Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2017 i BIKE India

WET-WEATHER TYRES All street-legal motorcycles sold today are equipped with all-weather street tyres. These feature a mix of more generous contact surface with some cuts or grooves in the tread to help with water dispersion. For more specific application, such as racing purposes or extreme weather, wet-weather tyres are available, featuring additional grooves and finer cuts to adequately displace more water and enhance grip in wet conditions. Wet-weather tyres, however, require wet conditions to run cool or else they heat up much faster than regular all-purpose tyres. ENGINE MAPS In bikes with electronic fuel-injection, the control unit for the fuel system is loaded with a set of pre-programmed ‘maps’ which dictate how much fuel is to be injected at what engine speed, based on everything from air pressure and air…

Gearcheck Rider: Aspi Bhathena Helmet: Uvex Jacket: Spidi Gloves: Dainese Boots: Dainese I HAVE A VIVID RECOLLECTION OF the occasion when Anoop Prakash, MD, Harley-Davidson, launched the Street 750 at the Auto Expo. I was at an H-D competitor’s stand with the managing director of that company. When Anoop announced the price of the Street 750 — Rs 4,10,000 (ex-showroom) — the reaction from the MD standing next to me was, ‘Oh, my god!’ The Street 750 makes for a perfect platform to create different bikes such as the race replica that I built here at Bike India. Following considerable customer feedback and demand now Harley-Davidson have made a Street Rod and raised the game. We were invited to Singapore to ride the Street Rod. At least, it certainly seems…

BOOOMPH! AS the SCR950’s front tyre hits the bump in the dirt road the forks compress almost to their bottoms, and the handlebars twitch violently. From my position standing up on the wide foot-pegs I’m thrown momentarily off-balance, before the Yamaha recomposes itself and rumbles along contentedly again. Any bike could generate a similar wobble when ridden off-road, but few scramblers would be knocked quite so out of shape by a Sardinian dirt-road divot that was so shallow I’d barely noticed it. Then again, the SCR950 is distinctly different from any others in the growing street scrambler class, because it is essentially a fairly lightly modified V-twin cruiser. The SCR is closely based on the XV950 — known as the Star Bolt in the US, its main market — whose…

SIMPLY CATCHING SIGHT OF the very clean white-and-red RD250E had brought back a few memories, and starting the engine really transported me back in time. The Yamaha fired up first kick with that raucous, clattery, off-beat rakkatack-tack of an exhaust note from its twin pipes, along with a small cloud of two-stroke exhaust smoke that provided the perfect, atmosphere-enhancing (and polluting) accompaniment. I’d been looking forward to riding the RD250E all morning, and now I was really hooked. It’s a long time now since the late 1970s, when there were so many of them on the roads. But even now there’s something about Yamaha’s coffin-tanked twin that seems to sum up all that was best and craziest about the days when, for teenage speed freaks on a provisional licence, a…

AS THE THUNDER clouds rumble and gather on the horizon and the air is rent with the sharp stabs of lightning, I expect my phone to ring with a message saying something along the lines of ‘tomorrow’s ride has been called off.’ Turns out there were at least a few other riders in the Pune chapter of the Desmo Owners Club’s Pune chapter who thought the way I do: a ride in the wet is better than no ride at all. As we assembled, suitably drenched at the Ducati showroom at 6am the following morning, I was glad to see a couple of Monster 821s, a Scrambler, a Multistrada and a Hypermotard 939 coming onto the lot in quick succession. There was also an xDiavel waiting – my ride for…

THE STAGE WAS SET FOR THE TOP KAWASAKI Racing Team rider and defending champion, Jonathan Rea, who claimed his third double victory at Assen; however, it came with a huge controversy. During Superpole 2, Rea managed to break the lap record and take P1 for the race. On his cool-down lap, however, the two-time WSBK champion blocked Aruba.it Ducati rider Chaz Davies, who was on his final qualifying lap. Davies had to abort the lap because of Rea, which did not give the Welsh rider any scope for improvement. Davies eventually stayed put in P3. A heated argument ensued in Parc Ferme where the Ducati rider confronted the Kawasaki man. The incident was then picked up by Race Direction, who handed Rea a penalty that saw the northern Irish rider…

APRILIA to BAJAJ AUTO BMW MOTORRAD to DUCATI DUCATI to HONDA HONDA to KAWASAKI KAWASAKI to MV AGUSTA ROYAL ENFIELD to TRIUMPH TRIUMPH to COMPETITION BIKES APRILIA to TVS SCOOTERS Electric Scooters NEW THIS MONTH Honda CBR 1000RR Fireblade Honda’s latest, most advanced superbike has arrived with a bang. Yours from Rs 17.60 lakh (ex-Delhi). Pg 129 Suzuki GSX-R1000R Significantly updated and packed with electrical wizardry, the new Gixxer puts out 200+ PS and costs from Rs 19 lakh (ex-Delhi). Pg 132…

