u/sanjay_noah

About me: I am 23M and trying to buy my first bike with my own money. I have ridden an Activa all my life. I learned to ride a geared bike in my friends R15, and have decent skills in riding.

I am looking for a motorbike in the 2.5-2.75 L price range. My need is mainly reliability, mileage, decent ground clearance and long-term use with me. I ride 30 km per day for office and go on long rides on weekends. I like a bike to meet all these needs. My desire is to get an ADV (Himalayan), but I have budget constraints. Also, the ADVs under my budget are not very reliable.

My current choices are the CB350RS, the Triumph Speed 350, the RE Meteor 350, and the Scram 440. (Have test rode CB alone. Remaining yet to go.)

My CB 350 RS test ride experience.

I got a 2024 CB 350RS and test rode it in both city and highway for an hour.

Pros:

1. The bike had no vibration and was smooth as fuck.
2. Got decent 35 km/l mileage (tested with 1 l and drove until it stops)
3. Good handling in both the city and the highway
4. Had decent seat comfort. (Compared to sport bikes or naked bikes. I hate those seats.)
5. Good riding posture and weight management. I guess it will be comfortable for long rides.

Cons:

1. heating issue: I don't know if this is a fault or the nature of the bike. When I cruised at 100 km/h, it felt like my right leg was burning. (I was wearing shorts and slippers).
2. Suspension: I felt the suspension was very stiff, and even a small pothole was punishing. This is the exact opposite of my needs. I have been riding the XSR155 for the past 2 months and felt it had decent suspension. I don't know if the bike I used was faulty. Can anyone confirm if this is really an issue? Can it handle occasional off-roads (not up to an ADV level but on bad roads and city potholes)?
3. I can't reach past 110 km/h. The wind seems to be an issue as it hits the face directly and pushes. (I was not wearing a helmet, so that may be an issue too). What is the topmost speed it can comfortably cruise?
4. I felt a little lack of power. I was coming from a 150cc and expected a 350cc to be powerful. But it felt it was not a major upgrade.

Questions:

1. Kindly address the cons. What I felt is correct?.
2. Can you suggest any other bikes based on my needs in this budget?
3. Is this the right time to buy a bike? Because the new E85 and E100 regulations seem to be coming and petrol prices may surge. Also, EVs seem to be the future even though I (many of us) hate them.