Bike India Team

One-wheel Ride

February 11, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

These bikes do not have a headlamp. They have an awkward looking iron bar extending from the rear seat. They are generally covered with thousands of stickers and they tend to sound like the loudest factories in the locality.

Though they are registered as two-wheelers, the riders prefer to go on a ‘One-wheel Ride’.

Xkmph.com organised the second annual motorcycle stunt show in Kurseong, West Bengal, on December 26, 2010. The ‘One-wheel Ride’ is one of the most awaited stunt shows in the hills of West Bengal and Sikkim.

The show had some of the finest stunters from Kurseong like Wang, Rohin, Prawesh, Ananta and Kunal. They were representing the Kurseong xKmph stunting community. The team performed some excellent stunts and tricks that were lustily cheered by the crowd. The major attraction of the show turned out to be the official stunters of xKmph, Milan Pradhan and Monu. The duo kept the audience on their feet as they carried on with breathtaking stunts one after the other. Wheelies, stoppies, rolling stoppies, one-hander stoppies, high chairs, human compass and donuts, all came quite easily from the duo.

With proper gear and protection we had a super fun session of volunteers to ride as the stunters’ pillion as they performed stoppies and wheelies. Both of them used several bikes from different makers and performed some adventurous stunts even with multiple pillion riders.

One of the additions to this year’s show was the inclusion of ‘daCyclist.com’ members. DaCyclist.com was launched in mid-2010 as a sister Website of xKmph.com. It is aimed at bringing a greener lifestyle into existence by promoting the use of bicycles. One-wheel Ride was a good opportunity to showcase the hidden talent of this community. Three cyclists from daCyclist.com performed beside the biking stunters. Dhiraj, Rana and Sunny performed everything that our bikers had performed on the motorised variants.

The message that everyone carries at xKmph is quite simple, be it stunters, tourers or even pillions: ‘Ride hard, ride safe and always wear a helmet’.

The Second Coming

February 10, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Chris Pfeiffer coming to India, again

We still remember our Bike India inbox being flooded with complaints from angry and disgrunted readers across the country who didn’t get a chance to witness Chriss Pfeiffer in the five cities that he toured as part of the Red Bull Chris Pfeiffer Street Tour 2010. Well, fret not as the world’s greatest stuntman of our age is coming to India again, and this time will be performing in ten cities instead of five. The event, which kicks off on 21st March will visit the cities of Kolkata, Jaipur, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Cochin before finally wrapping up on 6^th april 2011. Stay tuned for the official schedule which Red Bull will release shortly.

Words: Saeed Akhtar

Hero Electric to enter European markets

February 8, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

The Indian electric vehicle manufacturer plans on introducing Europe-Only bikes

Hero Electric, one of India’s leading electric two wheeler manufacturer is all set to enter the European market by 2012. For this, Hero is developing electric bikes that utilize Hero’s in house technical expertise along with technology support from a Taiwanese Firm. The company plans on manufacturing the bikes in India and then exporting them to Europe. These bikes will only be available in the European market and not in the domestic market. The launch is expected to happen within a years time and apparently the company is in talks with distributors in Europe. After which the bikes will be sent for homologation process to various countries in Europe. Pricing and other specification of the bike have not been revealed yet. The company is excited about entering a new and big market however, theyare also expecting low sales initially.

Words: Ravi Chandnani

Segway to hit Indian shores

February 7, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

The personal transport maker introduces the x2 and i2 in the country

A word that best describes the current state of Indian automobile market really well is – BUZZING!
Almost every week a new player enters this market by introducing its product to woo a fraction of the 1.2 billion Indians. Segway Inc. the US based personal mobile vehicle maker is the latest firm docking at the Indian shores. The firm makes zero-emission, battery operated two-wheelers on which a person stands and can zip around narrow indoor paths or out-doors, at a max speed of around 25 km/h. You might remember it from the Mall Cop movie.

This could be an ideal toy of the spoilt rich brats as it has a steep price of over Rs 3 lakh, making it out of reach for most of us. Now, why would a flourishing US firm enter a market at the other end of the globe? Obviously, Segway sees some sizable profit in India and the spoilt brats make up just a fraction of their target audience. According to Jason G Barton, Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Segway Inc. says that the company’s focus will be on commercial usage and for policing where it sees tremendous potential. These vehicles can be of high practical utility at places like the Special Economic Zones (SEZ), airports, golf courses, malls and large factories. You know, just like Paul Blart did in Mall Cop.

The US firm has tied up with Bird Group of Companies, which is into high-end retail covering BMW cars to luxury yachts. Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Group, said that its prime target would be commercial establishments and the firm will also offer it on lease. The fun and practical Segways will be imported from New Hampshire near Boston the Indian partner will display and market it through its 30 centres across the country. To start with Segway will offer base models namely the x2 and i2. As these pictures suggest, the i2 the saner of the two apt for indoor use, while the more rugged x2 can be used outdoors. The fun two-wheelers are now available in India. Now, it’s too short a notice to save that big an amount. Guess we have to join the security force of an upmarket mall to get you a ride report.

Words: Sarmad Kadiri

2011 Karizma R

February 4, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Hero Honda tweaks the 223cc bike to keep it fresh

India’s leading two-wheeler maker, Hero Honda has giving a minor face-lift to the Karizma-R. We are not sure if we can call it ‘new’ but the pictures below highlight some of the visible changes. The price and engine specs remain unchanged.