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Revival of an Icon

Last month, on the country’s Independence Day (15 August), Classic Legends, who make motorcycles like the Jawa and Yezdi, launched one of the most iconic British motorcycle brands: BSA (Birmingham Small Arms).

During the post-War era and up to the early 1970s, BSA was one of the most popular motorcycle brands in the world. They had some popular models like the Shooting Star, Lightning, and their most iconic model, Gold Star, which is the model they have launched in India. The original Gold Star came as 350 and 500 singles; this one is a 650 single-cylinder.

The Gold Star was a performance bike of that era; in contemporary terms, you could call it the Ducati Panigale of the 1950s and ’60s. We have not had the opportunity to ride the new Gold Star as yet, though.

This was the first time we saw the Royal Enfield GT Cup race at the Madras International Racetrack and the shift to a different venue was a welcome change. The track has changed a lot since I raced there for the last time in 1999. It has become quicker by at least four to five seconds a lap after resurfacing and the pits are well appointed with all the basic requirements. The riders did good lap-times of one minute 56/57, but what was shocking was that none of them was riding on the correct racing line and these boys have been racing for more than five to six years with Honda and TVS. Both Honda and TVS have been running their racing programmes for a long time and have some very good racing bikes but they have not been able to teach the boys how to select the correct racing line. If they are not capable of riding on the correct line on their home circuit, what hope do they have to succeed on international racetracks?

Aspi Bhathena
Editor

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A Memorable Milestone

This month, we, at Bike India, are celebrating the 19th anniversary of the magazine.

In 2005, when the management of Next Gen Publishing were preparing to launch a new magazine in the automobile space, they made a tough decision to publish two magazines: a car-only magazine, Car India, and another dedicated only to two-wheelers, Bike India. This call was taken at a time when all the other automotive magazines published in the country at that time were—and even today are—automobile magazines that cover both cars and two-wheelers in the same issue. Next Gen Publishing is the only publishing house catering individually to two-wheelers, cars, commercial vehicles, and automotive components through separate magazines.

Last month I was in Barcelona, Spain, for the first ride of the new Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 (you may read the report in this anniversary issue on page 40). I experienced no pain or fatigue even after spending nearly seven hours in the saddle. The reason for this is that I grew up riding bikes like the Norton Dominator and my brothers the Laverda 750 SF whose clutch was very heavy.

There are several back-end workers like the copy desk editor and designers who never get the credit for putting the magazine together. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire editorial team and the marketing team for their hard work day in and day out.

Finally, I would like to thank all our readers and the manufacturers for their unstinting support over the past 19 years.


Aspi Bhathena
Editor