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S. Muralidhar

I am an IT professional planning to buy a bike for my daily commute of 20 km. My budget is about Rs 45,000 and I expect a mileage of around 60 kmpl. The aspects that I am looking for are low maintenance, safety and good looks. I am considering the TVS Victor, Hero Honda Splendor and Bajaj Caliber 115. I have no knowledge about these bikes, but have selected them just because they are already a hit and I do not want to risk buying a new model. Which one of the three will be best suited for my requirements? -- Thiru

I am a software engineer from Pune and am planning to purchase a bike. My budget is Rs 40,000-Rs 50,000 and I need a bike with good looks, fuel efficiency of 50-60 kmpl and enough power for use within the city. I want to choose among Bajaj Caliber 115, Yamaha Libero, LML Freedom and Hero Honda Passion. Which one should I go for? -- Pankaj Mahalwar

Our recommendation for Mr Thiru would be the Hero Honda Splendor+. For someone who seems to be reluctant to take on the risk of buying a new bike, the spectacular success and established credentials of the Splendor should be comforting. What is better, the Splendor+'s looks have been improved compared to the bike's original variant, the paint job is better, it is one of the best bikes in terms of longevity and low maintenance costs and can be expected to offer about 55-60 kmpl in city riding conditions. With your budget of about Rs 45,000, you may even be able to afford the disc brake version of the Splendor+, which will offer better safety than the drum brake variant.

Of course, the Splendor+ is not as powerful as the TVS Victor or the Bajaj Caliber 115, but it is a good city bike and is focused more on fuel efficiency than on power.

Our recommendation for Mr Pankaj will be the Hero Honda Passion Plus, though the Yamaha Libero LX may be a close second. Both these bikes are lookers in their own respect and offer excellent build quality to boot. Pricing will be closer to Rs 50,000 on-road and fuel efficiency will be in the region of 50-55 kmpl.

Again, the peak power of these two bikes is also only about 7.5bhp as is the case with the Splendor. The Bajaj Caliber and the LML Freedom are more powerful bikes, but their fuel efficiency numbers may not be as attractive as the Passion Plus'.

I have a vehicle with a fuel tank capacity of about 60 litres. During manual filling of fuel I could fill up 56-57 litres with out any spillage. However, during auto filling I can fill only up to a level of about 45 litres. If I try to fill past that mark, the delivery cuts off after every half litre. The petrol bunk says the problem is with the tank of the vehicle. But the dealer says the problem is with the petrol delivery system in the bunk. I did not have this problem with the vehicles I owned before. What is the problem? -- Suchikha

In all probability, a part of your problem is due to the fuel delivery system at the pump or service station and a part of it could be due to the construction and design of the fuel tank in your vehicle. The science behind the whole process involves the pumping in of fuel into the tank, while simultaneously air from the tank is evacuated.

The older fuel delivery pumps and nozzles used to vend the fuel at a much slower pace and did not have an auto cut-off mechanism. As a result of this the only time the fuel delivery was stopped was when there was spillage or a kick back of the fuel, which used to usually happen when the tank was nearly full.

However, the new fuel vending pumps and nozzles (what you call auto fuel filling) deliver fuel much faster and also have an automatic cut-off mechanism, which shuts off delivery when a slow down or kick back of fuel is detected. This is probably happening even at a low level of 45 litres in your vehicle because of a deeply curved neck and piping that leads into the vehicle's tank. As a result of this, it looks like it takes longer for the fuel to fully settle into the tank, which is leading to the auto cut-off of fuel delivery. Your best bet would be to fill only 45 litres.

(Queries may be sent to: q&a@thehindu.co.in or by post to Q&A, Business Line, 859/860, Kasturi Buildings, Anna Salai, Chennai - 600 002.)

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