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JANUARY 2017

December 27, 2016 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Something Attempted,
Something Done…

THIS IS MY 10TH YEAR AS THE EDITOR OF BIKE INDIA AND I have a very special treat for you. Everybody tests bikes and reviews them but we are different: we test a bike and, in case there is problem, we just don’t point it out; we also help the concerned manufacturer solve it.

The first case in point for Bike India was the Honda Shine. When I tested the bike, I found it to be under-geared. As a result of this the bike would be prone to vibrations once the speedometer needle crossed 65-70 km/h. Fitting a gearbox sprocket one tooth bigger solved the problem and also improved the motorcycle’s performance and fuel efficiency. The second project was the Yamaha Gladiator with a mono-shock suspension.

When Bajaj launched the Pulsar AS 200, it was the NS 200 with a half fairing and a different rear mudguard. When I asked Eric Vas why the bike did not have a long-travel suspension and different wheels, he asked me if I was ready to undertake the change to improve the AS 200. It would have been very easy to put long-travel front forks and rear suspension but the idea was to modify the existing forks and rear mono shock for the extra travel and that is what I did, along with fitting 17-inch rear and 19-inch front spoke wheels. The stainless steel free-flow exhaust now exits from under the seat.

The treat for you this month is the Harley-Davidson Street 750 customised into a race replica of the XRTT 750 ridden by Calvin Rayborn. When I was about 10 years old, Calvin Rayborn used to ride a cast-iron engine Harley-Davidson and win races against modern motorcycles. Today I have built a motorcycle as a tribute to him. You may read the detailed story in this issue.

I would like to wish all the readers a happy New Year. Please ride safely and never drink and ride.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

DECEMBER 2016

November 29, 2016 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

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Market in Turmoil

YET ANOTHER YEAR COMES TO AN END: 2016 SEEMS TO HAVE gone by very quickly, which means that we have been very busy throughout the year. More than 30 new two-wheelers were launched during the year. Incidentally, you may have your say in the Bike India Readers’ Choice of the Year Bike 2017 by sending your vote.

At the moment, there is complete chaos in the market with the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes demonetised. We may expect a drop in the sale of new twowheelers for, at least, the next three months since people hardly have liquidity and, therefore, are less likely to buy new motorcycles and scooters.

We are happy to announce that from the December 2016 issue onwards we are going to give you more value for your money with a 16-page special supplement on high-end racing, performance bikes and classic motorcycles.

There is an in-depth report on the EICMA (Milan motorcycle show) in this issue. A number of new launches took place there and, happily for us, quite a few of them would be coming to India.

Last month I was at the world premiere of the Triumph Bonneville Bobber as the only journalist from India and one of eight from across the globe to take part in a celebrity all-star drag race against the likes of Freddie Spencer and Carl Fogarty. To take part and meet racing legends like Fogarty and Spencer was like a dream come true. Known as Fast Freddie, the naturally gifted and talented motorcycle rider is an all-time great racer. Spencer is the only rider in the history of world motorcycle road racing championship to win the 250-cc and the 500-cc championship in the same year. When I spoke to him, he was very humble and down to earth. For me it was one of the best evenings of my life. Indeed, it was a real honour and pleasure to meet Fast Freddie.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

NOVEMBER 2016

October 28, 2016 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

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Welcome Signs of Growth

THE TWO-WHEELER MARKET IS SHOWING GOOD SIGNS OF growth as the month of September saw record sales for most two-wheeler manufacturers, with a major surge coming from the rural market. The big worry for the Indian market is what will transpire in the cross-border tension with Pakistan as none of us can afford a full-blown war.

Last month we were invited to Tacoma, USA, to ride the 2017 touring range of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The 2017 range gets all-new 1,745-cc (107 cubic inches) and 1,868-cc (114 cubic inches) engines. These new engines are OHV single cam with four valves per cylinder instead of the twin cams and two valves in the old ones. The 107 cylinder-heads are oil-cooled and the 114 cylinder-heads are water/coolant cooled. The new family of engines is known as the Milwaukee-Eight because of the eight valves.

