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Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

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OCTOBER 2026

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All-round Improvement Necessary

The festive season is just round the corner, and we expect to see a big surge in the sales of new two-wheelers. This is good for the industry, but, at the same time, infrastructure development is not keeping pace with the number of new bikes and cars coming on to the road, resulting in clogged arteries.

Now the bikes are getting faster, have better handling, much better tyres, and very good brakes, but sadly it is taking us much longer to cover the same distance than 20 years ago. This only shows that even with much better bikes, we are actually going slower and taking more time than before. Though the roads are wider than, say, 20 years ago, the surface is far worse today compared to what it used to be two decades back.

The quality of riders on the road has gone down drastically as well, and this makes riding difficult and dangerous at the same time. Somehow people have lost respect for the law, and at the same time the police do not seem to care at times when they see three people riding on a two-wheeler in front of them or people ignoring a red signal. It is not just young boys; it is girls and even older people, and you have to take evasive action to avoid people braking signals or going down the wrong way.

The only way out is to enforce the traffic rules, introduce stricter riding tests, and make it mandatory for all two-wheeler manufacturers to have a rider training programme as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity.

The civic body also has to get its act together to improve the infrastructure. There is not a single road in Pune where you can ride in a straight line; you are constantly having to weave to avoid potholes or manholes, as either they tend to protrude or are dangerously concave.


Aspi Bhathena

Editor

SEPTEMBER 2026

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Looking Forward to Festive Launches

Since the festive season is round the corner, we may expect a flurry of new two-wheeler launches. Naturally, it will also be an extremely busy time for us automotive journalists until Deepavali, the Festival of Lights.

To start the ball rolling, Bajaj has launched three new Pulsars: 125, 150, and 160. Yamaha has unveiled the R2, which should be launched soon. The Norton Atlas we rode last month should also appear in the company’s showrooms soon. Royal Enfield is going to bring back the old Himalayan 410 with a 440-cc engine. Besides, quite a few new electric scooter launches are also in the offing.

To touch upon a sensitive issue, the problem of ethanol blending has affected two-wheeler owners more than car owners because a majority of the two-wheelers plying on the road are not even E10-compliant. E20 petrol is a bigger problem, especially for the two-wheelers that come fitted with carburettors, due to the melting of the rubber parts in the fuel system, which makes the fuel sticky and which, in turn, makes the valves stick open. This causes loss of compression, and the two-wheeler engine refuses to start. Incidentally, the easiest way to start a bike when there is a loss of compression is to squirt a little oil from an oil can into the intake by removing the air-filter hose or by removing the spark-plug. The valve gets freed up, resulting into a little extra compression.

The phenomenon of riding or driving on the wrong side of the road has now attained pandemic proportions. Indeed, it is akin to a widespread disease with more and more people “catching the contagion”. Not only are such wrongdoers shamelessly oblivious to their misdemeanour, but they also become aggressive and belligerent if one tries to point out the gravity of their lapse. They tend to be insensitive to the fact that what they do endangers not only their own lives, but also those of the law-abiding citizens. Riding/driving on the wrong side of the road tends to cause accidents because one is compelled to swerve suddenly towards the middle of the road to avoid an oncoming moron. Then one becomes vulnerable to the traffic coming from behind. If there is a mishap, it is neither one’s own fault nor that of the driver/rider coming from behind. The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the one driving/riding on the wrong side of the road.

Aspi Bhathena

Editor

AUGUST 2026

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Celebrating our 21st Anniversary

This month Bike India celebrates its 21st anniversary. It has been 21 years for me with Bike India and yet it feels as if it was just a few years ago that we started the magazine. How time flies. I would like to thank all our readers and manufacturers for their support over the past two decades. Without their support, we would not be where we are today. Thank you very much.

We have a very special story for you in this anniversary issue. Our international contributor, Adam Child, rode Marc Márquez’s 2026 MotoGP Ducati. He is the only journalist in the world to ride the MotoGP motorcycle and we are sure you will experience the same thrill that he did on the racetrack.

This year Ducati celebrated its centenary at the World Ducati Week in July and I was there for the celebration. I have been to this annual event a couple of times, but the attendance this time was huge. More than a hundred thousand people were there over the weekend. There was this sea of red with Ducatis as far as the eye could see, accompanied by the rumble of the V-twin and V-four engines. This was one of the biggest motorcycle festivals I have ever seen.

The young generation may not relate that easily to the Norton brand. Those of my generation grew up knowing Norton as a premium bike manufacturer of the 1950s and ’60s. One wondered what TVS would do with a brand like Norton, as they are known to make small bikes up to 300 cc. However, they have done a fantastic job with the launch of the Manx R and now the 585-cc Atlas. They have put all the doubts to rest.

Once again, I would like to thank all our readers and manufacturers for their unstinting support. Please take care and ride safely.

Aspi Bhathena

Editor

JULY 2026

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The Ticklish Issue of Ethanol

The war in West Asia has given rise to a fuel shortage, and this has given an excuse to the Indian government to try to increase ethanol blending in petrol. As of this day, 85 to 90 per cent of two-wheelers on the road are not even five to 10 per cent ethanol-compliant. What happens to the majority of consumers is that they perforce have to suffer all the problems caused by ethanol blending. As it is, the country is water-deficient, and we want to grow high water-consuming crops like sugarcane, corn, and rice to produce ethanol. Even as I write this editorial, water supply cuts are in place in Pune.

The authorities keep citing the example of Brazil for ethanol blending. Brazil has rainforests, and it is not a water-deficient country. Moreover, they began blending ethanol gradually while offering the option of non-blended fuel to the customer. Why not offer us the option of buying regular non-blended fuel at a slightly higher price compared to the blended fuel?

Manufacturers are being arm-twisted into making flex-fuel bikes that run on 85 and 100 per cent ethanol. Thus, we seem to be moving towards a situation wherein we will have ethanol for our bikes, but not enough water to drink or to have a bath.

After four zonal selection rounds, we had the final rider selection at the Kari Motor Speedway. What I noticed during those rounds and the final selection round was that the standard of riding in the amateur class has improved over the past two years. The difference between the fastest rider and the rider in 20th position was less than three seconds, as compared to more than five seconds between the first and the 12th rider.

Aspi Bhathena

Editor

JUNE 2026

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Abuzz with Activity

We are already in the month of June, half the year already having gone by. Every year, the time seems to fly by quicker and quicker, what with there being a lot of activity in the Indian automobile industry.

With the increase in fuel prices, the demand for electric scooters should go up. The problem is that all electric bikes are dependent on China for a lot of the components, and that is not good for the country.

The government is asking the citizens to conserve fuel, but every day, even a big city like Pune has no power supply, and people are forced to run diesel generators to power their homes and charge their electric vehicles.

Ethanol blending is creating a huge problem for old bikes, especially old scooters that have carburettors, because they have a vacuum petrol tap. The operating system for this petrol tap has a diaphragm, and this gets eaten up by the corrosive ethanol-blended fuel. Many such people cannot afford to buy a new scooter, so this remains their sole mode of transport. The government should offer the citizens the option of buying blended or non-blended fuel.

The fire department in Noida and Gurugram has banned electric chargers in basements and stilt parking under buildings. The department refuses to issue fire safety certificates to housing societies if they have an EV charger installed in the parking. This is a very confusing situation. On the one hand, the government wants to encourage electric vehicles; on the other, one of its departments will not let you charge your EV in your own parking. The government must talk to all stakeholders and only then frame policies that affect the citizens of the country.

Aspi Bhathena

Editor