Bike India Team

Payback time for KTM

July 12, 2011 by Bike India Team

Bajaj Pulsar orange Austrian firm shares marketing mantra with Bajaj in Pulsar 220 promotions

With this international JV, Bajaj might have opened the floodgates of low-cost supply chain for KTM, but the Austrian firm has taught a few tricks of the trade to the India manufacturer too, especially in terms of effective marketing. KTM have been relying on this tried and tested sales technique for years now. It’s simple, but very effective.

If you’ve spotted the new Pulsar 220 advert, you’ll know what we’re talking about. All you need is a bike, painted in the trademark orange colour, and a model cloaked in all-black leathers riding it on the streets. No over-priced celebrity endorsement, no radical location and no skimpily clad dames. It worked in Europe and, going by Bajaj’s continuous sales jump, the advertising campaign is doing a bit of good to the Pune-based company as well.

Mahindra’s bigger displacement plans

July 6, 2011 by Bike India Team

Mahindra 2Wheelers plans to relaunch the Stallio motorcycle; 135cc and 150cc models on the anvil

Mahindra 2Wheelers’ first entry into Indian motorcycling was not a very rosy affair. Minor niggles and teething problems with the company’s very first offering, the 110cc Stallio, led Mahindra to withdraw it after a couple of months.However, the giant is now preparing for a renewed onslaught, and recently revealed that it will relaunch the Stallio later this year. In addition, the company is also planning to introduce higher-displacement motorcycles in the near future, with inputs from their Italian acquisitions.

“We will be relaunching the Stallio during the festive season this year. Earlier, we had made a soft launch of the bike. We have made some modifications and it is ready for launch,” Devendra Shinde, marketing vice president of MTWL, told reporters in Kolkata recently. The Mahindra Group company , which entered the two-wheeler market in 2008, has registered a 53 percent growth in eastern India during April-June this year over the same period last year. The company, which currently deals in 125cc scooters, is working towards expanding its portfolio. “We have a strategic intent to be an end-to-end player in the two-wheeler market. Over a period of time, we will have presence in the motorcycle segment as well,” said Shinde. “Although our major emphasis is on scooter market, with increasing demand in the rural and semi urban markets, we are also committed towards the motorcycle segment. Work is on developing 135cc and 155cc motorcycles.” He added that the company’s participation in this year’s Moto GP would go a long way in creating a brand space for itself in the motorcycle market.

First Indian woman to own a Harley Davidson

July 6, 2011 by Bike India Team

Harley Davidson Iron 883 And finally we have the first woman in India to own a Harley.

Sheeja Matthews, mother of a seven year old is a Banglore based HR professional who has been riding to work for the past ten years on a Rajdoot 350. She has upgraded to the Harley Davidson Iron 883 and will be riding to work at least once a week. The 34 year old also plans on taking weekend trips on the Harley. Not only does she ride a Harley, but also drives a Tata Safari and a Chevrolet Cruze. She has been a drag racer as well which qualifies her as a total petrolhead.

Retailed at Rs 6.5 lakh (ex-showroom, Bangalore) the Iron 883, along with the Super Low are some of the models that are assembled at Harley Davidson’s factory in Bawal, Haryana; making these models most popular in Harley’s Indian line up.

Internationally, the HOG (Harley Owners Group) has several blue-blooded woman members and Sheeja has initiated this for H-D’s Indian arm. Wouldn’t we love to see this trend grow?

Jawa & Yezdi legacy lives on

July 5, 2011 by Bike India Team

Yezdi Club Mangalore Yezdi and Jawa thump their way through south

Very few bikes trigger the kind of adrenaline rush like the Jawa did. And to celebrate the dawn of the marque, Jawa owners worldwide celebrate their proud ownership of this bike on the second Sunday of July every year. While some may plan out an international virtual rally, the Yezdi and Jawa club of Manglore will be hosting the “International Jawa Day”.

Proximity of the Jawa factory has boomed a fan following in Manglore, Mysore and Banglore which has survived for more than a decade and half. Policies in the fifties prohibited the import of motorcycles. However the assembly of foreign machines prompted former agent Rustom Irani to set up his own firm. As a publicity stunt, he organized a trip of two policemen to Czechoslovakia in 1951 and the feat was repeated in 1955 by three others. Following this event and the setting up of the Mysore factory, the first motorcycle rolled off the assembly lines in 1961. The Company then sold the bike under the name of the more popular Yezdi.

