Saturday, October 07, 2006

In search of a new bike

I have a motorbike, an oldie, and I don’t find it satisfying. I don’t hate it because it’s old, I just don’t want to ride on it because it gets broken so easily, a normal behavior when your bike is more than ten years old. This is why I commute either by driving my own (parents’) car, or catching bus. Both options are not suitable for short distance travel, such as going to a close mall or in-neighborhood fast food restos.

I need a new bike. Since I’m a man, it’s natural for me to prefer a “man’s bike”. If I can’t afford a CBR, at least I want Tiger or something equal (Scorpio or Thunder). I always think before buy. I asked my friends, browsed many websites; I even picked up brochures when going to malls. I brainstormed my decision.

What’s the summary? My friends tend to choose small bikes because it’s cheaper (both in terms of purchase and maintenance), and it’s well suited for highly trafficked city like Jakarta (we can do “maneuverings” without much effort).

I give up, I choose not to pick a “man’s bike”. I found one strong reason not to pick it: I want everybody in my family to be able to use my (soon-to-be) bike. I won’t be using it everyday and I don’t want it sit idly when I don’t use it. That’s not good in terms of utilization.

If I bought a Tiger, I’ll be the only one in the family who can use it, since I’m the only man (my dad makes it two, but he doesn’t ride bikes anymore). The only reason I want Tiger is because it’s “cool”. It’s faster than small bikes, but I don’t need that feature. I choose my family over my ego :-)

But I still want style, not just functionality. Ordinary small bikes simply don’t fit (and for an idiot reason: I already have one). If it can’t be “cool”, at least I want it to be “different” (this is one of my stupid traits). After some lengthy discussion with my friends, I came up with an idea: buy a scooter—Yamaha Mio or Honda Vario (just released). I’ve seen both, they look interesting.

I was just about to get one, but a friend of mine suggested that I wait until the beginning of 2007—some economical reasons I don’t understand. That’s a good idea anyway, I can start saving meanwhile (so in time, I can buy it cash). He’s a good friend of mine. I follow his advice.

Thomas, what if the chick you currently have crush on refuses to hang out with you, because you don’t ride on a “man’s bike”? Well, despite the crush, why bother hanging out with such chick?

7 comments:

  1. hmm.. I think you should check out Suzuki Satria. It's small it's fast it's cool, well in fact I have it and most girl say it's cute (surely the bike, not me hehe). Since it's small you can manuver easily, and with 150cc DOHC engine you can drive real fast.

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  2. first of all i just want to say sorry, coz i think my english isn't good enough, so i just comment in indonesian language....

    nama g sugi, menurut g sich kalo untuk motor, memang seperti yang thomas bilang. umumnya kalo cowo pasti lebih prefer ke motor kopling/gede such as tiger, scorpio or thunder cm kalo diliat dari segi benefit dari faktor eksternal dan internal seperti faktor lingkungan di jkt yang macet, tangan bisa pegel2 dan kondisi yang tidak memungkinkan kita untuk ngebut, dan dikombinasikan pula dengan faktor internal spt ukuran badan, kalo besar memang ga cocok dengan motor kecil alias mobek(motor bebek) tapi dikaitkan dengan faktor dompet, normalnya kalo motor gede harga spare part dan maintenance jauh lebih mahal dari motor bebek, apalagi kalo motor honda, ga itu tiger ato mega pro harganya spare partnya mahal, kalo thunder mungkin thunder 125 lebih murah kali dibanding thunder 250 kalo yang ini sudah mahal spare partnya pun katanya langka, dan dari segi bensin jg motor bebek kan lebih irit, termasuk dari spare part dan maintenance....bener sih seperti yang thomas bilang, kalo motor kopling hanya dia doank nantinya yg pake, sedangkan kalo skuter mungkin adiknya or mamanya masih bisa pakai, mis mo ke pasar, kuliah adiknya ato ke resto yang deket2 gitu...mungkin posisi skuter diantara motor bebek dan motor kopling kali yah, keliatan kecil ga, tapi besar juga ga....memang sich kalo skuter pilihannya terbatas mungkin yg lebih umum dipakai dari yamaha (mio/nouvo) dan honda yang baru keluarin vario, memang sich ada yg lain seperti kymco tapi jangan deh...kemarin ada sempet bahas sich by phone dengan thomas, pilihannya mungkin kalo ga mio yah vario, tapi kalo g mungkin coba pilih vario yah dari segi tampilan memang lebih bagus, yah wajar sich harga menentukan bagus tidaknya barang...memang sich honda lom pengalaman dalam hal skuter, cm kan ada masa garansi jadi ga perlu takut sepertinya, asal harga jual jangan terlalu anjlog aja nantinya...soalnya g kalo beli selalu pikir kearah sana, memang sich kita beli untuk digunakan tapi kan ga menutup kemungkinan kita mendadak jatuh miskin dan mesti jual asset kita, jadi selalu kepikiran kesana.untuk suzuki satria memang dari segi kecepatan memang kenceng, dia ngalahin rx king lo saking cepetnya, dari segi cc aja uda menang dan suzuki memang terkenal motor bandit juga sich, he3....tapi dari segi harga mahal banget bo, padahal bentuknya kecil alias kerempeng.....mungkin dari temen2 yang lain ada yang mo menambahkan kali yah...

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  3. geekzy, in your personal opinion, how is Suzuki Satria compared to Honda Vario?

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  4. sugay, thanks for your insights. so you vote for small bikes then :-)

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  5. Suzuki Satria mah komparenya ga sama Vario. Suzuki satria kan kopling sedangkan vario matic. Suzuki satria bisa dKompare ama Tiger dengan kelebihan satria yaitu kecil jadi lebih lincah dan jg mesin DOHCnya jadi nilai plus dBanding Tiger yaa meskipun sedikit lebih boros gw rasa buat kondisi jakarta yg macet satria lebih oke nyalip2nya, ga berat kayak Tiger. kalo harga yaa.. emang mahal kalo dLiat bentuk 'bebek'-nya tp dengan kemampuan mesinnya gw rasa seh wajar aja. Sekarang tinggal gmn lo prioritasin faktor pembelian lo, kalo prioritas semua bisa pake jelas bebek matic paling ok, anak sd asal bisa naek sepeda jg bs. tp kalo mau yg rada jantan tp kecil ya satria. kalo mau yg jantan banget dengan bodi yg gede.. Scorpio atau Tiger ok tuh.

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  6. damn...that's just motorcycle, just buy one and use it...
    this modern life brought you to the so called situation when everything that u own, owns you...take control, dont let that artificial symbols control your life...
    out, chill, peace

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  7. bagas, yes I do need functionality inherited within a motorcycle (which means, any motorcycle). But if I can have one with style, why not? You can have all buildings in the city have the same look and feel to save budget (of creating new design), but you don't.

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