We’ve completed 11 YEARS at BIKE INDIA, and YOU, our READERS, are the FUEL that drives us FORWARD. Your SUPPORT is the most valuable component of BIKE INDIA MAGAZINE, and we can’t THANK YOU enough. So here’s a tribute to YOU — the amazing #BICOMMUNITY. May our bond ever grow STRONGER. Ride hard, ride safe Send in Your Pictures with #BICommunity to: EMAIL bikeindia@nextgenpublishing.net FACEBOOK /bikeindia TWITTER @bikeindia INSTAGRAM @bikeindia POST Bike India, Next Gen Automotive, 401B, Gandhi Empire, 5th Floor, 2 Serene Estate, Kondhwa Road, Pune - 411040.…

second ‘real’ mudguard which hugged the tyre made the upper ‘beak’ purely decorative), in retrospect, the execution was actually quite successful. Yes, it was a bit slab-sided, but so was the rest of the bike, so all was well. Seeing it again for the first time in many years, it came as a surprise how well balanced it now looks. And more significantly, how it started a trend, which Suzuki themselves seemed unaware of at the time. This, in turn, allowed a rival in the newly developing direction of adventure sports to entirely take over: the oil-head BMW GS series. Two years after its introduction, Doctor Big grew from 750 to 800 cc, and even appeared with a full touring kit, including hard panniers and a top-box. This reflected the…

FIFTEEN YEARS LATER, THE café high in the Italian hills is different and so is the naked Aprilia that I’ve just parked outside, its fat Pirellis hot and sticky to the sidewalls. But the Tuono name on the bodywork is the same and so is the feeling that once again I’ve just been riding the fastest and best sit-up-and-beg superbike that the world has ever seen. That conclusion was not in doubt last time, outside the Caffè Mokarico in Tuscany in spring 2002. Back then, Aprilia had essentially just founded the hyper-naked class by removing the fairing from the RSV Mille sports bike and bolting on a raised handlebar instead of clip-ons to create the original Tuono, making that rorty V-twin the undisputed numero uno in a class of one.…

E’VE BEEN RIDING in the sweltering 40-degree Celsius heat, and all that we can feel is the Kwacker duo taking over us. That’s the effect most Japanese middleweight bikes have on mortals. They’re light, yet powerful; nimble yet stable at high speeds and, most importantly, they give you comfort while riding on highways or on narrow chock-a-block city roads. And this is why I’ve always believed that 650s are a more practical buy than the litre-class because of their multifaceted character. Let’s put this more in perspective. Kawasakis are among the best options you have in the Indian middleweight segment. After parting ways with Bajaj Auto, Kawasaki have been on a mission in India. They’ve launched a whole bunch of new bikes, right from the Z250 to Z1000 and Ninja…

MY FIRST RIDE ON the GSX-R1100 was more than 30 years ago, and I can still remember it as though it was yesterday. On the first real day of spring in 1986, the south of England’s early morning mist had burned off to reveal bright sunlight. And I was on the loose on a freshly uncrated example of the fastest, lightest, best-handling, most outrageously brilliant open-class superbike that the world had ever seen. One sequence in particular from that morning stands out in my memory: a long, slightly uphill stretch of straight road on which I opened up the big Suzuki for one of the first times, followed by a gentle right-hand curve that was taken as fast as I dared. The GSX-R accelerated so hard on the straight that…

MotoGP THE CLOUDS AND chill winds that had brought so many people undone on Saturday were gone by Sunday, which dawned sunny and warm. You could almost hear the sigh of relief up and down the pit-lane. Marquez and Viñales topped morning warm-up, just 0.17 seconds between them and an aeon ahead of the rest, with third- and fourth-fastest Dani Pedrosa and Rossi more than a second further back. It looked as if it would be a two-horse race. Except it didn’t quite turn out like that. Pedrosa got an astonishing start from fourth on the grid to lead a race for the first time since he won last year’s Misano GP. Marquez was right behind him, then Rossi, Viñales and mad-keen Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha), who fought past Lorenzo…

AFTER A DISAPPOINTING race weekend in Holland, Aruba.it Ducati’s Chaz Davies was back to his winning ways at Imola, bagging a double victory. RACE ONE The first Italian round of the season was probably the most action- and drama-packed one to date: the first race saw an Aprilia burst into flames and then Chaz Davies claim victory by 6.6 seconds. It was a clear victory for him as the Welshman led the race from flag to pole. As the lights went out, Davies took off like a rocket and held on to the lead. Behind him was his team-mate, Marco Melandri, who also got a brilliant start. In third place was reigning champion and Kawasaki rider Jonathan Rea, who, on lap five, overtook Melandri to slip into P2. Consistently riding…

