Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2018 i BIKE India

TRIUMPH, THE BRITISH MARQUE THAT HOLDS ABOUT 20 PER CENT of the premium motorcycle market share in the country, has plans to expand its dealer network to second and third tier cities in the coming months. Triumph currently sell 13 models in the Indian market and we expect them to introduce six more products by mid-2019, while the aim is to expand their sales network from the current 16 dealerships to as many as 25 in the next three to four years. We do not know much about the new models to be launched, but are sure that one of them will be a larger, 1,200-cc Scrambler. Speaking about the company’s future plans, Triumph Motorcycles (India) General Manager, Shoeb Farooq, said, ‘Before June 2019, we plan to launch six products.…

BMW Motorrad India recently announced the prices of their middleweight adventure -touring motorcycles, the F 750 GS and F 850 GS, giving adventure lovers more options. The F 750 GS starts at Rs 11.95 lakh for the base variant and Rs 13.40 lakh for the Pro variant. The F 850 GS, which is a slightly bigger motorcycle, starts at Rs 12.95 lakh for the standard version and goes up to Rs 14.40 lakh for the Pro version. Both the bikes are now available at BMW Motorrad dealerships across the country. All prices are ex-showroom. The F 750 GS comes with typical GS styling and go-anywhere ability. BMW have equipped both the bikes with the same engine, that is, the 853-cc parallel-twin motor that produces 77 PS in the 750 and…

Preparing for the festive season, TVS Motor Company have introduced a new variant of the TVS StaR City+ commuter with Synchronized Braking Technology (SBT) and a new grey-black dual-tone colour. This is essentially a joint-braking system that engages the front and rear brakes simultaneously to improve braking and reduce the chances of skidding. The commuter continues to be powered by the 110-cc Ecothrust engine, with an output of 8.4 PS at 7,000 rpm and a torque of 8.7 Nm at 5,000 rpm and comes mated to a four-speed gearbox. The new variant also features TVS’ chrome 3D badge, dual-tone rear-view mirrors, a small visor, and a black grab-rail. Apart from the new grey-black colour, the TVS StaR City+ is also available in black-red, black-blue, and red-black colour options and is…

India Kawasaki Motors have launched the 2019 model of their popular mid-size touring motorcycle, the Versys 650, priced at Rs 6.69 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The 2019 Versys 650 comes with a new Mettalic Moondust Grey/Mettalic Flat Spark Black paint job. Apart from this, the bike remains unchanged and continues to be powered by the trusted 649-cc, parallel-twin engine that produces 69 PS and 64 Nm. The bike is available at Kawasaki dealerships across the country. The Versys 650 is a competitor for the newly-launched Suzuki V-Strom 650XT. Both the bikes are available with an array of features and also come with ABS as standard.…

Rekindling Passion for Bikes I enjoy reading Bike India magazine as well as your Facebook and Instagram posts. Before joining my family business, I used to be a huge motorcycle enthusiast. However, with growing work pressure and family demands, very reluctantly I had to give up motorcycle tours with my friends. Recently, I celebrated my 40th birthday and felt as if time was running out. I have decided to rekindle my passion for two wheels now. To be honest, I still have doubts: will I be comfortable in the saddle as I was about a decade-and-a-half ago? So, I’ve decided to buy a used bike to start with. My budget is close to Rs 3 lakh for a second-hand model and the options range between the Triumph Bonneville and Kawasaki…

THE LAST FEW YEARS have seen a paradigm shift in the demands of Indian bikers. Gone are the Dhoom days when everybody was obsessed with owning a fully faired race replica at any cost. The industry has matured, with so many models on sale here, and riders, too, have realized that they would rather have bikes that are easier to ride, easier to live with, and practical to own. These realizations led to a boom in the sale of naked bikes, most of which bring ample power and sharp handling characteristics to the table without the impossibly hunched-over and focused ergonomics of the aforementioned race reps. But not everyone is interested in 0-200 km/h times or knee-dragging lean angles; there is a fast-growing cross section of bikers who wish to…

DIMENSIONS Width: 705 mm Kerb Weight: 112 kg Battery: 12V / 3.0 Ah, Analogue speedometer, odometer ENGINE Configuration: AIr-cooled, single-cylinder Valve-train: SOHC, two-valves Displacement: 109.7 cc Bore x Stroke: 53.5 x 48.8 mm Compression ratio: 9.65:1 Fuelling: Carburettor, Keihin CQ8 Maximum Power: 8.4 PS at 7,000 rpm Maximum Torque: 8.7 Nm at 5,000 rpm TRANSMISSION Clutch: Wet, multi-plate Gears: Four-speed, constant mesh Primary Drive: Gear Final Drive: Chain Gearshift Pattern: All up CHASSIS Type: Single cradle tubular frame Front suspension: Telescopic fork Rear suspension: Five-step adjustable twin shock absorbers Front brake: 130-mm drum Rear brake: 110-mm drum, with SBT Front wheel: 18-inch, cast aluminium Rear wheel: 18-inch, cast aluminium Front tyre: 2.75-18, tubeless, TVS Dura Grip Rear tyre: 3.00-18, tubeless, TVS Dura Grip Rake/trail: 26°/83 mm FUEL EFFICIENCY Highway: 76…