The two-wheeler market will see a lot of action before the end of the year as Bajaj Auto are preparing to launch the new 400 as a new brand, called the Kratos. The big news is that BMW Motorrad are all set to enter the Indian market before the end of the year with a complete range of motorcycles starting with the 310 and going all the way up to the 1,600. The only one missing from the line-up will be the GS800 since it requires complete homologation. The entry of BMW Motorrad into India will shake up the premium motorcycle market.

The registration of new two-wheelers was at an all-time high during the Dasara festival; this being the second month in succession that we saw a big rise in two-wheeler sales. With such record sales we are going to see more vehicles on the already crowded city roads.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

OCTOBER 2016

September 29, 2016 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

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Looking Forward to Cross-manufacturer Racing

IN THE 1970S AND ’80S MOTORCYCLE RACING WAS THRIVING even though we did not have a purpose-built racetrack. Most Indian motorcycle manufacturers used to send factory racing teams for the all-India race meet at the Sholavaram circuit. Starting with the Suvega in the moped class, Scooters India had a team, Yezdi Motorcycles used to have a team and Aravind Pangaonkar, head of TVS Racing, was part of the Yezdi racing team at that time. Royal Enfield factory used to be represented by Subhash Chandra Bose and Bhaskar Rao. Even Bajaj Auto had a factory team. The spectator turnout used to be in excess of 30,000.

After a dip in the competition Indian racing is thriving again with all the one-make series and the opportunity for the young talent to take part in the Asia talent series and the Red Bull Rookies Cup. Now I would like to see some cross-manufacturer racing. The one series I would like to see in India is the KTM RC390 Cup. The 390 Cup is held in South America, North America and Europe, but not here in India where the bike is manufactured.

Today MotoGP has become so technical that a wrong choice of tyre compound can make the difference between winning and losing a race. The choice of going with a soft compound gave Dani Pedrosa a clear advantage and victory in the San Marino MotoGP. It was Valentino Rossi who came out on top after passing Lorenzo on lap two, but did not have an answer to Pedrosa’s pace. In the past you had one front and one rear tyre which you had to use. One could not go wrong. None the less, it was great to see Dani on top of the podium.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

SEPTEMBER 2016

August 30, 2016 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

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A Welcome Move

THE LONG-AWAITED GST BILL HAS FINALLY BEEN PASSED BY the Parliament. As to what this will hold for the end-user is still not clear, but it will definitely help the manufacturers because it will simplify the tax structure and, therefore, doing business will become that much easier. The price of twowheelers may come down but one of the biggest problems is the road tax that is levied by the state government which makes a lot of difference to the on-road price from state to state.

A new Bill has been passed for higher fines for traffic offences but will we ever see the day when one can use a bike anywhere in the country without having to re-register it when you move from one state to another? This will reduce a lot of heartburn for two-wheeler owners, besides curbing corruption. The government says ‘one country, one tax’. By the same token, the vehicle registration process should also be centralised. An additional benefit of such a move would be that a two-wheeler could be traced to its owner irrespective of which state it was registered in.

The state governments are likely to argue that they will lose out on the road tax. The solution to this is the charge of a one-time registration fee with inclusion of the road tax in the price of fuel. This way the owner of a big bike will have to pay more as compared to that of a small and fuel-efficient commuter motorcycle. This will also mean that you pay for the maintenance of the roads you use.

Last month I lost a dear friend and fellow biker in a road accident because a two-wheeler rider did not want to travel that one kilometre to take a U-turn and jumped the divider. While trying to avoid him Dr Santosh Tholar clipped the rear of the fellow’s bike and crashed, dying instantaneously in the accident. He lost his life due to somebody else’s mistake. May his soul rest in peace.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor