New Bike Launches in India

Pune-based motorcycle marque, Bajaj Auto Ltd, are all set to introduce an all-new 100-cc motorcycle to offer ‘excitement’ in the mass market segment.

Bajaj plan to launch the bike on the 7^th of January 2013.It is unclear though whether this new offering will belong to the Discover or Boxer sub-brands.

Speaking to the media, Bajaj Auto President K Srinivas said, “It will be the most expensive 100-cc bike ever launched and will be the most advanced technologically.” Information regarding the price and technical specifications of this new 100-cc offering are under wraps as of now. Srinivas further said, “Customers in the segment have had to compromise with boring bikes and boring features for the sake of mileage for too long. Bajaj Auto want to offer exciting bikes with exciting features along with good mileage. Customers have started moving towards 125-cc bikes as they offer a lot more features. The new bike, however, will be a mass product.”

The world of high-end racing bicycles welcomed a new member recently with the launch of the exclusive BMC impec Automobili Lamborghini Edition.

BMC’s flagship road bicycle has been spruced up with many high end bells-and-whistles. Riders will enjoy the comfort of a suede saddle as well as handlebars airbrushed in the Aventador LP-700-4’s Argos Orange shade. Other features include the Di2 electronic dérailleur system from Shimano, unbranded carbon fiber rims, and the frame plastered with the Lamborghini logo.

The bicycle will be priced at INR 14.4 lakhs in Europe, which is around INR 5.6 lakhs more than the standard BMC Impec bicycle. BMC is producing only 30 bicycles at its Swiss factory, with bookings to be made at one of the 120 Lamborghini dealers across the world.

Nebula Automotive recently launched three new high-end ATVs in the Indian market, taking its portfolio to 21 ATVs from 110-800 CC.

The new three-wheel two-seater Trike ATV is powered by a 300 CC water-cooled engine with electric start. It has a 12-litre fuel tank and is priced at INR 7.77 lakhs. The new twin-seater HS800 has a fuel-injected 800 CC water-cooled V-Twin eight-valve engine and a 30-litre fuel tank. It has a top speed of 70 kph and can switch between 2WD and 4WD modes. It is priced at INR 16.5 lakhs.

The new AX700 is a single-seater ATV with a fuel-injected 686 CC engine and a 21-litre fuel tank. It is equipped with front and rear disc brakes, CVT transmission, and a three-way locking differential, and can switch between 2WD and 4WD modes. It is priced at INR 12 lakhs.

The company held the launch event at Empress Garden in Pune recently, where mediapersons were also given the chance to ride all three vehicles as well as others from the ATV range. The company’s MD Mr Sunil Asnani commented that Nebula had sold 2,500 ATVs in India since its launch and the new ATVs were a continuation of its endeavour to bring high-end ATVs at reasonable prices to the Indian market. He mentioned that the target segment of customers included the defence sector, rich individuals, and resorts and hotels. The company is in the process of rolling out a pan-India sales and service network and presently provides on-site service along with training in case it is required by a customer.

After years of rabid speculation, India Yamaha Motor have finally confirmed that they’re planning to launch a 250cc motorcycle in the Indian market in 2014.

In an interview with Financial Chronicle, Hiroyuki Suzuki, CEO, India Yamaha Motor said, “We will focus on the scooters category for next two years, but in 2014 we will launch powerful sporty 250cc bike in the Indian market. There is a good market for this premium segment which we would like to tap.”

India has become an important market for Yamaha with the company also now focusing attention to the scooter segment. Yamaha will not introduce any new motorcycles for the next two years, but will keep updating their existing models. The Japanese marquee will also launch a scooter series for different target segments in the country. Mr. Suzuki also added,“The motorcycles manufactured in India meet the advanced specification of developed markets and they are produced at a lower cost. The price is almost double in Japanese market. We are sending R15 to Japan to test market, and if the response is good, we may explore more products for export to Japan and other advanced markets.”

