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New Bike First Impression

Kawasaki Ninja 1000 : More Responsive, Better Equipped

December 27, 2013 by Jim Gorde 1 Comment

Kawasaki Ninja 1000 2014 1 web

We savour the revamped Kawasaki Z1000SX (Ninja 1000 in India) in the Alpine foothills of southern Austria.

Like many successful formats, the Z1000SX’s seems obvious with hindsight. Of course, not all the riders abandoning sports bikes would defect to adventure bikes. Plenty were bound to prefer a sharp looking, sporty, 240 km/h fully-faired four with a more upright riding position, some all-round ability and a sensible price.

A bike, in other words, like the SX — although even Kawasaki didn’t expect the relatively simple Z1000-With-A-Fairing to be one of their top-selling models in many markets for the last three years (their absolute best-seller in the UK), as well as one of the most popular sports-tourers of any make.

That’s what has happened, though, and even before that third year is out they’ve revamped the SX to make it sharper, more responsive and better equipped. This makes plenty of sense as I throw the updated green bike down a spectacularly twisty road in the Alpine foothills of southern Austria.

Its 142-PS motor is hurling the bike forward at an entertainingly rapid rate with a fruity howl from the re-tuned airbox. The screen is keeping the wind and most of the fat late-summer bugs off my chest. The tweaked and firmed-up suspension is giving a reasonably comfortable yet impressively taut and well-controlled ride — even under severe provocation from the powerful new Tokico monobloc front callipers. And the sleek new panniers are keeping my waterproofs and other junk neatly out of mind.

In short, the revamped Z1000SX is proving a blast to ride. And equally importantly, it’s giving every indication of being well up to the job if I had to strap on a bit more luggage and ride it 1,000 kilometres home rather than back to the relatively nearby launch hotel.

That’s hardly surprising because the original SX was a good place to start and this update is fairly thorough. The 1,043cc, 16-valve engine gets new cams with shorter duration and revised air intake trumpets of the same length. (Different length intakes are so last year…) Kawasaki claim an extra 4 PS, with that 142 PS maximum arriving at 10,000 RPM and say the motor has more low-rev and mid-range performance.

Pages: 1 2 3

Filed Under: First Ride, Latest News, New Bike Launches, News, Review Tagged With: 1000, bike, India, kawasaki, launch, new, ninja, ninja 1000, sportsbike, superbike

Ducati 899 Panigale: Road legal, track ready

December 26, 2013 by Team Bike India Leave a Comment

Ducati Panigale 899 2013 4

Splashing over the Imola start-line to begin another lap with my head tucked as low as possible behind the screen of the 899 Panigale, it’s a big thrill to be astride a powerful Italian superbike on one of that country’s most famous and atmospheric circuits. [Read more…]

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

Filed Under: First Ride, News Tagged With: 2013, 899, bike, ducati, First, Imola, India, Panigale, review, Ride, superbike, Track

Retro Reload: Royal Enfield Continental GT

November 27, 2013 by Jim Gorde 4 Comments

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 4 webRoyal Enfield have officially added a café racer to the line-up, finally! Does the Continental GT have what it takes to reawaken the speed demons within? We’re the first in India to ride it and find out! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Bike Specs, First Ride, Latest News, Motorcycle, New Bike Launches, News, Review

New TVS Jupiter

October 25, 2013 by Bike India Team 3 Comments

TVS1
Utilitarian scooters like the Honda Activa and Suzuki Access have the highest market share in the segment in spite of the availability of many fancy options. They are less sensitive to age, gender and size of the rider due the unisex styling and roomy proportions. The Jupiter marks TVS’ entry into this sub-segment and, going by the above incident, looks like they have got the recipe right. Let’s dig in.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: First Ride, Review

Reincarnation – The Royal Enfield Continental GT

October 24, 2013 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

RoyalEnfield1
The Royal Enfield Continental GT has been revived after half-a-century. We ride it in England in true café racing style

[Read more…]

Pages: 1 2

Filed Under: First Ride, Review

KTM 1290 Super Duke R Ridden!

