No Use Putting the Cart Before the Horse
This month Bike India celebrates its 14th anniversary and I would like to thank all our readers, manufacturers, and our supporters for being with us for the last 14 years.
There has been frenzied activity on the electric two-wheeler front for the past couple of months, including the notification from the Niti Ayog saying that all two-wheelers below 150 cc will have to be EVs from 2025. The idea may seem very futuristic, but it is a little unrealistic. To develop an internal-combustion (IC) engine bike the lead time is between three and five years. Imagine developing a bike with electric propulsion from the ground up in six years. It is a very difficult task.
The electric two-wheelers in the market are of a poor quality, made either in China or with Chinese components. We will end up with a heap of scrap because these bikes will not last for more than a couple of years. First let us get clean and uninterrupted power supply before we go electric.
For our anniversary issue we always have some special stories and this year I decided to conduct a ride at the Mecca of motorcycle racing: the Isle of Man TT course and the motorcycle of choice was the Royal Enfield Continental GT. For this ride I had two legends with me: Siddhartha Lal and Freddie Spencer. Siddhartha is known for turning around the fortunes of Royal Enfield and creating these two brilliant twins. “Fast Freddie” is three-time world champion and the only man to win the 250 and 500 world championships in the same year. What better place to put the Contis through their paces than the most demanding racetrack in the world? This time instead of me telling you how the bikes performed, it is Freddie Spencer doing the critiquing this time around. It was a pleasure to ride with Siddhartha and Freddie. For me, it was a dream ride and I would like to thank the Royal Enfield teams both in India and the United Kingdom for making this ride possible.
Once again I would like to thank all our readers and supporters.
Aspi Bhathena
Editor
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