OD Garage : Hero Honda Glamour F1

When I was told that the Glamour FI was going to be my first long-termer, I was neither enthralled nor disappointed. Everyone knows that it is a 125cc commuter and it’s meant to go about its business without fuss. Once the keys were handed over to me, I went to the parking lot being greeted by the sight of the Glamour lying ignored in the parking lot, with a thick coat of dust, which did not help in uplifting my spirits. I then got down to cleaning it, armed with an already dusty cloth along with some cleaning agent and within a few minutes the Glamour was back to looking glamorous with its loud decals in full glory. Since the bike hadn’t been used, I was expecting a kick-start melee ahead followed by the realisation of the battery being dead given the inactivity. To my disbelief, the Glamour burbled to life in the first half-hearted kick itself, acting almost telepathically. No need of a push start, no stationary revving waiting for the fuel to start flowing consistently. Bow all, at the altar of fuel injection.

Once started, the engine settles into smooth idle almost instantly, ready to battle it out in the gauntlet of Pune traffic. Throttle response is crisp from the word go, enabling the Glamour to pull away without a snatch even while pottering around in higher gears, which one often does given the tall ratios which the four-speed ‘box sports. One doesn’t realise the presence or the need of the fourth gear unless doing more than 70 clicks, the engine unstressed to the point where it tends to meet mister rev limiter involuntarily. One just needs to look at the torque figure of 10.35Nm, although not a colossal figure, available at a lazy 4000rpm, lending its easy-going demeanour to the Glamour. Stopping affairs are taken care of without a hitch, given that the 240mm KBX front disc has excellent feel, informing the rider well before it has reached its limits.

I haven’t spent a lot of time riding the Glamour, being out of station or camped at office while issue-closing, leaving Glamour with only the daily commute to show for work. However, next time around, the Glamy (which I call it now) would have racked up quite a few kilometres, letting us in on more of its secrets. Watch this space!

- Saptarishi Shukla