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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

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Looking Back, Looking Forth

This is the last editorial in the year 2020. The year just flew by with over three months of total lockdown and some curbs still in place. We, at Bike India, tried to do our best to bring the latest news and first ride reports to you even during the lockdown period.

The long-awaited Meteor from Royal Enfield is finally here and it marks a big step in the right direction. It is a totally new motorcycle, unlike in the past, starting with the engine, which is an overhead cam unit with two valves per cylinder, although I would have preferred a four-valve unit. The frame is also all-new with the engine as a stressed member. The Meteor is a big step up and you may read a detailed report in this issue. We have also tested the new BS6 BMW G 310 GS. There is a big improvement in the engine refinement and another big plus is the reduction in the price of that motorcycle.

There has been a big surge in the sales of two-wheelers during the festive season as there was a lot of pent-up demand with prospective customers wanting to buy bikes but postponing the plan owing to the countrywide lockdown. Now they seem to have decided to make the purchase during the auspicious festive season. The sales figures from December 2020 to March 2021 will indicate the actual state of the two-wheeler market as also the economy.

Touching upon law and order, it would be great if the police implemented the traffic rules as stringently as they implement the rule about wearing a mask. It would also save a lot of law-abiding citizens’ lives who do not break traffic rules themselves, but get killed in road accidents due to other people, say, riding or driving down the wrong way and violating traffic rules with impunity. Stay safe, maintain a safe distance, and with care.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Looking Forward to Festive Boost

We are in the midst of the festive season and we hope to see a surge in two-wheeler sales following the prolonged slump due to the countrywide lockdown.

It was during this period of lockdown that India moved from BS4 to BS6 and because of that we are re-testing all the existing bikes for performance figures. Some interesting facts have emerged from these tests. While most of the bikes have become slower, surprisingly some have become quicker. While most have gone for an additional catalytic converter in the exhaust bend-pipe, some have managed to achieve the emission figures with a single cat in the silencer.

There is only one industrialist in the country who has the guts to call a spade a spade and that is Rajiv Bajaj who has once again taken a stand not to advertise on any of the news channels that spew venom and create hatred amongst people. Now Parle G have followed suit and I hope more advertisers do the same. Hats off to you, Rajiv Bajaj, once again for taking this stand.

All of a sudden, every manufacturer seems to want a share of the pie in the classic retro segment dominated by the Royal Enfield 350 Bullet. First it was Jawa 300, then Benelli launched the Imperiale 400, and now Honda have launched the H’ness CB350 to take on the Bullet. At the same time, Royal Enfield are getting ready to launch the Meteor 350 based on the very successful 650 Interceptor and Continental GT.

We, at Bike India, are proud that a bike made in India and our Two-wheeler of the Year as well as the Indian Motorcycle of the Year (IMOTY) was adjudged the Bike of the Year in Thailand and also won the MCN Retro Bike of the Year award for the second time.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Alas, It Still Is a Bleak Scenario

Uncertainty continues to haunt the economy as COVID-19 cases keep mounting with more than 90,000 cases being reported daily. Going by the fact that the government of Maharashtra is enforcing Section 144, it looks like a long haul before we can see some sort of normality returning and, by the look of it, the vaccine seems to be quite some distance away.

Most people have taken a salary cut; I would say the lucky ones still have a job and the unfortunate ones have lost their jobs and their means of livelihood. There is no sign of a stimulus package in the near future and, to make matters worse, fuel prices continue their northward trend, thus making the ordinary citizen the worst-hit as they have to shell out more for the daily commute and for all the essential commodities.

With Bharat Stage VI norms coming in, we have been testing all the new BS6 variants and what we have found is that most bikes have suffered a drop in performance even in spite of some manufacturers increasing the engine capacity to make up for the decrease in performance.

The ban on import of goods has resulted in a shortage of tyres for the high-end bikes. As one of the manufacturers said, they do not have a stock of tyres for most of the big bikes.

The sale of entry-level two-wheelers has gained some momentum over the last couple of months as people prefer to use their own transport rather than relying on the inadequate public transport system.

The bike we are looking forward to is the all-new Royal Enfield Meteor. It will be a 350-cc single- cylinder motorcycle and its engine has been derived from the 650 twins. It will have a four-valve cylinder-head and it should be a refined powerplant. Since the 650-cc Royal Enfield twins have set the bar high, our expectations are also just as high and we are looking forward to riding the Meteor next month.

 

Aspi Bhathena
Editor