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Trying Times Are Here Again

The second wave of the coronavirus has hit the country and most of the cities are under partial or total lockdown. Needless to say, this is going to take a toll on the economy which was just about trying to limp back to normality following the outbreak of the fearsome pandemic last year.

This month we bring you the long-awaited Bike India Awards. We delayed the Awards this year in order have a proper presentation ceremony. However, the virus struck again and made it impossible for us to organise a presentation ceremony. Therefore, we decided to personally call on all the winners and present the trophies at their offices.

The year gone by was a tough one for each one of us. Even with all the headwind, the automotive industry has done pretty well and that reflected in the number of new bikes launched in 2020. We had as many as 25 new bikes contending for the coveted Two-wheeler of the Year Award.

Being the only dedicated two-wheeler magazine, it is important that we bring you all the latest news and first rides of all the new scooters, motorcycles, and EVs. This month we have tested an electric motorcycle and also taken a first ride on the Triumph Trident 660.

Rampant lack of discipline and consideration for fellow citizens go to show how we have no respect for traffic rules. To pander to our self-centred convenience, we will not ride for those extra 50 metres to make a U-turn but go down the wrong way instead. This attitude has now proved detrimental to us with the spread of COVID-19 due to negligence in wearing the mandatory mask. Please wear a mask and a helmet while riding a two-wheeler. I wish our leaders practised what they preach.

 

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Danger Looms Large

The COVID-19 cases are going up by the day in Maharashtra, giving rise to the fear that we may be heading towards another lockdown. We are to blame for this. The day they got to know that the vaccine was being administered, people thought that now it was all right to stop wearing masks and do away with social distancing. That seems to be the reason for the sudden spike in the number of cases. Needless to say, if there is another lockdown, it will be disastrous for the economy. We have been suffering from an economic slow-down even before the outbreak of the pandemic.

After a lot of delay, we saw the Indian Motorcycle of the Year (IMOTY) awards for 2021 being presented last month. The main reason for the delay was that we wanted to have a ground event and not a virtual one. That posed quite a few challenges, but the event went off very well and for that we need to thank Dr Raghupati Singhania, Chairman and Managing Director of JK Tyres, Sanjay Sharma, also from JK Tyres, and the IMOTY jury.

The question was being asked as to why the Honda H’ness CB350 was missing from the shortlist. That was entirely the fault of the manufacturer. We had given them 40 days to provide the jury members with the motorcycle, but the company failed to do so and that was why the CB350 was missing from the IMOTY awards.

This month we pitch two adventure sport bikes head-to-head to find out how they perform and which is best suited to your riding requirements: the Triumph Tiger 900 or the Ducati 950 Multistrada.

The fuel prices continue their northward trend. Indeed, they have breached the Rs-100 mark for one litre of petrol in some of the states. As has been pointed out in these columns time and again, this not only adversely affects two-wheeler owners but also the sale of new motorcycles and scooters.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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No End to the Citizen’s Woes

With the crude oil price hovering near the $60 mark, the price of petrol has crossed the Rs 95 mark and it continues to rise by the day, thus adversely affecting the ordinary citizen. It is the two-wheeler owner who is the worst hit in this situation because they pay from their own pocket for the fuel, whereas the rich who own high-end cars usually fill the tank on company account.

The Union Budget this year brought little or no solace to the ordinary citizen and it is supposed to be a Budget for growth. On the one hand, the finance minister claims that this is a growth-oriented Budget and, on the other, more and more cess/tax gets levied. It is not too much to say that very survival has become difficult for the ordinary citizen.

During the lockdown last year, the crude price was at an all-time low; however, the benefit was never passed down to the consumer. Most people complain about the current situation off the record, only Rajeev Bajaj has the courage to say it aloud on television. I wish we had more people like him in the automotive industry.

The Delhi government has been offering sizeable incentives to customers to switch from fossil-fuel vehicles to electric ones (EV). Offering such incentives is a step in the right direction, but we also need an adequate infrastructure of charging stations for the EV to be a success. Otherwise, it will be the same story as CNG where one had to queue up for hours on end to get a tank filled.

The biggest challenge that the EV faces is charging. Most two-wheeler owners live in co-operative society buildings or apartments and it is more or less impossible to charge the battery overnight unless one can pull out the battery pack and take it home to charge it.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Adding Fuel to Fire?

As the country struggles to get out of the economic crisis, the government keeps increasing the cost of fuel. Where most countries in the world have a bailout packages to help the citizens, in India it is the opposite: the citizens are paying a fortune for petrol and diesel.

