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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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A Pleasant Surprise

Last month we were invited by Ducati India for the first ride of the new 2025 Panigale V4 to Thailand. The ride was held at the Chang International Circuit that hosted the first round of the 2025 MotoGP season.

On a personal front, I was a little sceptical about riding a superbike on a racetrack after five long years. The last time I rode a superbike on the track was the BMW S 1000 RR at the Buddh International Circuit in 2020. I have been riding the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup race bikes but they weigh more than the Ducati and produce one-fourth the power. To make matters worse, during our drive from the Bangkok airport to the Buriram circuit, other journalists sharing the van were saying how they had just ridden the bike in Spain and Italy on a racetrack and how quickly they were going.

After a short briefing, it was time to hit the track and our lead rider was the Technical Director of DRE Racetrack Academy, Dario Marchetti. There were four Indian journalists and one from the Philippines in our group.

After following Dario for a couple of laps, I was asked to let all the riders through and follow them, but I was surprised to see that they were so slow that I passed all of them and soon found myself riding behind Dario. The irony was that, contrary to expectations, I was the quickest rider in our group. Before the ride, I was worried that I would make a fool of myself by going too slow. All I can say is that even today, at the age of 65 years, I can wobble around a racetrack at a decent pace and not make a fool of myself and I thank Lord God for this. We have a tie-up with Alpinestars for riding gear and this was the first time I wore an Alpinestars race suit, boots, and gloves. The race suit is the best fitting suit I have ever worn and the boots and gloves are very soft and supple.


Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Better Late Than Never

It is with a heavy heart that I write this editorial. We lost our former Chairman, Humayun Dhanrajgir, recently. He was a thorough gentleman and one of the best human beings I have ever met. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

‘Better late than never’ is what we can say about the new Bajaj Pulsar NS400Z. It was about 10 to 12 years ago that I had asked Bajaj when we would get to see a 400-cc Pulsar. This was even before the launch of the 400 Dominar. The chassis of the NS 200 was so good that it could easily handle a 400-cc engine.

I was invited to ride the bike at the Bajaj Auto test-track along with the international media group. The motorcycle lived up to my expectations. The Dominar engine’s power and torque delivery makes the bike easy to ride and its sharp handling allows one to throw it into corners with considerable confidence. At Rs 1.85 lakh, it is a steal.


Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Changing Dynamics

Here is something that throws ample light on how the Indian motorcycle industry has changed over the past decade.

The jury round for the Bike India Awards was held last month. New bikes that were launched between the 1st of December 2022 and the 30th of November 2023 qualified for the Bike of the Year Award 2024. There was only one 100-cc motorcycle, the Honda Shine, that was launched during this period. There were two other motorcycles below 200 cc, two below 250 cc, and two scooters with internal combustion engines (ICE), besides four electric scooters. The segment above 300 cc and below 500 cc, on the other hand, witnessed six new launches. Now, if you went back by 10 years, you would have had six to eight commuter bikes, four to five scooters, and only one or two bikes above 250 cc. Clearly, the dynamics of the Indian two-wheeler industry have changed and the manufacturers also seem to have realised that the cost of making a mid-sized motorcycle is not so much more than that of making a commuter. Moreover, profitability is far greater in respect of a mid-sized motorcycle.

There were a number of strong contenders for the Bike of the Year Award. They included the KTM 250 and 390 Duke, Triumph Speed 400 and Scrambler 400 X, Harley-Davidson X440, TVS Apache RTR 310, and the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450. We also had the BMW S 1000 RR, Ultraviolette F77 electric bike, and two Ducatis: DesertX and Diavel V4. The Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 was crowned the Bike of the Year.

The traffic situation is going from bad to worse by the day, what with the number of new vehicles coming out every day and the lack of any rider training before one gets their riding licence. We need proper rider training schools to teach traffic rules, the basic dos and don’ts of riding on the road, and, equally importantly, the principle of the right of way.


Aspi Bhathena
Editor