There are many like me who have bought their Karizmas for touring in the mistaken notion that an Indian bike would be easily serviceable, or at least serviceable in all parts of India. The truth is that there will almost never be Karizma specific parts at anything other than the major metro cities, and regular consumables such as the drive chain set may not be available for months on end even in metro cities. Be prepared to ship your bike back by train/truck to where you live in case you have any minor problem out of town!


The extremely poor quality of the overpriced parts is another issue which causes mechanical failures.



I've had to replace the cam chain tensioner FOUR times in the last six months under warranty before (the dealer) running out of stock. The next one failed completely out of town, on my way to Allahabad. In 1000 km, the timing chain got damaged, as also the chain guides (the rubber disintegrated, forming a very efficient grinding paste with the engine oil), destroying the cylinder bore. By then I had reached Jhansi (city, north India), and because the HH dealer there had NO parts (nearest dealer who MIGHT have had parts being 100 km away at Gwalior), I had to ship the vehicle back to Mumbai by train. All this is inspite of carrying out regular routine maintainance at the authorized service centre.


I've also had clutch plates wear out in 8 and 10 thousand km (one defective set wore out at 2500 km!) whereas my previous bike, a CBZ (150cc), did not require any such attention for at least 40000 km. And the less said about the Karizma plastic parts,(or their cost) the better.


Even more annoying than the third rate parts and having to pay for engine damage etc caused by the same, not to mention the inconvenience and time wasted, is the attitude of the those at the very top of the company. Mr Brij Mohan Munjal, chairman of the Hero board has not thought it fit to acknowledge my complaint even one and a half months after receiving the complaint letter.



It is sad that the “no 1 motorcycle company in the world” gets away pushing their “no 2” products and spare parts at the public due to the protectionist polisies of the government. Unfortunately, Hero Honda seems to be more than satisfied that “no 1” stands for volume, rather than quality.


So give it a thought when deciding which bike to purchase if you intend to tour in India. Waiting for elusive parts to arrive is a surefire way to ruin your travel plans.

Quite true Doc, in fact this is an issue with most of the manufactures in India. However such a scarcity in consumables and other parts is some thing that is not expected. This is some thing that I have noticed since the launch of Karizma, first the major problem was Chain set which was not even available in Delhi which is less then 50kms from Hero Hondas factory.

This is some thing that is well taken case of by Bajaj for Pulsars. When I had a CDI failure two years back while coming back from Manali and it was readily available at the first Bajaj service center I came across in Mandi. Even other parts are readily available in Delhi and rest of the country both in service centers and other shops.

This is due to the no. of pulsars that have been sold till now and also the fact that only a few things have changed over the three revisions and even then most of the parts from the newer revisions can be used in older models.

However the service quality and spare quality isn’t that good, but it is cheaper then karizma. From what I have heard a karizma’s chain set now costs Rs.2100 now, almost 4times the cost of pulsars chain set. For that price I would expect at least double the life or more, but this is not the case.

I think it is about time that we make the manufactures sit up listen and address these problems. Unless and until we can force them to improve the situation, nothing will be done by them. Best way to do this is to let others know about the problems that we face with our bikes and the service support from the manufacturers, only when their sales take a hit because of this, they will sit up and try to fix the problem.

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Yes, at least Bajaj parts are easily available.

I've personally advised other riders from across the world to use a Karizma rather than the bigger bullet. I still say that the Karizma is the best package, but any package, however good, can be destroyed by poor attitude and execution.

Pity.

Agree on the part that Karizma is overall a good package, but getting stranded in another city because of a failure of a part and the failure of the company to provide replacement is not at all acceptable. This is the only reason I believe comet is not for touring, if so is the case with karizma then I don’t think I would want to take it out of the city.

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My travelogues | Ladakh travel guide | India travel forum

Doc this post was posted on BCM Touring a while back by Manas from Mumbai

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My travelogues | Ladakh travel guide | India travel forum

Yes, it was on xbhp for some time as well. Unfortunate, he seems to have got a lemon here. But far too many people who have bought Karizmas lately have got to experience that flavour.

Today, I'm scared to replace parts on my bike that have passed their use by date. Who knows how quickly the new parts will fail?