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Mishap Claims a Promising Young Racer’s Life

Indian motorcycle racing lost a bright young star in the making last month with the demise of Shreyas Hareesh, one of the most talented youngsters I have seen in motorcycle racing. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

It was a racing incident and, as all of us know, motorcycle racing is a dangerous sport. At the same time, we should try to make it as safe as possible. The first step towards this is riding gear of a good quality, which is difficult to procure in India today due to the ban on the import of helmets. Indeed, it is a sad scenario that the government has banned the import of helmets just to protect the Indian helmet manufacturers. Even after so many years in the business our manufacturers cannot make a helmet that meets the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) standards that are mandatory for racing in the country. It is unfortunate, to say the least, that we are going backwards in time to protect poor manufacturing.

Indian two-wheeler manufacturers like Bajaj Auto, TVS, Hero MotoCorp, and Royal Enfield are making world-class motorcycles, taking on global manufacturers and beating them in international markets. If we can make world-class motorcycles, why can we not make good helmets?

Another important aspect is that the riding gear should fit properly; neither too tight nor to loose. If the body armour shifts, it will not protect the vital organs that it is supposed to protect during an impact, thus leading to serious injury.

Ride in peace, my little friend.

We saw two big launches recently, the return of the Hero Karizma and the Royal Enfield Bullet, the longest model in production anywhere in the world that has been in production for over nine decades. The new Karizma has a modern liquid-cooled DOHC four-valve engine and a trellis frame. The Bullet gets its engine from the Classic which has been further refined with the power delivery tweaked to suit the bike’s character.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Yet Another Milestone

BIKE INDIA MAGAZINE CELEBRATES ITS 18TH anniversary this month. What a ride it has been wherein the magazine has gone from strength to strength! Even today we are the only dedicated bike magazine in the country and for this I would like to thank all our readers and manufacturers for their unstinting support over the past 18 years. We look forward to your support in the future too. Incidentally, only two of us, Ramnath and myself, are the members from the founding editorial team of the magazine in 2005 still working for the magazine.

Last month we witnessed two major motorcycle launches: first it was the Harley-Davidson X440, built in collaboration by Hero MotoCorp, and the day after it was the Triumph Speed 400, also made in collaboration by Bajaj Auto. The H-D X440 is aimed squarely at the Royal Enfield 350 Meteor and Classic. It delivers a little more performance than the Royal Enfield and is in the same mould of being a laidback cruiser. The Triumph Speed 400, on the other hand, is more of an all-rounder. It will allow one to cruise all day and, at the same time, have a blast around their favourite mountainous terrain. It is easy to make a one-dimensional motorcycle, either a laidback cruiser or a performance bike like the KTM Duke, but manufacturing one capable of doing both is a challenge and I must say that Bajaj and Triumph have done a fantastic job with the Speed 400.

Some journalists say that the Speed 400 engine is based on the that of the KTM. That is not true at all; in fact, there is nothing in common between the two engines. Then there are some who feel that it sounds like the Bajaj Dominar’s. It is a 400-cc single-cylinder engine. Therefore, if it does not sound like a single, should it sound like a twin or an in-line four?

We recently lost a promising young racer in 13-year-old Shreyas Hareesh. We offer our sincere condolences to his family and friends.

On the occasion of the 18th anniversary, I would like to thank the Bike India team for their hard work and support throughout to bring out the magazine. 

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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Sad and Shocking

The biking community suffered another big loss last month with the demise of Navroze Contractor in a road accident on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Navroze was a member of the Next Gen team, specifically Bike India and Car India, from day one and from the very first issue of these two magazines. In fact, he was on our editorial advisory board.

Navroze was a genuine motorcyclist. He loved riding motorcycles and he died doing just that. He had ridden motorcycles across the globe and done photography for none other than Motor Cycle News, UK. The sad part is that he was killed in an accident for no fault of his. It was the other rider coming down the wrong way who hit him at such a great speed that the front end of his bike got ripped off the chassis.

Indeed, it is sad that we keep losing people in road accidents for no fault of theirs just because some idiot is not willing to go those 100 or 200 metres to make a U-turn. Shame that innocent people lose their lives and such morons get away.

To cite an instance, at Koregaon Park in Pune, near the Hotel Blue Diamond, we see four policemen waiting to catch people who take a left turn disregarding the traffic signal, so that they may fine them. About 50 metres from where these policemen stand, people on two-wheelers, three-wheelers, cars, and small pick-up trucks keep going down the wrong way, but they take no action against them. I think riding or driving down the wrong way is a bigger offence than making a left turn where it is not a free left turn.

Dear Navroze, you may be gone but never forgotten. Ride in peace, my friend.

Aspi Bhathena
Editor