At present the 250cc category has seen a duopoly of the Honda CBR 250R and the Kawasaki Ninja 250 in the Indian market. But with the growing importance of performance biking in the country, players like Hero MotoCorp – ERB tie-up, Bajaj and TVS-BMW technical partnership, manufacturers are taking a long hard look at the 250s in the country, and the future surely sees a lot many new players in this exciting segment.

Update: Bike India’s Art Director, Ramnath Chodankar, has created a rendering of how the forthcoming YZF-R25 might look like. For the complete breakdown of the motorcycle’s design, pick up the December 2012 issue of Bike India.

First showcased at the 2012 Auto Expo the prototype cafe racer from Royal Enfield was quite the eye candy.

The cafe racer concept has been the talk of the town since quite some time now and if official sources are to be believed, come 2013 it might be a reality for India too. Royal Enfield have stated that this Royal Enfield Cafe Racer 535 motorcycle promises to be the lightest and fastest Enfield yet!

Surely, people in India usually don’t associate a Bullet being light and fast, something quite a bit poles apart from the ones we use in India. A Royal Enfield dealer in the United States have revealed that this could possibly be the best, fastest and coolest motorcycle from the ‘Madras legends’. With a kerb weight of 170kg, souped up with a 535cc UCE fuel injected engine this beast of a bike is all ready to change the way we look at the Royal Enfield. The cafe racer will sport an electric starter and a plastic front mudguard, a first for Royal Enfield.

Other tit-bits include alloy wheels, a longer seat (the pillion might have to get squeezed in), two different choice of exhausts and other add-on goodies. With the motorcycle all set to be unveiled at the 2012 Long Beach International Motorycycle Show next week, the cafe racer concept is all ready to take the world by storm.

Honda have just revealed pricing details for their international 2013 lineup at the Motorcycle Live event at NEC in Birmingham, London.

Honda have priced the all-new 500 series very competitively throughout the world in order to exapand their customer base as much as possible. The naked CB500F is priced at £ 4,650 (INR 4.10 lakh) while the CB500X and CBR500R both are priced at £ 4,950 (INR 4.37 lakh), undercutting the Ninja 300 ABS by £ 249 (INR 22,000).

Honda currently is the only major manufacturer offering 500cc street motorcycles. Internationally, the CBR500R’s only rival in the value-for-money stakes is the SV650S Street from Suzuki, priced at £ 4,975 (INR 4.39 lakh); which is, however, not A2-compliant in the UK. Honda’s NC700S however is A2-compliant and is available at a price of £ 5,450 (INR 4 lakh). Among higher capacity models, the CBR600RR has been priced at £ 9,500 (INR 8.38 lakh), while the retro CB1100 is available for £ 8,950 (INR 7.90 lakh). Prices for the sporty NS300 Forza scooter are yet to be revealed, but a figure of £ 5,000-5,500 (INR 4.41-4.85 lakh) expected, in order to bridge the gap between the SH300i which is priced at £ 4,700 (INR 4.14 lakh) and the Silver Wing which is priced at £ 6,600 (INR 5.82 lakh).

If all goes as well here in India next year, and the CBR 500R does undercut the Ninja 250R’s price, Honda have a surefire winner in their hands. Bring ’em on!

At a recent event recently, Firefox Bikes got none other than Gary Fisher, the creator of Mountain biking, to launch his latest design concept the SuperFly Hi-end 29er series in India.

The high performance cycles were unveiled in the presence of Shiv Inder Singh, Managing Director, Firefox Bikes, and will be available exclusively through Firefox Bike retail outlets across India.

Speaking about the newly launched mountain bikes Singh said, “The bikes with 29” wheels are the latest as compared to the standard 26” wheels. We will be adding additional models every year as the market demand develops.” He further added, “The Company expects to increase the sales growth to 1,00,000 bikes a year by year 2015 from the present 50,000.”

Targeted at youth, the new models include SuperFly AL and SuperFly Comp, priced at Rs 1.45 lakh and Rs 2.35 lakh respectively.

After tasting success with the premium Vespa scooter, Piaggio is now aiming for bigger volumes with a new 125-cc gearless scooter.

