Looking Forward to Festive Launches
Since the festive season is round the corner, we may expect a flurry of new two-wheeler launches. Naturally, it will also be an extremely busy time for us automotive journalists until Deepavali, the Festival of Lights.
To start the ball rolling, Bajaj has launched three new Pulsars: 125, 150, and 160. Yamaha has unveiled the R2, which should be launched soon. The Norton Atlas we rode last month should also appear in the company’s showrooms soon. Royal Enfield is going to bring back the old Himalayan 410 with a 440-cc engine. Besides, quite a few new electric scooter launches are also in the offing.
To touch upon a sensitive issue, the problem of ethanol blending has affected two-wheeler owners more than car owners because a majority of the two-wheelers plying on the road are not even E10-compliant. E20 petrol is a bigger problem, especially for the two-wheelers that come fitted with carburettors, due to the melting of the rubber parts in the fuel system, which makes the fuel sticky and which, in turn, makes the valves stick open. This causes loss of compression, and the two-wheeler engine refuses to start. Incidentally, the easiest way to start a bike when there is a loss of compression is to squirt a little oil from an oil can into the intake by removing the air-filter hose or by removing the spark-plug. The valve gets freed up, resulting into a little extra compression.
The phenomenon of riding or driving on the wrong side of the road has now attained pandemic proportions. Indeed, it is akin to a widespread disease with more and more people “catching the contagion”. Not only are such wrongdoers shamelessly oblivious to their misdemeanour, but they also become aggressive and belligerent if one tries to point out the gravity of their lapse. They tend to be insensitive to the fact that what they do endangers not only their own lives, but also those of the law-abiding citizens. Riding/driving on the wrong side of the road tends to cause accidents because one is compelled to swerve suddenly towards the middle of the road to avoid an oncoming moron. Then one becomes vulnerable to the traffic coming from behind. If there is a mishap, it is neither one’s own fault nor that of the driver/rider coming from behind. The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the one driving/riding on the wrong side of the road.
Aspi Bhathena
Editor
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