Long-term: Mahindra Mojo January 2016

Long-term: Mahindra Mojo January 2016

I have lived with the Mojo since the day I joined Fast Bikes India’s sister magazine evo India and my adventures with the Mahindra have been nothing short of interesting.
The power cruiser has always had a confused identity. Imagine sitting upright with the handlebars being placed similar to that on a naked but with the foot pegs placed in the middleinstead of rear set. Neither a commuter, nor a cruiser but that’s Mojo for you.
I have been working out regularly for ages, but with the Mojo I have discovered some muscles in my body that I never thought existed! It’s not a bike made for city commuting, especially squeezing in traffic and manoeuvring into tight parking spaces.But that said when my colleagues took it to the Himalayas they got used to it pretty quickly. Even Vishal who is touring Rajasthan on the Mojo Trail as we put this magazine to press has very good things to say of its cruising ability out on the highway. And that’s where the unlikely strengths of the Mojo have cropped up prompting Mahindra to position this more as a tourer than an out-and-out sports bike. Out in the city my favourite patch has been the Sangamwadi stretch in Pune, where I could stretch the 300cc engine. The Mojo also has excellent Pirelli tyres and though the chassis doesn’t inspire much confidence the grip levels are so high that it all too easily grounds out the pegs and exhaust pipes. Better ground clearance would allow it to keep up with well ridden Dukes but for now the grounding issue sees it lose ground.
A big positive of the bike is the engine that is really good; really smooth and creamy and the 6-speed gearbox puts the torque spread to quite good use. This is an engine tuned for mid-range grunt which again suits its cruising ability. In fact, you can pull from 40kmph all the way to 140kmph in sixth without breaking a sweat. And all that with no vibes whatsoever.


As for the styling, well, its hard to fall in love though I have grown quite used to it and that massive front headlampcan grab quite a few eyeballs. It’s not as much of an attention seeker as the Diavel-aping Dominar will be but being unconventional does work in this part of the world. I have had people asking me really hilarious questions such as, “Bhai, tere bullet mein do silencer kaise daale?”, “How to get that eye-liner for my 200 Duke?”
The thing I’m sad about is that having gotten used to the Big Mahindra it is going away! I have been spoilt by the Mojo’s luxuries (did I mention the awesome ride quality?) that allowed me to skim through traffic thanks to those massive pipes giving out a loud roar, scaring the fellow commuter bikes. And I hear Mahindra is working on a more affordable Mojo with a round headlamp and a shorter rake (for better commuting ability), not to forget the scrambler and off-road versions that are being tested on the Mojo Trail rides. And that can only mean good things, right?

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