Buy New Bike Or Second Hand Bike With Rs 2 lakh Budget?

Five bikes, five different flavours for you to choose from

Rs 2 lakh. It’s the amount you were aiming to save and finally get yourself that bike you’ve always dreamt of. You’ve finally collected the money and right when you’re about to step out and head towards the showroom, overthinking makes your brain wonder about the age-old question: Do you really wanna put this much money on a new, mid-level bike? Or should you put it on a more powerful, used example? 

If you’ve struggled with the same, fret not! Here’s a list of three new and two used bikes that you can buy for nearly that very amount of money. Once you know your options, it should help you finalise on the kind of bike you want: 

New Yamaha R15M - Rs 1,94,400 onwards (Ex-showroom Delhi) 

With its everyday usability, unintimidating but exciting performance, and low ownership costs, the Yamaha R15 V4 has continued to groom boys into men for over a decade. And in its fourth generation, this entry-level supersport brings new layers of sophistication that polish its handling abilities and make it even more enjoyable. So, the R15 V4 is more appealing and more capable than before, and despite the slightly high price tag, is still very much worthy of being the first sportbike for the budding biker who wants to learn the nuances of sport riding.

New KTM 200 Duke - Rs 1,92,845 (Ex-showroom Delhi) 

With multiple price hikes over the years, the KTM 200 Duke might have lost its value-for-money proposition, but it’s still as rev-happy as it was in 2012 with no compromises on the performance front. And that means Indians still love this bike as much as ever. And with a new LED headlight incoming, the 200 Duke is all set to become more wholesome than ever.

New Royal Enfield Classic 350 - Rs 1,90,092 onwards (Ex-showroom Chennai) 

Where do we even start about this one! Royal Enfield truly hit it out of the park with the J-series Classic 350. The brand managed to modernise all the right aspects and fix all the little niggles we had with the previous generation of the Classic 350. All of this without compromising what it has always stood for – an easygoing, old-school British thumper. Along with the Royal Enfield purists, this one will also attract a whole bunch of newer riders who had been staying away from the brand for so long. 

So if there’s even a small part inside you that adores old-school, easy-going motorcycles, we’d recommend you to head to the nearest Royal Enfield showroom and take this bike out for a spin. 

Used 2021 KTM RC 390 - Rs 2,10,000 (15,000km) 

While the current-gen KTM RC 390 is fantastic, purists will argue that there was something special about the previous RC 390s, with their menacing face, futuristic design and single-mindedness. It went along with an unforgiving “power-first and comfort-be-damned” attitude and that definitely had its charm. 

And all of that for Rs 2.10 lakh means you’re getting a heck of a lot of bike for that money. So if something like the R15 V4 feels a tad underpowered for you, this is a great time to put your hard-earned money in this ‘last-of-its-kind’ motorcycle. 

Used 2020 Bajaj Dominar - Rs 2,10,000 (8,500km) 

In its latest iteration, Bajaj has ironed out a lot of the issues that deterred us from liking the Dominar 400 and it is now a much better highway cruiser than its predecessor. So if you intend to munch miles on your bike, the 2020 Dominar 400 definitely provides the best mix of comfort and speed among this lot.