When the crude oil prices were at an all-time high of US $120 a barrel, we were paying less for petrol and diesel. As compared to that, the price of crude now is US $57 per barrel and we are paying in excess of Rs 91 per litre of petrol and Rs 80-plus per litre of diesel. Needless to say, this is having a massive impact on the citizenry when people are reluctant to use public transport. In many cases, public transport is not yet at its most effective owing to the pandemic restrictions.

The cost of diesel also has an impact on the ordinary citizen. All public transport vehicles use diesel which, in turn, increases the cost of transport which, in turn, increases the cost of the essential commodities.

One of the biggest challenges the country is facing is complete lack of discipline. Nobody cares about other people and this shows in the way we behave on the road: total disrespect for other road-users so long as it suits our convenience; even if it means riding those extra 50 metres to make a U-turn to avoid going down the wrong way. In Pune, on my daily riding route to work and back, I see the police apprehend people and fine them for breaking the traffic signals, but, at the same time, they turn a blind eye to people riding down the wrong way. In my view, riding or driving down the wrong way is a worse offence than running a traffic light.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Looking Forward to a Normal Life

Last year flew by with more than three months spent in a countrywide lockdown that is still affecting a lot of business houses, forcing them to cut cost, lay off people or, the worst, shut shop altogether. Let us hope that things will now improve and we will be able to go back to our pre-COVID-19 life.

This month we have some great stories for you. Finally, we got our hands on the Honda H’ness CB350 and we pitted it against the Benelli Imperiale and the Royal Enfield Meteor to find out their respective strong points and weak points. We also have exclusive first rides of the all-new Triumph Trident and the all-new Ducati Multistrada, only in Bike India.

There is a constant debate between IC-engine scooters and electic vehicles (EV). If you know what your daily commute is and if it is less than 60 kilometres, you can buy an electric scooter. If, on the other hand, your daily running is more than 70 to 75 km, then you will be in trouble with an EV. One of the biggest deterrents for electric scooters is the cost. When you have to pay nearly double the price for an electric scooter, as compared to a regular scooter, then the economics go out of the window, because by the time you can save what you would have spent on petrol, it would be time to buy a new bike.

The police are doing a great job of enforcing the rule regarding compulsory wearing of masks. I wish they enforced the helmet law with the same zest and fined people in the same manner.

I would like to wish all our readers a happy New Year and hope everybody wears a helmet and obeys all traffic rules. Don’t drink and ride, and ride safe.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Looking Back, Looking Forth

This is the last editorial in the year 2020. The year just flew by with over three months of total lockdown and some curbs still in place. We, at Bike India, tried to do our best to bring the latest news and first ride reports to you even during the lockdown period.

The long-awaited Meteor from Royal Enfield is finally here and it marks a big step in the right direction. It is a totally new motorcycle, unlike in the past, starting with the engine, which is an overhead cam unit with two valves per cylinder, although I would have preferred a four-valve unit. The frame is also all-new with the engine as a stressed member. The Meteor is a big step up and you may read a detailed report in this issue. We have also tested the new BS6 BMW G 310 GS. There is a big improvement in the engine refinement and another big plus is the reduction in the price of that motorcycle.

There has been a big surge in the sales of two-wheelers during the festive season as there was a lot of pent-up demand with prospective customers wanting to buy bikes but postponing the plan owing to the countrywide lockdown. Now they seem to have decided to make the purchase during the auspicious festive season. The sales figures from December 2020 to March 2021 will indicate the actual state of the two-wheeler market as also the economy.

Touching upon law and order, it would be great if the police implemented the traffic rules as stringently as they implement the rule about wearing a mask. It would also save a lot of law-abiding citizens’ lives who do not break traffic rules themselves, but get killed in road accidents due to other people, say, riding or driving down the wrong way and violating traffic rules with impunity. Stay safe, maintain a safe distance, and with care.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Looking Forward to Festive Boost

We are in the midst of the festive season and we hope to see a surge in two-wheeler sales following the prolonged slump due to the countrywide lockdown.

It was during this period of lockdown that India moved from BS4 to BS6 and because of that we are re-testing all the existing bikes for performance figures. Some interesting facts have emerged from these tests. While most of the bikes have become slower, surprisingly some have become quicker. While most have gone for an additional catalytic converter in the exhaust bend-pipe, some have managed to achieve the emission figures with a single cat in the silencer.

There is only one industrialist in the country who has the guts to call a spade a spade and that is Rajiv Bajaj who has once again taken a stand not to advertise on any of the news channels that spew venom and create hatred amongst people. Now Parle G have followed suit and I hope more advertisers do the same. Hats off to you, Rajiv Bajaj, once again for taking this stand.

All of a sudden, every manufacturer seems to want a share of the pie in the classic retro segment dominated by the Royal Enfield 350 Bullet. First it was Jawa 300, then Benelli launched the Imperiale 400, and now Honda have launched the H’ness CB350 to take on the Bullet. At the same time, Royal Enfield are getting ready to launch the Meteor 350 based on the very successful 650 Interceptor and Continental GT.