Several models like the Roadking, Deluxe, Monarch and Supersprint based on the 250 cc two stroke engine followed until 1996. Stricter emission norms and budget limitations have erased the Jawa dot off the Indian map. While the Jawa may not be as clinically efficient as the new generation bikes, it has bred a generation of motorcyclists like none.

This ain’t just about money (and glory), honey!

June 28, 2011 by Bike India Team

motorcycle travel sun set Travel enthusiasts, helped by new age technology, join forces at various forums to help each other while on the road

When Dwarakanath and his friends set out for Ladakh on their two-wheelers, In June 2008, they were going great guns till they reached Rohtang Pass. At that point, the clutch plates of one of the bikes gave way, and they had no clue how and where they could get it fixed. They called friends and fellow riders who asked them to retrace their steps to Manali, where they would find find mechanics who could fix the problem.

New age technology, has made riding to the most inaccessible corners of the country so much easier. Mobile phones with 3G and and laptops with data connectivity have made a huge difference. Lost? Just call a friend for directions on the mobile or log on to your iPhone or android phone and check out your latitudes yourself. When did our parents have such an advantage?

But apart from mobile phones and laptops, there is a third dimension, which has made driving around the country a pleasure, and that is a travel forum. Get on to one and a first-time rider or even the most experienced one will get the latest updates on everything he or she needs while driving from point A to B – road condition, directions, number of toll booths, toll amounts, traffic rules in each State etc etc. There are numerous travel forums that have a very strong online presence, where a huge number of automobile and two-wheeler enthusiasts congregate to get the latest information on travel routes, road conditions etc of places they intend to visit.
bike on a hill ride
Nithin KD, is one such frequent rider who not only keeps himself updated on the latest developments of the road he is about to travel on but also helps others who drive around the country. Though his travelling has been curtailed due to his work, he still helps anyone who asks for information on road routes.

“I once guided a friend, who was riding a two-wheeler all the way from Shimla to Manali via my phone, giving him directions till he reached his destination. The friend would stop at regular intervals and check on the route he was taking, by talking to me,” says Nithin. Like him, there are others for whom travelling is a passion and helping other riders a bounden duty. There are no rewards, just the satisfaction of helping another fellow rider that drives them.

For Yogesh Sarkar of BCMTouring (www.bcmtouring.com) helping travellers is a 24×7 experience. “Whether you are on a bike or a car, the basic requirements remain the same – road conditions, availability of petrol pumps, weather updates and accommodation,” he told Bike India (www.bikeindia.in). The basic idea is to keep each other updated about these factors while travelling around the country.

“When I travelled extensively around the country, I took the help of travel enthusiasts for my requirements, so the idea behind a travel forum was my way of paying back to the community of travel enthusiasts for all they had done for me.”

He says he realises how desperately people need information today. “Last year there were 1.5 lakh views for the condition of the road between Manali and Leh, and this year so far we have received over 70,000 views for the same route.” The minute a rider does a difficult section, he or she posts an update about the condition of the road, and since weather conditions in this section can change travel plans overnight, there are constant updates about this stretch.

Around the same time when Dwarakanath and his friends were riding through Jammu & Kashmir, the Amarnath land dispute also erupted. They immediately got in touch with friends who kept them in the loop of events unfolding across the valley. He says he too has helped numerous two-wheeler riders who called him for help in an emergency.

Rushabh Parekh who runs popular automotive forum team-bhp.com (www.team-bhp.com), which has an on-the-road section, believes it’s about sharing your experiences, so that others can benefit. Over a hundred travelogues are uploaded on his site every month and they along with travel logs are available on request to any member of the forum. Team-bhp boasts 12.5 lakh unique visitors on their forum and the increasing number is proof of the burgeoning community of travellers in the country.

“The idea is to give instant and invaluable feedback to travellers in real-time, which could benefit them, whichever part of the country they are in,“ Rushabh told Bike India (www.bikeindia.in).

Another name that crops up frequently on travel forums is HV Kumar. His name is on almost every second travel-related discussion on the forum. Get on Facebook and type HV Kumar and you’ll be taken to his personal page, and more interestingly, to a page which goes by the title: HV Kumar – Fan, Forum & Message Board. On this page, anyone who needs information of any route around the country, affordable hotels, road taxes, condition of the roads – whether it’s the Golden Quadrilateral, National or State highways, or even the roads in a city or town- he or she will find it. His travel logs are also at your disposal if ever you need them.