Latest Bike News

KTM Duke 200 launched … in Malaysia

September 5, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

KTM Duke 200 launch 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.

Tour of Rajasthan 2011 is here

August 30, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Keeping the tradition alive, Royal Enfield announced the Tour of Rajasthan 2011, a bike ride across the Thar desert and some of the best Tarmac in the country.

The 10 day ride will be starting the from Jaipur, the pink city then traversing through Mahansar, Bikaner, the Sand dunes of Jamba, Jaisalmer, Sam, Jodhpur, Kumbalgarh, Ajmer/Pushkar and converging back to Jaipur.

Accommodation is on twin sharing, with with just bed and breakfast provided by the company throughout the trip. However in camps and smaller towns, dinner will also be taken care of. Please note that Pillions are not allowed on this ride and each rider will have to bring his own ride. The primary eligibility criteria is that you need to be owner of a Royal Enfield motorcycle. The bike maker will make sure that a small team of mechanics with some spares will provide service support on the tour, and even a team doctor will be at hand.

The registrations of the Royal Enfield Tour of Rajasthan 2011 have opened in a first come first serve basis and would cost Rs 16,000 per person and the cost of Petrol and other meals will be borne by each rider. Let’s roll!

Bajaj launches Boxer 150

August 29, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

New Bajaj Boxer 150 launch 2011 After creating a buzz in the 150-cc commuter segment with their Discover range, Bajaj Auto recently launched Boxer 150 in the country.

Delivering 12 PS power and 12.26 Nm torque from its single cylinder, four-stroke, air-cooled engine, the bike caters majorly to the semi-urban areas. Coming with a rugged frame, twin 125 mm telescopic suspension and 190 mm ground clearance, it promises to fare equally good on poorly constructed roads as on smooth tarmac. The Boxer comes with 130 mm drum brakes (both front and rear) and stands light weight at 123 kg. The new Boxer has been priced at Rs 48,197 (OTR,Pune).

ST7 accessories coming soon

August 29, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Hyosung ST7 Accessories 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.

Hyosung ST7 Accessories Back rest and Foot pad

Hyosung ST7 Accessories

2W Rally of Nashik 2011

August 25, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

‘pit stop’ motor sports organised its second event, ‘2W Rally of Nashik 2011’, flagged off on 21st August 2011

from village Paste near Sinner in Nashik district. The 125 km route of the rally consisted of 2 special stages ‘Alfa’& ‘Beta’ stretching 7.5 kms each and both the SS were repeated adding up to 39 kms of adventurous and challenging trail each. This was a treat for motor sports lovers as well as spectators. A total of 40 participants from the region participated in the event.

Ganesh Lokhande overall winner The first bike was flagged off at 0801 hours and defending champion Ganeash Lokhande (J.A.W.S. Racing team) was 1.03 minutes ahead of Parvinderingh Hunjan. The third position saw a tough fight between Kaustubh Macche and Shahsank Shevale, however Macche managed to grab the position by a margin of 8 seconds.

The scooter class had veteran rider Shamim Khan on his Mahindra rodeo racing to an easy win over the rest in the scooter class. Khan was 5 minutes ahead of Harshal Kadbhane while Babuddin Ansari finished third.

The rally had a special Bullet class for Royal Enfield riders with 10 entries from Nashik and Pune. This gave the spectators a very unusual experience, watching the bullets going flat out on the dirt terrain. In this class, Arvind Singh had a comfortable win over Sushil Kakad with an advantage of 2 minutes. Riding 19 seconds behind was third position holder Anand Bansode.

The motorcycle classes too had some interesting competition. In the Class 2 (Group “C”: Above 130 cc up to 165 cc) Amit Suryavanshi emerged as the winner, followed by Maansingh Thakur and Vikram Singh Rajput. The winners of Class 7 (Group “B”: Above 210 cc up to 260 cc) were Ganesh Lokhande followed by Kautubh Macche and the third position was taken by Kanhay Athley who even won the Best First Timers award.

Class 8(Group “B”: up to 130 cc) positions were taken by Parvinder Singh Hunjan, Suraj Kute and Akshay Patil. Suraj Kute had a lead of more than 7 minutes over the third position holder. Class 9 (Group “B”: Above 130 cc up to 165 cc) had young Shashank Shevale win the class followed by Kalyan Jambhekar and Mohan Pawar.

Sujeet Kalsekar, Ganesh Lokhande’s tuner was awarded the Tuners Trophy for motocycles and Balu Bendale, Shamim Khans tuner got the tuners trophy in scooters while Baljeet Singh Kochhar, got the tuner’s Trophy in Bullet class for tuning Arvind Singh’s motorcycle.

Pictures: Chetan Save & ‘pit stop’ motor sports

2W Rally of Nashik 2011

August 25, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

‘pit stop’ motor sports organised its second event, ‘2W Rally of Nashik 2011’, flagged off on 21st August 2011

Pictures: Chetan Save & ‘pit stop’ motor sports

White Honda CBR 1000RR 2012 “spotted”

August 22, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

2011 Honda CBR 1000RR White 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.

Yamaha R15 2.0 coming this September

August 17, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Yamaha R15 Yamaha’s performance bike YZF R15 is ready for launch this September in a all-new look.

According to a scanned invite on Facebook fan page of the YZF R15, the bike will be launched in New Delhi this September. That’s great news for all waiting for the bike with bated breath. We had reported about the revamped bike in January this year and will be getting you all the dope about the 2.0 version straight from the launch.

Watch this space.

Polaris to launch ATV range on August 24th

August 16, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Polaris ATV 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.

Hero’s big moment

August 10, 2011 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Hero Impulse Hero MotoCorp, recently separated from its long term siamese twin, Honda, presented its new identity In London. Displaying good knowledge of the Indian people’s love for show and dance, the event was packed with celebrities from around the globe.

Big names, now synonymous with brands, like Shah Rukh Khan, Boris Becker, David Coulthard, Akon, Anusha Sharma and Irfan Pathan graced the event.

For biking fans, Hero MotoCorp launched a dual purpose bike named Hero Impulse which could be using Unicorn engine and monoshock package. Also launched was Maestro, the new gearless scooter, aimed at masculine needs. It could be based on Pleasure or Activa engine.

Both the models will be launched in India soon.

Speaking at the event, BM Munjal, chairman of the Hero Group said “So far all our good products have been credited to Honda. Now we will show the world our strength.” Hero MotoCorp also expects to achieve good sales figures to the tune of 10million units in the next five years which will partly be supported by exports to Latin America, South East Asia and Africa. Hero MotoCorp is also looking to support its new products with original research. “In five years we will have a world class R&D center. No baggage to deal with”. “The new brand identity has born out of our desire to break the shackles and realise our potential which were restricted by the nature of our JV with Honda” said the CEO.

We wish all the best to Hero MotoCorp.