We, at Bike India, are proud that a bike made in India and our Two-wheeler of the Year as well as the Indian Motorcycle of the Year (IMOTY) was adjudged the Bike of the Year in Thailand and also won the MCN Retro Bike of the Year award for the second time.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Alas, It Still Is a Bleak Scenario

Uncertainty continues to haunt the economy as COVID-19 cases keep mounting with more than 90,000 cases being reported daily. Going by the fact that the government of Maharashtra is enforcing Section 144, it looks like a long haul before we can see some sort of normality returning and, by the look of it, the vaccine seems to be quite some distance away.

Most people have taken a salary cut; I would say the lucky ones still have a job and the unfortunate ones have lost their jobs and their means of livelihood. There is no sign of a stimulus package in the near future and, to make matters worse, fuel prices continue their northward trend, thus making the ordinary citizen the worst-hit as they have to shell out more for the daily commute and for all the essential commodities.

With Bharat Stage VI norms coming in, we have been testing all the new BS6 variants and what we have found is that most bikes have suffered a drop in performance even in spite of some manufacturers increasing the engine capacity to make up for the decrease in performance.

The ban on import of goods has resulted in a shortage of tyres for the high-end bikes. As one of the manufacturers said, they do not have a stock of tyres for most of the big bikes.

The sale of entry-level two-wheelers has gained some momentum over the last couple of months as people prefer to use their own transport rather than relying on the inadequate public transport system.

The bike we are looking forward to is the all-new Royal Enfield Meteor. It will be a 350-cc single- cylinder motorcycle and its engine has been derived from the 650 twins. It will have a four-valve cylinder-head and it should be a refined powerplant. Since the 650-cc Royal Enfield twins have set the bar high, our expectations are also just as high and we are looking forward to riding the Meteor next month.

 

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Looking Forward to Festive Momentum

The festive season is round the corner and manufacturers are looking forward to it to regain the sales momentum that has been eluding them for the past 10 months. With things heading back towards normality and the supply chains getting completed, we may expect an increase in the number of new two-wheelers being sold.

With the restrictions on import from China, two-wheeler manufacturers are going to face difficulties in production as well as costing because many of them source components from that country. Particularly with the BS6 norms in force, most of them import fuel-injection systems from China. In this context, there is a question that we need to ask ourselves: why is it cheaper to import components from China than manufacturing them here in India? You don’t require rocket science to manufacture components in India; it is all the hurdles and restrictions laid down by the authorities that make doing business a tough proposition.

If a ban on Chinese goods comes into force, most of the electric two-wheeler manufacturers will have to shut shop since most of the critical components such as batteries and motors are imported from the Land of the Dragon.

The strict enforcement of the rule regarding wearing masks is laudable, but I wish the authorities would enforce traffic rules in the same manner. Rules such as wearing a helmet, not more than two persons astride a two-wheeler, and not riding down the wrong way. In doing so, we would also save a lot of lives that are lost in road accidents. In the Koregaon Park area of Pune, for instance, we see the police apprehending people for breaking a traffic signal, which is good, but they turn a blind eye to those riding or driving down the wrong way, which is sad. This anomaly needs to be addressed forthwith.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Let’s Look at the Positive Side

This month Bike India completes 15 years. The magazine, dedicated only to bikes, has gone from strength to strength over this period of time.

As we all know, the Indian economy has been showing a decline for the past couple of years. COVID-19 struck in March this year and it resulted in a further decline in the sales of two-wheelers, what with the country going into a lockdown for three months. The partial “unlock” has seen some growth in sales figure, but, at the same time, manufacturers are facing difficulties in the supply chain because some of the vendors are located in containment zones.

Well, enough about the doom and gloom. Let’s look at the positive side. Two-wheeler sales have shown signs of recovery. Royal Enfield posted their best sales figures in the month of June 2020. The feather in the cap for Royal Enfield is that the Interceptor 650 was the best-selling motorcycle above 125 cc. It is a big achievement to be number one in a market like the United Kingdom. It shows that people want pure, unadulterated motorcycling at an affordable price. The Interceptor 650 has enough power and performance to satisfy most riders and the only electronic aid on the bike is ABS for safety. Indeed, this is a proud moment for the Indian automobile industry because an Indian motorcycle manufacturer has achieved this.

This month I would like to welcome Adam Child ‘Chad’ to the Bike India team. Adam will be a regular contributor to the magazine. In fact, he has started his innings with the cover story on the Ducati Superleggera.

On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Bike India I would like to thank all our readers and the manufacturers for their support. I would also like to thank the marketing team and my editorial team for their support and hard work in bringing out this magazine month on month.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor