CNBC-TV18’s Post

Transcript

Hello and welcome to OverDrive. This is the much awaited Bajaj Freedom, the CNG motorcycle. So in this video, let's quickly take a walk around and let me tell you all the juicy details on this much awaited commuter from Bajaj. A game changer of sorts. Will it do? That is something that we'll have to wait and watch. But in this video, let's talk about all the details, right? To begin with, it's called the Freedom. You get that right on the folks. They've done this nice body panel and the Freedom logo goes right on it. The second E is going to be done up in the Indian tricolour. So moment of pride for all Indians, because this is Bajaj is claiming the world's first CNG motorcycle, the first of its kind. So that's the other place where you're going to get the Bajaj freedom logo right on the side there's a 3D Bajaj emblem and right below that is the freedom logo. Quite nicely done looks quite nice looks quite premium. You also get this panel on the side and behind this is going to be a small two litre tank that's for the petrol and under the seat right behind that is the. CNG tank, it's a two KG CNG tank that sits right below the seat and they have intelligently used a trellis frame instead of a standard frame that we see on most other commuters. So the trellis frame essentially frees up space right in between for that tank and then also acts like a protective cage for it in case of an accident. So I think that's quite wisely executed. In fact, the premium bids don't stop there. You also get a monoshock suspension, you get a box swing arm. And you get a fat 120 section tire at the rail. So those things are quite nicely executed. You also get this very beefy. Engine Guard. Right in the front behind that is the 125CC engine that is the heart of this motorcycle. It puts out 9.5 PS of power, 9.7 Newton meters of torque. You can easily switch between CNG and petrol using this little switch. Now we have seen in the past with cars as well where CNG may not give you the kind of instantaneous talk that you want. Sometimes they can struggle on hill climbs etcetera. So if that happens, you can seamlessly switch from CNG to petrol on the fly and the engine will just draw the necessary fuel from. Whether the tank or the petrol tank, depending on what you've chosen. But that says a range of 330 kilometers is possible on this, which I think is phenomenal. So you will not need to make those frequent stops to CNG pounds because well, if you've taken those cab rides, I'm sure you've always heard the cab driver say Sir on the way CNG Barnai and that's usually a long wait, right? So you are going to be joining those queues if you're going to be buying one of these. But you will not have to do that often with that 330 kilometer range. That's what we are hoping. What is the real world range is something that we'll find out when we actually ride the motorcycle. Like I said, 2. AG tank sits right underneath and that also makes sure that this tank element is pretty short. Because of that, the seat is pretty long. 2020, sorry, 20% longer than a standard 125CC motorcycle seat. So that's really long and really flat. But don't get ideas. Don't put three or four people on that. The rider plus the pillion plus some space for your luggage should be good. Use it that way. If you're writing alone, you wanna bungee some stuff at the back because CNG might also be picked up by people who are running a small business or something and they might use this as their one motorcycle to do it all. So from that perspective as well, you get these nice mounts so you can safely securely bungee some stuff onto the rear seat. That's a completely flat seat. So that's again, a very good addition. You get a chunky but usable. Grab handle right at the back. The tail light is LED. The blinkers are all halogen. You get the sari guard right here. So if sari clad ladies are going to be saddling on this motorcycle with you, they should be easily able to get leverage here. The overall space for their feet is nicely executed. The sari guard also is nicely executed. There's an auxiliary on additional guard right beneath so that nothing really gets entangled in that chain. It's a chain drive. It's a 5 speed gearbox. It's a one down four up configuration that you see right here, and it's a toe and heel shifter. Even the foot pegs are quite nicely executed and I quite like that. The engine horizontal configuration 125CC like I told you. But we have seen 125CC motorcycles usually have ABS options. Unfortunately you don't get that on this. In fact, BJ's own Platinum 110 also gets an EBS option, but this one doesn't, so I don't know why they've done that. Anyway, you can either choose a disk that's the top end model, or you can get a drum with the LED headlight, or you can simply get a drum with a standard halogen headlight that's going to be the base model at ���95,000 drum plus LED is going to be. 1,05,000 X showroom and disc plus LED is going to be one Lac 10,000 X showroom. No ABS option like I mentioned. Interestingly the wheel sizes there's a 17 inch front shot with a 9080 rubber euro grip. The rear is a 120 but short on a 16 inch rim, so that is going to limit your tyre choice options. So let me know what are your thoughts on that. You get this big wheel hugger. Bajaj loves doing wheel huggers. There's also an additional bit of plastic element right here. The CNG logo goes here to tell the world you are trying sustainable mobility. Now, in terms of the sound, not too different than your standard 125CC singles, so let's just take a listen. You have to do that twice. Let me do that twice. I don't know why, but anyway, take a listen. So that's on petrol. Let me move to CNG. Like I said, seamless transition, just a little stutter there. And now it's CNG. And for the onlookers, how do they know this PNG? You can smell it. You can smell the gas. Anyway, let's turn that off. Now let's move to the cluster and let me turn this on again so that you can quickly take a look at what the negative cluster looks like. It is Bluetooth enabled, but you do not get any satellite or any navigation on it or through your phone or whatever. You are only going to get notifications for your messages, your calls, etc. Nothing to do with navigation. So for navigation, you're going to mount your phone here. They've given this additional bar on the handlebar. It's pretty slim. You'll need to look for compatible mounts and you can power your phone using this USB charger. That you get right here. I hope you are able to see that right, so that's going to be the handlebar, that's the switch gear. This is where you start the bike room. This is where going to switch between petrol and CNG turn blinker horn and what is this? What's the phone thing? Is it SOS? I don't know. Anyway, Speaking of SOS, Speaking of safety, they have done 11 safety tests, including one where they've taken a multi axial trailer right over the motorcycle with the container on top of it. So heavy truck going right on top of the motorcycle and the tank still remains fine, doesn't explode, doesn't lead to any leaks or whatever. So that's very good. So in terms of the range, I told you it's going to be 330 kilometers on. Two KGS of CNG so do the math, but Bajaj gives you another math. If you were to run it on CNG for the next five years, you will save ���75,000 compared to the running cost of a 125CC petrol. So I think that is pretty good. That's good math. To go with so will you pick up a CNG motorcycle That's going to be the big question. Let us know if there are any other questions, let us know in the comments or DM them to ask. My colleague Chris is going to be riding this motorcycle very soon, in fact starting this evening. So if you have any questions, put them in the comments right away so we can answer them in our review. If there is something that we haven't covered in this walk around and you would like us to cover in our review again, let us know on that as well but I think contemporary styling good looking motorcycle, good promise of. A beautiful range of three and 30 kilometers. CNG petrol both included. Nice bash plate, Husqvarna kind of styling, flat seat. The silhouette is very Husqvarna in my opinion. But what are your opinions on this bike? Let me know in the comments below. Thank you so much for watching this one. Until the next one, take care and write safe. Umm.