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Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

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MAY 2026

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Smart Engineering

This month we celebrate the 250th issue of Bike India magazine. The BMW F 450 GS was launched last month at a starting price of Rs 4,70,000 for the entry level and Rs 5,30,000 for the top-of-the-line variant. These are introductory prices. The motorcycle has a parallel 450-cc twin-cylinder engine developing 48 hp at 8,750 rpm and a max torque of 43 Nm at 6,750 rpm, with a six-speed gearbox.

Incidentally, the GS 450 attracts the same amount of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as the top-of-the-line BMW 7 Series, a luxury yacht, or a helicopter. This makes the GS 450 buyer feel as if they are in the same league, wealth-wise, as the owner of a ’copter or a luxury yacht.

To beat the exorbitant GST on motorcycles above 350-cc engine capacity, the engineers at Bajaj, Triumph, and KTM have done something very smart: they have reduced the engine capacity without incurring any extra cost, shortened the stroke, and increased the length of the connecting rod, and by doing this, everything remains the same so far as the hardware such as the height of the engine and rest of the engine internals are concerned. The only changes required are those in valve timing and ignition timing. The downside of making these changes is that the engine becomes more oversquare than before and this can cause loss of bottom-end and mid-range power and torque. It will be quite easy to convert your 350-cc KTM, Triumph or Bajaj bikes back into 400-cc machines by just changing the crankshaft and connecting rod and no one will be able to find out if you are running a 350-cc bike or a 400-cc one because they will look identical externally. Neither the RTO nor the GST official will be able to tell the difference.

Aspi Bhathena

Editor

APRIL 2026

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Spiralling Costs

From the first of this month, the prices of two-wheelers will go up as the result of a rise in the cost of manufacturing, which, in turn, has gone up due to the rising cost of fuel and gas, which has a direct bearing on the cost of raw material and transport.

The Bike India Awards were presented last month. We have been presenting these awards for the past 21 years. When I look back upon how the contenders have changed over this period of time, it becomes apparent that in 2006, most of them were commuter motorcycles and scooters, with only a sprinkling of 250-cc to 350-cc motorcycles. In contrast to that, we did not have a single 100-cc motorcycle for the jury round this time, the smallest capacity bike being a 125-cc one. Even the scooters this year were 150 cc. In keeping with the trend of the times, we also had electric adventure motorcycles and electric scooters.

The Royal Enfield Guerrilla has received an update. The notable change is a transition from dual-purpose tyres to road-specific ones and this has made a big difference in the handling of this motorcycle. It feels planted and the grip offered by the new tyres is better than that from the earlier dual-purpose ones.

The Indian motor sport fraternity has suffered a double blow, first with the demise of Sanjay Sharma (Hardy), head of JK Tyre Motorsport, in February, and the loss of Hari Singh, five-time national rally champion, last month. Hardy was instrumental in Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok making it to Formula 1 and Gaurav Gill to the World Rally Championship (WRC). I had known Hari Singh since his rallying days and I got to know him even better when I started running the GT Cup concurrently with the JK Tyre National Championship races. He was always willing to help everyone. They say that god takes away the good people first. My heartfelt condolences to his family. Keep rallying in peace, my friend, till we meet again. The sad part is that the accident that claimed his life could have been avoided.

Aspi Bhathena

Editor

MARCH 2026

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GST: An Unexpected Fallout

The higher rate of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on motorcycles above 350 cc is forcing manufacturers to downsize their 400-cc bikes to 350 cubic centimetres. There are rumours that Triumph is already testing a bored-down 350-cc version of its 400-cc line-up.

The GST Council is levying 40 per cent GST on motorcycles above 350 cc, thereby equating such motorcycles with luxury cars like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. This is utterly ridiculous. As a result, the same thing that happened in the car industry is going to happen in the motorcycle industry—manufacturers making sub-four-metre cars to get the benefit of a lower rate of GST. These cars are made specifically for the Indian market. Similarly, motorcycle manufacturers will continue making 400-cc-plus bikes for export while selling the 350-cc versions in India.

It is heartening to see that the police are cracking down on loud aftermarket exhaust systems. They should catch those motorcycle riders who create a nuisance at night with those crack-and-bang sounds. Then we have those loudspeakers blaring out music during festivals that are far louder than any motorcycle exhaust. However, the police do not interfere because, maybe, such events are sponsored by local politicians. The law should be the same for everyone, whether it is a car with a loud exhaust system, a motorcycle, or loudspeakers. All should be equal before the law.

To curb pollution, the government of Maharashtra wants to ban bikes that are more than 15 years old in Pune and Mumbai. They conveniently turn a blind eye towards the rampant felling of trees in the name of construction and development, thus giving rise to dust and pollution. This phenomenon is the main source of pollution in all the major cities across the country.

Aspi Bhathena

Editor

FEBRUARY 2026

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FTA Gives Rise to High Hopes

The latest buzz on social media is the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union. Everyone seems to think that the prices of European motorcycles such as BMW, Ducati, and KTM will come down. They may come down in respect of certain models that are manufactured in Europe. Most of these manufacturers also have manufacturing facilities in Thailand, and India already has an FTA with Thailand. The price of riding gear and helmets could come down, and we do hope that the restriction on the import of safety gear is removed.

The commuters in the state of Kerala observe traffic rules punctiliously. Hardly any instances of riding on the wrong side of the road are observed. Both the rider and the pillion wear helmets, and the traffic is well organized, with public transport buses stopping in a proper lay-by and not in the middle of the road. Such discipline was observed across the state, not just in the city of Kochi but even in small towns. Perhaps the high literacy rate in Kerala has something to do with the citizens’ behaviour on the road. Furthermore, although the roads in Kerala are narrow with single-lane highways, the road surface is first-class.

The fascination with media has grown to such an extent that anybody with a smartphone becomes an expert. What these people do is read other people’s reviews and then write their stories and speak on social media. If you ask them for their own assessment or feedback, you will instantly realise that they do not have the faintest clue about what is happening in the automotive world. After all, the easiest thing is to criticise someone else’s work. If you think there is a problem with a bike, then you should be able to offer a solution to that problem, and not just say that the bike is bad. There is no perfect motorcycle or scooter in the world; the best compromise is a good bike.

Aspi Bhathena

Editor