October 19, 2013 by Jim Gorde 1 Comment

KTM_1290_Super-Duke_R_1The long wait is over. After the unbelievable online buzz the new-age KTM 1290 Super Duke R created when the company unveiled it last week, Bike India gets a taste of this radical new machine in Spain, first hand.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: First Ride, Latest News, New Bike Launches, News

Bajaj Discover 100M – M for Mileage

October 12, 2013 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

BJDi_100M1
Bajaj Auto add a new model to the commuter segment and a new suffix to the Discover 100

[Read more…]

Pages: 1 2

Filed Under: First Ride, Review

Vespa VX: First Ride

July 5, 2013 by Jim Gorde Leave a Comment

The just launched Vespa VX gets the Bike India test

The just launched Vespa VX

Piaggio India have launched a premium variant of the iconic Vespa, a scooter that has become hugely popular in the Indian market for its timeless styling and its performance as well. The new Vespa VX has been brought in within a year of the first scooter’s launch, as there were areas which could be improved upon and the company was quick to take action.

So, the new Vespa VX now features a front disc brake, tubeless tyres and revised styling details – a silver-finish speedo cluster, ‘VX’ badging on the left rear panel and a more substantial grab-rail. The company has also added two new colours to the palette: Portovenere Verde (Metallic Green) and Vibrante Rosa (Pearl-effect Pink/Red). These colours replace the earlier black and maroon options for the VX. There’s also a new beige-coloured seat option, which is offered as standard for the red- and dark blue-coloured models.

 

The 200-mm front disc , the most important addition here

The 200-mm front disc , the most important addition here

Take the new Vespa VX for a spin and straight away the elevated levels of handling, braking and grip become evident. The 200-mm front disc is the most important addition, decreasing braking distance and providing a more sure-footed feel. Another big change is the tyres. While the old MRF Nylogrips were in tune with the retro image, their performance was not too confidence-inspiring. The new MRF Zappers are of the tubeless variety and also offer superior grip. In our 60-0 km/h brake test, the new Vespa VX came to a halt in just 2.93 seconds over a distance of 22.46 metres. That’s quite an improvement over the standard Vespa, which, with its drum brakes, took 3.09 seconds and 25.51 metres respectively to do so.

The standard Vespa LX 125 will continue to be sold alongside the Vespa VX. Piaggio India are offering the VX with a premium price tag of Rs 71,700 (ex-showroom, Delhi) keeping to their lifestyle product positioning strategy.

 

A distinct 'VX' badging and a more substantial grab-rail

A distinct ‘VX’ badging and a more substantial grab-rail

 

Filed Under: First Ride, Review Tagged With: bike, India, new launch, Piaggio, review, Vespa

Mahindra Centuro launched; more models on the anvil

July 1, 2013 by Jim Gorde Leave a Comment

Mahindra Centuro web

Mahindra Two-Wheelers have introduced their second motorcycle in India packed with interesting features and featuring an aggressive price-tag.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: First Ride, Latest News, New Bike Launches

KTM 390 Duke – First Ride

June 27, 2013 by Aninda Sardar Leave a Comment

Story: Piyush Sonsale

Photography: Sebas Romero, Heiko Mandl

KTM 390 Duke (2)

KTM’s latest naked street bike in the Duke lineage is placed between the 200 and 690 Dukes. It has the same design and chassis as the 125 and 200 Dukes and Bajaj Auto assemble all three of them at their Chakan plant, near Pune. So why were we flown half way across the globe to ride the 390 Duke if it is made right here in India? Because it is an all-new bike in spite of the shared platform and because it is an important motorcycle for KTM. The 390 Duke is KTM’s first global motorcycle, for it will be sold in all the 76 markets where the Austrian marque has its presence.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: First Ride, Review

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India Yamaha Motor have filed a trademark for the FZ-X moniker, with the bike likely to be a 250-cc adventure-focused option.

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BIKE India covers the two-wheeler industry in its entirety, both from the local and the international perspective. Also delivers the most definitive verdict on machinery and performance by explaining the hows, whys, and whats on every new bike in a lucid and user-friendly manner. BIKE India is the India’s most authoritative two-wheeler publication, a magazine for people with a passion for bikes and everything to do with their history and heritage.
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