Hi team, I'm 5′9″ and well built. I need a bike for my daily city commute of about 30 km, and I want it to be not above 350 cc. I am a sedate driver. Please suggest.

autocar.india

•2d

Since you have had a long and drama-free stint with your Shine, the logical next step to make would be the Honda Unicorn. For your use case, which is mostly inside the city with short weekend leisure rides, the Unicorn makes for a good fit. It will offer a noticeable step up in performance and comfort compared to the Shine with only a small drop-off in fuel economy. The Royal Enfield Bullet 350 is lovely if you want a relaxed bike with new-age reliability and old-school feel, but since you have mentioned you are on the slimmer side of the spectrum, its weight could be a problem at slower speeds and its fuel economy will also be noticeably lower.If your landlord and the building you reside in, don't have a problem with you installing a charging solution at home, you can consider electric scooters like TVS iQube, Bajaj Chetak, Ather Rizta and Vida VX2. If not, stick with a petrol-powered bike for now.To decide between the Unicorn and Bullet, we'd recommend a test ride of both since they are very different machines.

autocar.india

•5d

Thank you for your appreciation. We will continue to keep putting out content that resonates with the public at large.Coming to your query, it will be the Royal Enfield Classic 350, which will be the better machine than the Meteor for your usage, and it all comes down to how you sit on the bike. On the Classic, you're sitting higher and in a more upright position with your knees at an almost 90-degree bend going down to your feet. This is the sort of riding position that distributes weight evenly across your joints, which, over bad roads and on longer journeys, will feel more comfortable overall. Whereas, on the Meteor, most of your body weight is on your tailbone owing to the position of the footpegs and handlebars. This means that over road imperfections, most of the shock will be transmitted to your spine, which isn't a pleasant feeling.Take test rides of both to see if you resonate with what we are saying, and then go ahead with your purchase.

autocar.india

•2d

For the short to mid-term, E20 will be the current baseline blend of petrol available on a nationwide scale. Speaking strictly about material compatibility, E20 machines should be able to handle higher blends with the fuel tank, rubber seals, gaskets and hoses all ready to support the higher blend. What will need recalibration is the ECU to handle the higher ethanol content in the fuel, which is something that will have to come from the manufacturer. Be prepared for a drop in fuel economy because ethanol's energy density is much lower than petrol, although ECU recalibration will mitigate this to some extent.