commuter bikes and are of usual kind but Yamaha’s Gladiator J.A(Gladiator J.A is a cosmetic changed version of Gladiator) and Hero Honda’s Glamour FI – Fuel Injection stands odd in the crowd, one with its masculinity and other with its technology. Gladiator and Glamour FI may not be mass sellers but if you need something special these two will be your options.
Engine and Powertrain:
Gladiator is powered by 123.7cc four stroke engine, the engine puts out a peak power of 10.72bhp at 7,500 rpm and the peak torque of 10.4Nm sets in at 6,500 rpm. As usual performance of this engine is unquestionable, Gladiator reaches 60kph in 6.5s and the top speed is little over 100. In the refinement too Gladiator scores high, Yamaha ensures better refinement with counter balancer for the crankshaft which enables the Gladiator to even out a lot of the vibrations that are usually felt at higher speeds. Yamaha knows performance and refinement is not only enough to sell the bike it has incorporated a sensor called YTPS – Yamaha Throttle Positioning Sensor which works with BS carburetor to offer better mileage. Gladiator engine has been mated to a five-speed gearbox (one-down, four-up shift-pattern) with comfortably spaced out ratios.
First a lot of thanks to Hero Honda (HH) for incorporating Fuel Injection in smaller bikes, with Fuel Injection Hero Honda has not only made its bike different but also pushed its peers to follow the same (Bajaj Pulsar 220cc will feature a FI engine, shine, unicorn and many on the cards).Glamour PGM-FI (Programmed Fuel Injection) makes 9bhp@7000rpm and a healthy torque of 10.35Nm@4000rpm which will help you to ride glamour in city easily. Cold starting is where the technology kicks in which helps you to start easily. Glamour features conventional 4 speed gearbox and reaches 60kph in 7s and its top speed is little over 90kph.
Yes both the engines are technically superior, but when comes to mileage, as usual Yamaha loses to its peer it returns a combined figure of only 49kpl (YTPS doesn’t makes any magic for Yamaha) even carbureted glamour scores better than Gladiator. Fuel Injection makes Glamour FI to deliver class leading mileage of 62kpl. Though transistorized ignition system helps glamour in pick up, with much lesser power to weight ratio Glamour FI is no match to Yamaha’s Gladiator on the performance front.
Styling and Engineering
Gladiator Type J.A. (short for you know who) is different from Gladiator only in this area, the engine block, silencer pipe, sub-frames and rear grab rail are all in soft matt-black. Brand ambassador John Abraham’s signature is on the Gladiator J.A fuel tank and on the scoops is the Yamaha’s famous three-tuning-forks logo in gold. Alloy triple clamp is a nice touch. Positioned neatly within the visor in the headlamp unit is a twin-pod instrument cluster featuring separate speedo and fuel-gauge clocks that also display turn indicators and a neutral indicator lamp. Clear lens winker in the rear is borrowed from Yamaha’s flagship model R-1. Sadly, there is no tacho and gear indicator. The Type J.A. is offered with self/electric start and disc brakes as standard fitment. Deluxe version gets alloy wheels.
‘Love it or Hate it’ type Glamour styling is marketed as severely magnetic by Hero Honda. Though aerodynamically designed and aesthetically sculpted it lacks some charm! Black finish must have been extended to muffler and suspension. PGM-FI logo is nicely placed on the faux scoops, similar to the gladiator, glamour also features integrated rear indicators. The Hi tech Glamour FI features clever systems such as RTMI – Real Time Mileage Indicator which displays the average mileage for the last ten seconds of travel (sometimes reads out false figures), digital fuel gauge, engine malfunction indicator and bank angle sensor. Disc brakes and electric start are optional whereas alloy wheel is standard in Glamour FI.
On the styling the choice is yours, in engineering Glamour seems good, Glamour FI’s rider-friendly fascia (easily viewed even in blinding sunlight) is one such example of high standard of Engineering.
Ride and Handling:
Clutch feel on both Gladiator and Glamour FI is satisfactory. Disc brake at the front and drum at the rear is standard in Gladiator J.A whereas in Glamour FI disc at the front is optional. Both the bikes features wider tyre at the rear. Glamour is not for sporty; flicks have to be made careful. Suspension on both these bikes are not class leading and particularly makes longer ride quite distressing with its very soft seats. (Gladiator J.A’s seat gets new style material for its cover). Yamaha gearbox’s heel shifter is too small and tends to slip during quick acceleration moves while gear shifting from first to second is little bit notchy on Glamour. Overall Gladiator handles better than Glamour.
Price and Colours:
Glamour is available in five colours (black with super gold, black with frost blue, black with sports red, sports red with black and black with silver) and is priced Rs55,990(disc +self start). Gladiator is available in four colours while Gladiator J.A though called black it is a blend of three colours black, silver and purple and is priced Rs46,990.
The price differential between the ordinary Gladiator and the type J.A. is Rs 1,500 whereas the price differential between the Glamour PGM-FI and the carburetted version is Rs 5,500.
Verdict:
For the performance its Yamaha, Gladiator proves it again with a high powered engine and five speed gearbox. For the fuel efficiency its Hero Honda, Glamour FI makes it again with its advanced Fuel Injection technology. A hefty price tag on Glamour FI(it offers only 2-4km more than carburetted glamour) and Gladiator’s poor fuel efficiency figure make these bikes unattractive for cost conscious customers. As already said both Gladiator J.A and Glamour FI may not be mass sellers as discover or super splendor but both is/will make their loving owners happy.