Latest Bike News

First Husqvarna unveiled under KTM

October 1, 2013 by Jim Gorde Leave a Comment

Austrian power brand KTM have unveiled their very first Husqvarna offering to the global market: the TC300. It is the first bike to roll-out from Pierer Industries AG, a firm owned by KTM’s CEO Stefan Pierer. The TC300 is largely based on the popular Husqvarna TV250, a 2-stroke maniac machine. Technicians at KTM have infused this new bike with a 300cc mill to provide more bang for the buck.

This new Husky has received plenty of necessary upgrades than its predecessors, they include – a new carbon-fibre subframe, WP suspension, a state of the art Akrapovic exhaust, billet machined hubs and the iconic Husqvarna Factory racing livery.

KTM officials have also issued a statement regarding the launch of the new Husqvarna. The TC300 will be showcased to the general public on October 5 in Sweden. Stay tuned for more updates.

Story: Sayem Syed

Dainese Gear coming soon

October 1, 2013 by Jim Gorde Leave a Comment

In a first move of it kind, Dainese, the high-end motorcycle safety gear brand, have announced their plan to venture in to India and will be soon opening their first exclusive store here. The Italian company has joined hands with Tusker Group, which is well versed with the two-wheeler segment, being owners of Tusker Harley-Davidson dealership in Bangalore.

Srinivas Reddy will be heading Dainese and AGV’s Indian arm which will market these products through a number of outlets called D Store. The first D Store will be inaugurated by the end of this month at Orion Mall in Bangalore. Reddy will also supervise the drive to open stores in most cities with evolved biking culture like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Coimbatore among others. Keeping the sentiments in mind for enthusiasts from other cities, Tusker Group will soon launch their online shopping portal: www.dainesedstore.in

The company has also developed a new range of products, called the Hot Climate Line, specifically for India and other Asian country like ours, which have extreme hot and humid climate. This new mesh and fabric range of riding gear will offer comfort and safety in warm weather conditions like ours.

During an interaction with Bike India, Federico Minoli, CEO, Dainese Protective Gear, said, “We have started establishing a production site in Baroda in India for helmets to be exported to Europe. We have just begun the production of medium priced helmets for local markets; that have Asian fitting and include all the feature of higher priced helmets, to be distributed in India.”

Story: Sarmad Kadiri

Splendor To Get (i)Smart

October 1, 2013 by Team Bike India Leave a Comment

On the back of the recent reveal of the popular Karizma’s more powerful new avatar, Hero MotoCorp have slowly started to release details about some of the other bikes that will make up the 15 new ones they intend on bringing in to the market from next year onwards. Information regarding the new Splendor, which has traditionally been Hero’s strongest product in the Indian automobile market, has been the next in line to surface from Hero’s Global Sales and Marketing Conference in Macau, China.

The design of this new Splendor is aimed towards wrenching back the market share from some of its entry level competitors who have been steadily encroaching on territory previously dominated by it. Reports suggest that Hero intend on accomplishing this by not only giving the bike the whole hog of cosmetic upgrades,but also introducing a variant called the iSmart that will incorporate the start stop system in a motorbike for the first time in India.

The start stop system is a technological tool that turns the vehicle off when it comes to a standstill, at a traffic light for example, and starts it again when the vehicle is revved up. This system has the obvious benefit of improved fuel economy, something that has been the cornerstone to the Splendor’s popularity in the Indian market. If incorporated efficiently, the iSmart will surely help he Splendor range regain the lofty heights it once enjoyed in the entry level motorbike segment.

While speaking at event, Hero MotoCorp’s Managing Director and CEO, Pawan Munjal also spoke about the many alliances and acquisitions that Hero have made in foreign design and engineering firms, and how despite not actively searching for more such acquisitions and partnerships, if the right opportunity came their way, money would not be an object to buying further stakes in automobile firms or even the outright purchase of dedicated two-wheeler production firms.

Story: Harket Suchde

Picture source: www.motorbeam.com

Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride comes to India

September 30, 2013 by Team Bike India Leave a Comment

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride is a global event where bikers from 110 different cities hit their local cities’ streets simultaneously on old-school rides wearing formal clothing. For the first time ever, an Indian city in the form of New Delhi was also part of the event, and it was hosted by a bunch of Royal Enfield enthusiasts, both men and women, who go by the moniker Royal Mavericks.

The ride took place on the 29th of September across the globe, which included the New Delhi leg, in which 72 bikers took to the streets on their Royal Enfield. Tarique Afaque, Founder, Royal Mavericks, was quite proud at how the event turned out, he said, “It gives us immense pleasure and honour to conduct the DGR first time ever in India. It is very exciting to see the riders come out in huge numbers and participate in this momentous occasion. Royal Mavericks takes immense pride in being associated with ‘Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride’ (DGR) for a special cause in the Capital for the first time in India and we are looking forward for such rides in future too.”

Following a highly successful inaugural run in 2012 which was held across 64 cities, the Ride has built on its original premise of riders celebrating their bikes’ vintage lineages and inspirations, and paying tribute to biking culture of the yesteryears by dressing up in strictly formal, vintage-style clothing for the event, by incorporating the task of raising awareness and funds for a charity to its list of aspirations along with the aforementioned celebrations and the joy of riding. This year, the issue the ride aimed at raising awareness for was Prostate Cancer, with the proceeds from the Indian leg of the ride going to the The Prostate Cancer Foundation, Australia.

Story: Harket Suchde

Bajaj Price Hike in the Offing

September 28, 2013 by Jim Gorde 1 Comment

Bajaj Auto Ltd., makers of some of the most popular motorcycles in India, are all set to raise the prices of their offerings. A leading daily stated that this move has been facilitated by the Pune-based manufacturer to offset the impact of high input costs and the rupee decline.

Addressing the media at a business conference recently, Mr. Rajiv Bajaj, MD stated, “It seems likely that we have to raise prices because commodity prices have gone up significantly, partly owing also to the way forex has moved.”

As of now, the head honchos at Bajaj have not revealed any specific details regarding the percentage of price hike across their product portfolio. With the festive season coming up and with a couple of important launches from Bajaj, which include the KTM 390 Duke-derived Pulsar 375, among others expected. It would be quite interesting to see how Bajaj Auto Ltd manages to hold on its market share amidst severe competition.

Story: Sayem Syed