Obviously, the latest offering will not boast the Vespa badge, and is rumoured to be christened as Piaggio ‘Fly’ or ‘Flyer’. Shedding the Vespa tag will help the new scooter sport an aggressive price tag of around Rs 55,000, which is more in tune with competition, like Honda Activa, Suzuki Swish, Mahindra Duro DZ etc. In-fact the Rs 50,000-to-Rs 55,000 scooter segment has grown by 24.5 % in 2011-12.

The ‘Flyer’ is said to sport trendy design on the lines of Honda Dio and newly launched Yamaha Ray, with its headlight uniquely position on the front fender and will retain some retro styling that has been appreciated even on the current Vespa. It will be equipped with telescopic forks up front and hydraulic shock absorbers in the rear. The model will have drum brakes in front and rear, but disc brake could be offered as an option. The new scooter will be powered by the same 125-cc engine like on the Vespa, which offers 10.06 PS and 10.06 Nm, though tuned to offer better fuel efficiency.

The final stages of testing of the scooter is on and homologation almost completed, the Piaggio’s latest scooter offering should reaching the showroom as early as next month. The company is anticipating huge demands and is in process of doubling dealerships to 100 in the next couple of months.

In other related news, Piaggio Group Americas has tied up with Paramount Pictures for the next instalment of the highly successful Transformers film franchisee. The partnership will include a a full slate of promotional and marketing initiatives nationwide including: a national dealer open house, free movie tickets, an advertising campaign and a sweepstakes awarding a Vespa scooter.

The Bologna motorcycle manufacturers have always considered Brazil as one of their most important markets for business.

Since, the shut down of the Izzo group, which were the current importer of the Ducati bikes in the land of the ‘Samba’ due to the current economic situation, the big bosses at Ducati took a decision regarding setting up of a wholly-owned subsidiary. Ducati’s move ensures the Italian brand’s ability to sell in the rapidly-growing South American economy.

Headquartered in São Paulo, this subsidiary will be Ducati’s base in Brazil. With extremely high tariffs imposed on foreign goods, importing complete knock-down (CKD) kits to Brazil, Ducati will have a minimal manufacturing presence in the South American country. It will be essential that assembling their motorcycles within Brazilian borders would be necessary in order to side-step loopholes in the Brazil import regulations.

However, the question remains whether there will be a decrease in prices on these Brazilian Ducatis or not? Gabriele Del Torchio, Ducati CEO has stated that, “The Brazilian motorcycle market is one of the most interesting and the third biggest in the world and Ducati has a very strong image in this country. The opening of this new subsidiary and the fact that our motorcycles will be assembled in the Manausplant is evidence of our focus on the Brazilian market. We wish to offer our customers here the best possible sale and after-sales service, and confirm the strategic importance assigned to this market by Ducati.”

Seen here in the picture: Ricardo Susini (Head, Ducati Brazil) with Ducati CEO Gabriele Del Torchio

TI cycles, one of the leading cycle brands in India have launched their ‘Montra’ performance cycle range in the country with their brand ambassador, Formula 1 racer, Karun Chandok.

Since the brand’s inception in 2011, the brand have inculcated many a firsts in the bicycle market in India, like the use of carbon fiber in production of their bikes.

Speaking on the launch, Rajesh Mani, GM, TI cycles stated, “We are delighted to have brand ambassador Karun Chandhok launch the new range of Montra Bicycles. We are proud to be the first Indian company to design and manufacture a wide range of world-class performance bikes catering to the affluent Indian”.

Karun Chandhok commented, “I rode the new hybrid bike, Montra Blues, and was fascinated by its ride comfort, design and paint finish. The ride was very comfortable on the Blues and “Montra” has created world class bikes with frame geometry suited for Indians. Knowing that these frames are indigenously manufactured in India, which is a remarkable feat by TI Cycles.”

The Montra range is being manufactured at the aluminum bicycle facility in Ambattur. Production is currently being ramped up to reach full utilization, while the firm has estimated to capture 15% of the performance bikes market in India. The Montra range will include three variants, which would be priced around the 17k mark. More details can be found at www.montra.in and www.trackandtrail.in