BREAKING: Bajaj Freedom 125 Launched At Rs 95,000; World's First CNG Bike Promises Cheap Running Costs

Quick News Highlights:

- Bajaj Freedom 125 launched at prices starting from Rs 95,000

- The world’s first CNG bike is available in three variants, top variant price is Rs 1,10,000

- The bike gets a claimed combined (CNG + petrol) range of 330km

Bajaj Auto has launched the world’s first CNG bike called the Bajaj Freedom 125. Here are all the details:

What Is Its Price? Who Are Its Rivals?

The Bajaj Freedom 125 CNG bike has been launched at Rs 95,000 (ex-showroom). Bookings are open for the bike on Bajaj’s website and the select variants of the bike will be available in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra first. It will be made available in the rest of the states across the country in a phased manner in the next 3-4 months. 

It is available in 3 variants: NG04 Disc LED, NG04 Drum LED and NG04 Drum. The NG04 Disc LED and the NG04 Drum LED variants get 5 colour options: Caribbean Blue, Pewter Grey - Black, Ebony Black - Grey, Racing Red and Cyber White. The NG04 Drum variant gets two colour options: Pewter Grey - Yellow and Ebony Black - Red. The top-end NG04 Disc LED will be available now in the two aforementioned states, with the other two variants to be made available after a month’s time from now.   

Here are the Bajaj CNG bike variant-wise prices:

The Bajaj Freedom 125 doesn’t have any direct rivals as it is the first of its kind. However, it will compete against the likes of the Honda Shine 125, Hero Glamour, Bajaj Pulsar 125, Hero Xtreme 125R and TVS Raider 125.  

What’s New?

The Bajaj Freedom 125 is an all-new bike. It gets a retro, commuter-ish design language with an LED headlight in the NG04 Disc LED and NG04 Drum LED variants and a halogen headlight in the NG04 Drum variant. The bike gets a flat single-piece seat (longest in segment), single-piece grab rail, upswept exhaust with a heat shield, mid-set footpegs, sump guard and a braced handlebar. The tank shrouds get the Bajaj Freedom 125 logo. The CNG tank is placed horizontally under the seat and the nozzles for filling the CNG and the petrol tank lid are placed close to each other on top of the ‘tank’. Overall, the bike looks pretty handsome and premium, despite being a commuter bike.   

Highlights:

- 125cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled engine

- 9.5PS and 9.7Nm

- Gearbox: 5-speed 

- CNG cylinder capacity: 2kg

- Petrol tank capacity: 2 litres

- Claimed combined range: 330km

- Claimed Mileage: CNG-only: 102km per kg, Petrol - 65kmpl

- Trellis frame (first in a 125cc commuter bike)

- Telescopic fork with fork covers and linked monoshock suspension setup (1st 125cc bike in India to get a linked monoshock)

- 130mm drum brakes at both ends in the NG04 Drum and NG04 Drum LED variants; 240mm front disc brake in the NG04 Disc LED; CBS (Combined Braking System) available as standard across all variants

- 785mm seat length, 825mm seat height and 147kg kerb weight (fairly heavy for its class)

- Negative LCD instrument console with Bluetooth connectivity for call alerts and a phone battery level indicator (connectivity feature only available in the top-end variant)

- Console shows speedometer, odometer, fuel gauge, gear position indicator, clock and real time and average mileage readouts. Tell tale lights include neutral gear position indicator and low CNG level alert. Sadly, no turn-by-turn navigation

- Left switchgear has a dedicated button for connectivity along with a separate switch to seamlessly toggle between the petrol and CNG tanks

- 17-inch front alloy wheel with 90-section tyre and 16-inch rear alloy wheel with 120-section tyre; both tubeless, from TVS Eurogrip

Zig Says

The world’s first CNG bike is an all-new alternative to 110-125cc petrol-powered commuter bikes that provide great mileage. The Bajaj Freedom 125  will also act as a middle ground between petrol-powered and electric bikes in terms of daily running costs.  

Currently, in Maharashtra, the price of 1kg of CNG is Rs 79.46. So, with a 2kg CNG tank, it will cost you about Rs 159 to cover the 204km claimed range. That means, your per km cost is Rs 0.77. On the other hand, our tested real-world average mileage of the Hero Splendor Xtec was 89.5km per litre. With the price of petrol costing Rs 104.76 in Maharashtra, your per km cost will be Rs 1.1. So if you cover 1000km per month, you’ll be able to save Rs 330 per month if you use the Bajaj CNG bike for commutes over the Hero Splendor. That said, the difference will be lesser if you consider a 125cc bike as it will offer relatively lesser mileage than a 100cc bike like the Splendor.

Bajaj Auto claims that, compared to a 125cc petrol-powered bike, the Freedom 125 will reduce operating costs by 50% on a daily basis and help save up to Rs 75,000 over 5 years. However, compared to the petrol pump network, the CNG pump network in India is not as widespread. Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are the only states with a decent pump network. So, while the Freedom 125 looks quite promising currently, we’ll have to wait and see how the infrastructure develops over the years to gauge its true impact on India’s two-wheeler market.