Best Bikes in India | No.1 Two Wheeler Magazine
Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650 will be unveiled at EICMA tomorrow and it will be offered in three variants- Astral, Celestial and Interstellar. Each will have accessories and paint scheme setting it apart from the rest.
Triumph has pulled the wraps off of the 2023 Street Triple range, the bikes have gone under the designer’s knife and the engine has also gone through major re-tuning. There are three variants on offer – R, RS and Moto 2, Moto 2 variant’s production is capped at just 765 units.
Ola Electric have clocked a sales of 20,000 units in the month of October according to the Vahan vehicle registration portal. And it happens to be the highest number of units dispatched by any EV OEM in the country. The company struck its lowest sales in June 2022 at 3426 units.
The Bavarian bike manufacturers are readying the R 1300 GS and the bike can be expected to break cover next year. The R 1250 GS sits atop the adventure motorcycle food chain and the blokes at BMW Motorrad see it fitting to build upon the proven architecture to make a bigger and better machine.
2023 Triumph Street Triple 765 will be soon unveiled to the world by November 3rd, 2022, the company has hinted at it by a social media campaign on its handles across platforms.
KTM has pulled the wraps off of the 2023 RC 8C, a perfect track weapon capped at only 200 units.
2023 Ducati Diavel V4 houses the V4 Granturismo engine along with the bike undergoing the designer’s knife as well. The new styling includes redesigned LED headlight setup with C shaped LED DRls, two-tone alloys with diamond cut effect, quad exhaust tips at the rear with LED taillight unit that follow suit with the C-shaped DRLs up front. The dash comes with a 5-inch TFT display with Bluetooth connectivity, other noteworthy features include dynamic indicators, launch control, cruise control, wheelie control, six-axis IMU, cornering ABS and traction control to name a few. 2023 Ducati Diavel has retained the muscular tank, large air vents, scooped out seat, tyre hugging mudguard and the single sided swingarm.
The new 2023 Ducati Diavel V4 houses a 1158 cc liquid cooled V4 engine that puts out 168 hp and 126 Nm of torque paired with a bi-directional quickshifter. We have seen the same engine of the Multistrada V4 as well. The Diaval offers three power modes and four ride modes- Sport, Urban, Touring and a new Wet mode. The ride modes alter the power output, engine response, throttle response to suit the condition.
2023 Ducati Diavel has shed weight by 13 kg while moving from two cylinders to four, major credit to this goes to the new chassis. The new monocoque chassis attached to the cylinder heads instead of the steel trellis unit saves around 8 kg. The rear subframe remains to be a steel trellis unit. Braking duties are done by dual Brembo Stylema four-piston calipers and 330mm discs at the front and a two-piston caliper and a single 265mm disc at the rear. The bike comes shod with Pirelli Diablo Rosso III tyres. Suspension duties are done by fully adjustable 50mm USD fork up front and monoshock at the rear. A 120 mm travel up front and 145 mm at the rear gives it 15 mm more travel over the Diavel 1260. A seat height of 790 mm and with the handlebars moved 20 mm closer to the rider makes it a very accommodating proposition for riders of all sizes.
The Italian manufacturers is yet to share a timeline for the arrival of the new 2023 Ducati Diavel, the outgoing model costs Rs 20.49 lakh(ex-showroom, India), we can expect the upgraded Diavel to cost a good premium over the existing model.
Ola Electric launched the S1 Air for Rs 79,999 making it the most affordable electric scooter in the Indian market. Major changes between the outgoing model and the Air remains to be cosmetic differences, the scooter gets a dual-tone colour scheme, tubular metal grab rail, standard telescopic fork up front and a dual shock at the rear.
Under the skin, the scooter houses a 2.5Kwh battery unit that delivers a claimed ARAI figure of 101 Km and weighs 99 kgs, it has a 4.5kW hub motor with a top speed capped at 90 km/h. The storage space under the seat is 34-litres. When compared to the siblings, the S1 gets a 3Kwh battery unit and the S1 Pro comes with a 4Kwh unit. The 0-40 dash is also slower when compared to the S1 and the Pro. Storage space as well comes up short.
In terms of features, the Air comes with Reverse mode, Ride modes, Ride profiles, in-built speakers, seven-inch touchscreen with smartphone connectivity and music and call management buttons. The scooter can booked on the company’s website for Rs 999, payment window will be open by the first week of Februrary 2023 and deliveries are expected by April 2023.
TVS Raider Connected Variant launched for Rs 99,990 (ex-showroom, Delhi) and it makes way for a new 5-inch TFT display for the digital LCD display on the standard variant. There is a voice assist feature as well.
TVS Raider Connected Variant now comes with a TFT display making provisions for Bluetooth tethering of the phone to the vehicle, one can receive notification alerts, weather forecast and turn-by-turn navigation as well. An interesting feature is how the bike navigates to the closest petrol pump automatically when there is a low fuel warning. Savvy!
With the addition of voice recognition, the rider can now control multiple functions just by asking the bike to do so, it includes using navigation, engaging music and adjusting brightness to name a few.
The bike still houses the same 124.8 cc, air and oil-cooled single cylinder engine mated to a five sped gearbox that puts out 11.4 hp at 7,500 rpm and 11.2 Nm of torque at 6,000 rpm. The two riding modes: Eco and Power alter the acceleration as the name respectively indicates. A standard telescopic unit at the front and a monoshock at the rear takes care of suspension duties and the bike runs on 17-inch alloy wheels. Braking is done by a combi-braking system that has a petal disc at the front and a drum unit at the rear. The company claims a 0-60 km/h in 5.9 seconds and the top speed is rated at 99 km/h.
The new connected variant only comes with alloy wheels and goes up against the likes of Hero Glamour XTEC. The Connected Variant is the most affordable bike with a TF display and it comes with two colour options: black and yellow. The current price tag is introductory, chances are that it may hike up in the future. The drum and disc brake variants are priced at Rs 85,973 and Rs 93,489, respectively.
