Bajaj Freedom 125 CNG Bike: Claimed Vs Real-World Mileage Explained

Bajaj claims that the CNG bike will deliver a mileage of 102km on CNG and 65km on petrol. This means a combined range of about 330km

The Bajaj Freedom 125 was recently launched in India at Rs 95,000, and the prices go up to Rs 1,10,000 (ex-showroom). Bajaj claims that the CNG bike will reduce the fuel costs to half as compared to the petrol-powered bikes. Let’s find out if that’s true:

The Bajaj Freedom 125 CNG bike has a 125cc, air-cooled, single-cylinder engine, producing 9.5PS at 8000rpm and 9.7Nm at 5000rpm, paired with a 5-speed gearbox with a heel-and-toe shifter. It also gets a bash plate to protect the engine.  The bike has a claimed top speed of 90.5kmph on CNG and 93.4kmph on petrol. 

The Freedom 125 is equipped with two tanks: a primary 2kg CNG tank which is placed horizontally under the seat and a 2-litre petrol tank to be used when the bike runs out of CNG. Moreover, it can easily switch between CNG and petrol on the go. Bajaj claims a mileage of 102km per kg on CNG, 65kmpl on petrol and promises a combined range of about 330km. However, this is in an ideal condition with the pump having a pressure of 200 bar.

Bajaj Freedom 125 CNG Bike: Tested Mileage

We emptied the CNG tank before our mileage test and then refilled it at our nearest CNG pump. While the bike claims a tank capacity of 2kg CNG, the actual amount of CNG that you can fill depends on the filling station’s pressure. When we filled the bike’s CNG tank, the pump’s pressure was less than the ideal capacity, because of which we could only fill 1.63kg, which cost us Rs 145.

In our mileage test, the Bajaj Freedom 125 delivered 85km per kg of CNG, with a mix of city and highway riding. The bike travelled a total of 140km on CNG before the tank emptied, resulting in a running cost of around Rs 1 per kilometre. However, if the CNG station had ideal pressure, it might have been possible to achieve the claimed mileage as well. You can also check out our road test review here.