Latest Bike News

The Prancing Horse Motorcycle

April 20, 2012 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

The only Ferrari motorcycle ever built goes under the hammer at Bonham’s on 29^th April.

Purely intended as a one-off motorcycle, this scarlet red masterpiece was hand-built by David Kay Engineering in Florida, USA, under the tutelage of Piero Ferrari, son of Enzo Ferrari. Acclaimed custom builder, Dave Kay, came up with the idea for this machine in 1990, as a tribute to Enzo who had passed away just two years earlier.

The Ferrari 900 is powered by a 900cc four-cylinder engine that is good enough for 107 PS and capable of hitting 100kmph in under three seconds. Top speed is a respectable 265 kmph. When it was finished in 1995, a British collector promptly scooped it up and then, predictably, elected to keep it in his living room as an objet d’art. Now, after 17 years, the 900 is going on auction courtesy the good guys at Bonhams. Somewhere in the world, eccentric billionaires must be busy calculating figures that rival the GDPs of some African and Asian countries.

Image Courtesy: Bonhams

Muscles and Brawn

April 19, 2012 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Salman Khan becomes Suzuki brand ambassador

Suzuki Motorcycle India Private Limited (SMIPL) today announced Salman Khan as its first ever brand ambassador in India. The ‘Dabangg’ star with a massive fan-following will spearhead Suzuki’s above-the-line and below-the-line initiatives, and will be seen endorsing the new Hayate motorcycle soon.

Suzuki two-wheelers will be looking at associating with Salman Khan across the gamut of his projects, campaigns and initiatives. With the recent aggressive product launches that provides customers a choice in each segment, Suzuki two-wheelers has embarked on a journey of ramping up its presence and relationships across the country and market segments. For Suzuki two-wheelers, the iconic status of Salman Khan and his national, cross-market, cross-segment appeal combined well with the Company’s recently adopted brand theme of Apna Way of Life.

Mr. Atul Gupta, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, SMIPL, said, “We are delighted to have Mr Salman Khan associating with one of the world’s most iconic two-wheeler brands. We believe that Suzuki and Salman together will make an emotional connect with all sections of customers that Suzuki’s range of two-wheelers reaches out to. The association with Salman was driven by the imperative of quickly building a strong connection between the Suzuki two-wheeler brand and the different segments that our expanding range of products is addressing.”

Audi buys Ducati

April 18, 2012 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Audi to pay $1.12 billion for Ducati, including debt

Audi has agreed to buy Ducati from owners Investindustrial for about 860 million euros ($1.12 billion) including debt, sources familiar with the companies told news-agencies on Tuesday. The iconic Bolognese manufacturer’s total liabilities are less than 200 million euros according to Investindustrial, and the deal would value Ducati at about seven times last year’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, minus debt. Both the companies involved in the deal has declined to release specific details about the deal until the annual VW shareholders’ meeting scheduled for Thursday, 19th April.

Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech, who turned 75 on Tuesday, has long coveted the brand, publicly expressing interest in buying Ducati four years ago before eventually losing out to Investindustrial. The purchase will now make Ducati the 11th brand in VW’s portfolio, alongside such revered supercar marques as Lamborghini and Bugatti and heavy-duty truck manufacturers Scania AB and MAN SE.

Road & Track Assault

April 17, 2012 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Ducati Panigale to make international racing début

The 1199 Panigale superbike, unveiled by Ducati recently, will be seen scorching racetracks around the world and will also do the legendary mountain course of the Isle of Man TT.

The Panigale will be ridden in the Superstock category of the World Superbike Championship (WSBK) this year to develop the bike’s racing capabilities for a Superbike category assault next year. The project will be a privateer effort, handled by the Effenbert-Liberty Racing outfit, who are going to field two 1199 Panigale S bikes, ridden by Brett McCormick and Federico Sandi.

In the Isle of Man TT, the bike will be ridden by the British rider, Steve Mercer, for the JMF Millsport Ducati team. Mercer will be racing the Panigale in three categories of the event: the Superbike, Senior TT and Superstock races. Apart from the TT, Mercer will also ride the bike in other domestic events in the UK for Millsport this year.

