New Bike Launches in India

The new redesigned 2011 Yamaha R15 2.0 will be available at Rs. 1.07Lacs (ex-showroom Delhi).

This was announced today at the bike’s launch in New Delhi today. Adhish Alwani was at Le Meridien covering the event.

 

 

The 2011 Yamaha R15 features:

• New engine fairing
• New 5 spoke alloy wheels
• New look exhaust
• New rear fender and tyre hugger
• Split seat
• All new tail lamp cluster
• New graphics
• New ECU mapping
• Bigger 220mm rear disc
• Rear tyre 130mm and front 90mm
• Weight increased by 5kgs
• Aluminium swingarm (First in 150cc bike category)
• No changes in power and torque figures
• Colours: Racing Blue, Midnight Black & Sunset Red
• 4% less aerodynamic drag

The Austrians have launched a bike that many Indians want, in Kuala Lampur

It’s a relief to see the bike in flesh after just having spy shots available for what seems like an eternity. The real pain is playing spot the difference between the 200cc and 125cc versions of the Duke.

Pricing is an aspect which would certainly bring a smile to the faces of Indian enthusiasts. With the affordable-performance range now starting at the low end with Pulsar 220 and ending with CBR 250 or Ninja 250, the Duke is expected to come up close to the Rs 1.1L mark, creating another sub price range. This, we feel is quite reasonable for a bike painted in orange, with supermoto capabilities made by a Dakar rally legend manufacturer.

The Duke 200 looks like it means business and has a purposefully design. The bike’s styling is in fact so provocative, the Malaysian Prime Minister who unveiled the bike couldn’t help but swing his leg over it, never mind the inhibitive clothing or the fact that he isn’t 16 years old.

The bike will be launched in India by the end of 2011 and we can’t wait to grab the handlebars of this one, so stay tuned for a Bike India ride report.

Aimed at making good-looking machines look even better.

The premium cruiser segment is catching up in the Indian two-wheeler market as never before. Today not only does the buyer have numerous options to pick from, but every bike maker is trying to woo him with goodies to make his ownership experience better. Following the same lines, Garware Hyosung have decided to deck up their cruiser ST7 with accessories that would make this good-looking machine look even better.

The set of accessories offered by the company include front windscreen visor, crash guards, leather tank pad, foot board, leather saddle bags and back-rest for the pillion. The bike’s branding has been used extensively over the accessories and since they are being imported currently, the whole set has been priced at Rs 1.25-1.5 lakh. The company says that it will try to bring the cost down in the near future.

 

Honda, seems to have a new marketing strategy. While most manufacturers let their bikes be “accidentally” clicked by “random” people while testing and generally roaming around, Honda has decided to do away with the blanket of secrecy. The new Honda 2012 has been found to be on display at a showroom in Hong Kong.

The bike doesn’t appear to have been given a major overhaul but rather just some nip and tucks. The big brother CBR gets new alloys, fairings and forks. The front designed has been enhanced and is sharper now. For the rider, the cool new display might come as a refreshing change.

Given the rising prices of superbikes, Honda might have an advantage by being able to under cut the competition with its price saving methods used to make the new CBR 1000RR. Of course, we can only confirm this once the bike is launched internationally. And yes, as always, we will let you know what the bike is all about once we get our hands on it. Meanwhile you can enjoy the video on www.bikeindia.in.

 

Polaris, the international “fun machines” maker, launched ATVs from its Sportsman, Ranger and Ranger RZR series along with Outlaw, a 50cc off-roader for kids that even the parents would love to ride.

The Sportsman range is what the Indian audience will be able to identify with as a regular ATV while the Ranger and Ranger RZR series look more like rugged golf carts with doors. The Minnesota based manufacturer is also quite serious on doing business here which is reflected by its 900cc engines. Previously, even the high performance 1000cc bikes which are well known in India and have a wide sales base here, have been skeptic and have taken a great deal of time to test the waters in the new market. Polaris, it seems, has taken the “go anywhere” spirit of the ATV culture to heart which we believe makes sense in this case because they are also bringing their luxury range of cruisers through their brand Victory motorcycles, to India in 2012. Bold move, we hope it works out well. We wish them best of luck.

Harley Davidson, the bad boy motorcycle manufacturer from hamburger land has launched its popular Fat Boy Special model here in India, taking to total number of available models to 15.

The bike is priced just below the 20Lac mark (ex. showroom Delhi) where it will compete with Yamaha V-Max and Ducati Diavel. The new bike sits lower than other HD in the market and is overall, a treat to ogle at.

