Commuter Bikes

Like its name suggests, a commuter bike is designed to take you from point A to point B with optimum comfort and fuel efficiency. They usually have small capacity engines designed for reliability and mileage rather than out and out performance.

Commuter bikes are usually powered by engines that displace between 100cc (like the Hero Splendor Plus) and 160cc (like the Honda CB Unicorn 160). Beyond this, performance starts to take a higher priority and fuel-efficiency becomes less of a concern. In the past commuters were classified between 100 and 125cc but that has changed as the market evolved.

Performance isn't the forte of commuter bikes and the engine is tuned to offer the highest fuel efficiency and reliability. Most commuter bikes have a real-world top speed of less than 100kmph.

Commuter bikes are inherently designed to offer maximum comfort. So yes, they will be comfortable for long rides, although the average speed might be low.

Commuter motorcycles are cheap to maintain as they use fewer moving parts and simple engine setups. Bikes like the Bajaj CT100, Platina 110 and Bajaj Pulsar 125 would cost you less than Rs 1,000 per service, including consumables, labour costs and GST.

To keep costs as low as possible, commuter motorcycles below 125cc do not get ABS. They instead get a combined braking system (CBS) which is compulsory for bikes below 125cc. Commuter motorcycles above 125cc, like the Bajaj Pulsar 150 Neon BS6 and Honda Unicorn 160 BS6, get a single-channel ABS as mandated by the government.

Up to 110cc you have the Hero Splendor iSmart, Hero HF Deluxe, Bajaj Platina 110 H-Gear and TVS Radeon. In the 125cc category, the popular bikes are the Hero Super Splendor and Honda Shine BS6.