I AM FROM DELHI AND currently I am pursuing LL B final year. I became fascinated about riding after being inspired by my elder brother, Javed, when he visited Ladakh on his bike in 2010. Since then I have done some extreme rides. In 2016, I made a plan for this ride covering all 29 states in the minimum possible time after approaching the Limca Book of Records. I had never gone on such a long trip on my own, but I knew it was very much possible. Although a few of my relatives and friends advised me against the ride, my parents supported me both financially and morally and I decided to proceed. Indeed, fortune favours the brave. I started my self-financed ride on my KTM RC390 on 5…

I‘M AT VARESE, near Milan, Italy, at the factory of MV Agusta. This is the very place where they hand-build iconic motorcycles like the F4 and Brutale. My work is cut out and simple, but with some perks: ride the MV Agusta Brutale 800 which was launched last year and dish out a first ride report before the end of the day. Simple. And the perk, you ask? Well, I also get a complete tour of this historic factory and even get to look around Museo Agusta, a museum where the most legendary MV Agusta bikes are on display. But more on this some other time, perhaps. Let’s focus on the Brutale 800, which is due for launch in India around June-July this year. This middleweight roadster got an overhaul…

STEP RIGHT UP folks, step right up; we have quite the treat for you today. Two heavyweights of the motorcycling world go head-to-head for all the plaudits. In the Morello Red corner, weighing in at 228 kg, hailing from Hinckley, Leicestershire, the brutal British beauty: Triumph Bonneville Bobber. And, in the Girgio Sport grey corner, weighing in at 199 kg, from Mandello del Lario, the feisty Italian: Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber. Both competitors are looking fit and raring to go, so let’s get right into it. Round one — the looks, and ding, ding, there’s the starting bell. With its looks inspired by hardtails of yore, the Triumph has a retro-styled motif running across its design philosophy. The classically round headlamps, flat handlebars, minimalist circular bar-end mirrors, sculpted tank, wire-spoke…

BEFORE THE ADVENT OF JAPANESE MACHINERY A FEW decades ago, Indian motorcyclists had precious few choices when it came to motorcycles. The government ban on imported vehicles implemented in the late 1960s meant that you could no longer buy BSAs, Nortons, Triumphs or NSUs in India; the only manufacturers left were Royal Enfield, who have soldiered on to become one of our most successful marques in the 21st century, and the Czech brand Jawa, built in Mysore (now Mysuru) under the Ideal Jawa banner. With a range of single- and twin-cylinder two-stroke motorcycles, Jawa achieved cult status in India, with their bikes making an impact in urban as well as rural markets. The old Jawas are now considered collectors’ items and a well-maintained example can fetch quite a price today.…

MotoGP IT WAS ALL OVER BY THE FIRST corner. Pedrosa was back to his old self; not only had he found his old speed, he was also unbeatable away from the line. He led the entire race. It was no pushover, however. He was under huge pressure throughout, with Marquez chasing hard, refusing to give up the hunt, even though Pedrosa’s medium rear allowed him to establish an early lead over his team-mate, whose more aggressive technique forced him to use the hard rear. By lap three the gap was 1.5 seconds and it stayed around that mark for most of the race, until Marquez did finally wave the white flag three laps from the end, quite sensibly preferring 20 points to a face full of gravel. Pedrosa was delighted…

MotoGP PLANS TO run an electric-bike world championship from 2019, alongside its existing MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 categories. Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta is already in talks with manufacturers with the idea of running a series at five MotoGP rounds. “It is the right time to have an electric support class in MotoGP,” says Ezpeleta. “Now we are talking with different electric bike makers and then we will see. We have had a lot of interest from a lot of people. Our aim is to start the series the year after next, with, maybe, one race at the end of 2018.” Dorna will make its first foray into electric racing with a one-make series because the MotoGP rights-holders believe there’s currently too much of a performance difference between different machines to…

I WAS EXCITED FOR THE RAY ZR, I REALLY WAS. The new marketing approach seemed quite interesting. Though I didn’t get those gold bits, the Ray ZR is still a credible daily mobile. It’s been couple of months since it arrived and it’s been with me through thick and thin, rain and shine. Its striking design looks reminiscent of a power-scooter, and the added leg room (compared to the Alpha and older Ray) is appreciated. The most standout feature, for me, however, is the soft suspension setup. It’s just so comfortable; especially considering my daily commute involves a lot of speed-humps and broken road in equal proportion. The ergonomics, too, are very good and it never felt uncomfortable at any point of time. Its comfort is bettered by its handling…