Road & Track Assault

April 17, 2012 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Ducati Panigale to make international racing début

The 1199 Panigale superbike, unveiled by Ducati recently, will be seen scorching racetracks around the world and will also do the legendary mountain course of the Isle of Man TT.

Bajaj Pulsar 200NS Ready For Launch Now

April 16, 2012 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Component revision affects earlier schedule

We rode the Pulsar 200NS on Bajaj Auto’s test track in February this year to come back with the impression that this was the best Pulsar made so far. We had also said that it would be launched in April after the KTM 200 Duke. However, the bike had not appeared in the showrooms yet. The reason?

Bajaj are betting big on the Pulsar 200NS and they want it to be just perfect. The automotive media, though generally impressed by the bike, had a thing or two to suggest after the pre-launch ride, to which the company was receptive. A limited number of bikes were also given out to commuters while the company was busy testing the bike in real world conditions. Based on this feedback, the company is making minor changes to fine-tune their offering.

From what we hear, Bajaj are working on a few components inside the engine to improve refinement. The headlight will get a more powerful bulb and some of the body components are undergoing quality revision.

Now the bike is expected to be launched some time this month. Well, as they say, a stitch in time saves nine.

APEX Racing Academy

April 12, 2012 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Learn your ABC and R’s of racetrack riding

Before you go racing on a racetrack, you need to know how to ride on a racetrack and for those who didn’t grow up doing it, instinct alone isn’t enough. The skill has to be developed by learning and what is a better place to learn something than a school.

The Bangalore based APEX Racing Academy is one such school that offers this special course. The academy has a team of experienced racers who teach the students how to ride on the track along with theoretical lessons on the techniques. The academy will be hosting their next session on April 21 and 22 at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. Participants can opt for the academy’s specially prepared bikes or can even ride their own. Fees for the two day course are Rs 5,000. Those who don’t want the course but won’t mind some company while they ride on the track can do so by paying Rs 2,900. For more details, contact +91 9845031273 (Anil Kumar S) or email your query to ping@apexracing.in.

APEX Racing Academy

April 12, 2012 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Learn your ABC and R’s of racetrack riding

Hyosung Joins the Fray

April 11, 2012 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Garware Motors officially confirms GT250R for India

Following months of speculations amongst Indian bikers, Garware Motors have finally announced that they are going to launch the Hyosung GT 250R in India. The Korean two-wheeler major is no stranger to the 250cc segment in India, having first sold the Comet ( in collaboration with the now-defunct Kinetic Motors) a long time before other manufacturers had even started thinking about the segment. However, limited availability and high costs of spares created a lukewarm reception for what was an otherwise excellent motorcycle.

This time round, the company will leave no stones unturned to make the 250 a success and will also offer tempting finance schemes to woo buyers. The biggest challenge for the Korean bike-makers will be to price the GT250R competitively in view of the massive import duties and taxes it attracts. Most of the 200-cc to 250-cc bikes are priced well under Rs 2 lakh, except the Ninja 250R, which costs close to Rs 3 lakh.

The company already sells three of their unique models, ST7 Royale, GT 650R and GT 650N across the country with 16 dealership which also includes presence in tier II and tier III cities. As with the bigger GT 650R, there is a distinct possibility that Hyosung will also introduce a naked version of the GT 250R soon.

Watch out for a full road test in our forthcoming issue of Bike India.

Basic Specifications Hyosung GT 250R:

Engine Type: Air / Oil cooled DOHC 8-valve 75° V-twin

Displacement: 249cc

Max Power: 26.27 bhp (19.6kW) / @10,000RPM

Max Torque: 21.04Nm / @6,750RPM

Vespa LX 125 Photo Feature

April 10, 2012 by Bike India Team Leave a Comment

Vespa is poised to make their second foray into the Indian scooter market, come April 26^th. We have ridden their first offering, the LX 125, and are working on our ride report, to be featured in the May 2012 issue of BI. In the meantime, feast your eyes on these pictures.