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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