 

The bookings for the bike will open this month and it can be ordered from any Harley Davidson showroom in India. To help make the purchase easier for customers, HD has also signed deals with HDFC and ICICI banks. The bike will be imported as a CBU while plans are drawn up to assemble more Harleys in the country itself.

With Victory motorcycles soon entering the small market of Indian luxury cruiser bikes, we can hope to see competition do what it does best, lower prices.

Victory motorcycles, the niche cruiser manufacturer has just upped the ante and announced its new range of 15 picture perfect motorcycles.The Cross Country bike gets a bigger sibling named Cross Country Tour and there’s also a new limited edition bike, the Cross Roads Classic LE, while the Victory Vision 8-ball will no longer be available.

Victory motorcycles are known to mass produce choppers that look like custom-made-bad-boy-bikes. It also has a range of bikes for the really long cruises which feature extended wind protection and enough luggage space to store the bodies of two policemen.

Victory motorcycles have already made up their mind to wreak havoc in the sparsely competitive market of upmarket cruisers in India. It will be up against its true blue American adversary, the mighty Harley Davidson. Since they are also developing a 500cc V-Twin engine for India, we expect neither side to go down without a fight.

We wish both of them luck. May the most hardcore criminal ride free.

Spy picture and all we know about the next generation Duke

Ducati is developing their next generation superbike and it is already rolling on the road! Successor of the 1198, the bike is rumoured to be named ‘1199’, slated for a launch at the EICMA motorshow in Milan at the end of this year.

Ducati has given its traditional trellis frame and under seat exhausts the boot to create the most radically designed motorcycle the Italian firm has ever come up with. At heart the bike will still be a Ducati, with an all new V-twin engine producing a power output of around 200PS! As seen in the pictures, the bike is very small in size but has a reasonably sized fairing. The shark inspired nose has LED strip headlamps while the tail piece follows Japanese idealogy of sleek and short ends. The bike has a horizontally mounted monoshock rear suspension connected at a right angle to the single sided swing-arm while the stubby exhaust sticks out from under the belly. The biggest difference however, is the stressed-airbox monocoque chassis as seen in their MotoGP machine. The Desmocedici has a carbon fibre monocoque where the engine is a stressed member of the chassis, the sub-frame, front fork mount and the swing-arm all bolted on to it. The road bike will most probably have an aluminium alloy semi-monocoque.

 

The bike is being developed with inputs from Valentino Rossi and his MotoGP race engineer Jeremy Burgess while Ducati’s ex-WSBK rider Troy Baylis recently concluded a three day test of the bike at the Mugello circuit in Italy.

Benelli, one of the oldest motorcycles in the world, recently turned 100. To celebrate this very special occasion, the Italian manufacturer launched two special edition machines – the TNT 899 Century Racer and TNT 1130 Century Racer – both fitted with Benelli’s trademark three-cylinder engine.

The difference is that while the former churns out 122PS at 9,500 rpm, the latter makes an even more powerful 131PS at 8,500 rpm. Both bikes are equipped with a six-speed gearbox, high-spec suspension components from Marzocchi and Sachs at the front and rear respectively, Brembo brakes with radial-mount callipers and special touches like Alcantara seats and a special paint job inspired by Renzo Pasolini’s Benelli race bikes of the 1970s. In addition to these two anniversary editions, Benelli also released a high-performance version called the TNT 160R.  The 160R churns out a heady 162 PS, making it the most powerful TNT ever. It also gets a dry slipper, in place of the wet clutch in the older models, along with a much higher compression ratio. With these high-performance limited edition machines, the Qianjiang-owned Italian manufacturer hopes for a renewed interest from moneyed fans willing to shell out money for what might truly become a collector’s item in the future.

They look good. Usually like a small aerodynamic spacecraft on 2 little wheels. But are we going to get them this time?

A few years ago, Yamaha was exploring the possibility of bringing these scooters to India. When the unofficial news spread, smiles lit up on everyone’s face who looked up them up on Yamaha’s international website. We waited …

Since then the tuning fork logo has been seen in India on the FZ series, R-15 and bigger bikes like R1 and V-Max, but there’s no scooter yet.

This time though the Japanese manufacturer is serious and has already put in 10 crores into its Surajpur plant to build the scooters which will take on the challenge presented by its rival Honda’s dominance in the sector.

No details are available yet but the scooters are to be unveiled at the 2012 Auto Expo.

Stay tuned for more updates …