ALKING INTO THE MAIN factory, the mother ship, if you will, of TVS Tyres here in India, the overwhelming feeling I’m getting is one of sensibility and progression. There’s clear signage promoting safety, all the employees we come across are polite and purposeful, and the entire complex is clean, airy, and efficient. I’m being given a look behind the curtain and at the inner workings of a two-wheeler tyre plant. First I went into the cutting-edge R&D section and was given a tour of the facility and enjoyed a glimpse into how a tyre is built. Everything from the quality of the rubber to the carbon black, the amount of silica, and the myriad other ingredients that go into concocting the recipe for the perfect tyre was explained to me…

THE INAUGURAL THAILAND MOTOGP ROUND turned out to be one of the most exciting ones of the season with intense competition being witnessed among the top five riders. The weekend got under way on a high note with all the riders excited to give the Chang International Circuit a try. As the riders went out during free practice on Friday, we witnessed a terrifying crash that involved factory Ducati rider Jorge Lorenzo. As Lorenzo made his way towards Turn Three, the rear of his bike slid out and then it suddenly found grip again, launching Lorenzo into the air and then flying towards the gravel trap. The bike broke into two with Lorenzo lying on the gravel trap; however, fortunately, he seemed all right despite the fall. The crash forced…

IT IS NOT EVERY DAY THAT YOU SEE A young lady enter a male-dominated sport and start winning. Well, that was until 2001, when Ana Carrasco, a resident of Murcia, Spain, came on to the scene. Ana started riding motorcycles at the tender age of three when her father got a mini-bike for her elder sister. However, while Ana’s sister wasn’t interested in riding bikes, she was and that is how she started her journey on motorcycles. Ana was just five years old when she entered her first race in 2001 and has been winning since. In 2005, she became the runner-up in Bancaja championship and the following year she was second in the Madrid and Andalusia 70-cc Territorial Championships. In 2007, she entered the Junior World Championship at the…

THE TVS RACING PIT WAS A BEEHIVE OF activity over the race weekend as they fussed around their race machines and riders for the fourth round of the One Make Championship (OMC). This time, they had left their usual battlegrounds in southern India to fight it out on the biggest racetrack in the country, the Buddh International Circuit (BIC). Before the race weekend began, Karthik Mateti was the man to watch out for in the Novice category. Having won all the races thus far, he had amassed an impressive lead with 150 points; more than double of what his closest rival, Anand R, had managed to secure. In the RR 310 Open class, Vivek Pillai was in control of the championship with 104 points. Right behind him were Deepak Ravikumar…

SUZUKI MOTORCYCLES UNVEILED A BRAND-NEW MOTORCYCLE at the INTERMOT show in Germany recently, giving rise to nostalgia. We are talking about the latest iteration of the iconic Katana name, which has come back albeit with a moderate dose of modernity. Suzuki had showcased the Katana concept at EICMA in 2017, giving fans a reason to celebrate, and, just a year later, here we are looking at the production-ready version of the bike. Back in 1981, when the first Katana made its début, it became a rage because of its off-beat design. However, the bike was taken off the market in 2006 as the trend moved towards fully-faired sport bikes. A couple of years ago, the naked street motorcycle trend made a comeback and, in 2017, we witnessed the Katana 3.0…

YAMAHA HAVE UNVEILED THE LATEST ITERATION OF THEIR SMALL-CAPACITY YZF model, the R3, giving the bike a meaner look that matches Yamaha’s MotoGP machine, the M1. The redesigned fairing now looks more aggressive with a gaping air-intake on the nose, new headlamps, and a redesigned bubble screen. These changes, along with other design changes, have made the new R3 more aerodynamic, which adds eight km/h to the top speed when the rider is tucked behind the screen. The R3 also gets a new fuel-tank with a cover matching the lines of the new design. The tank and the fairing are designed to let the rider tuck in and have a more sporty riding position. The bike gets new LED headlamps, an LCD instrument console, a revised tail section, and a…

MOTOROYALE, FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE Kinetic Group, recently launched four new brands, including Norton, SWM, Hyosung, and FB Mondial. In a lavish launch event in Mumbai, the company announced seven new products, including bikes from MV Agusta. First up was the new MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR, priced at Rs 18.99 lakh (ex-showroom). The bike is powered by a 798-cc, liquid-cooled, in-line three-cylinder motor that produces 140 PS and 87 Nm. It may be recalled that we were the first to tell you about this bike when we rode it exclusively in Italy in May 2018. Next up was the launch of the brand, Norton Motorcycles. Motoroyale had announced the arrival of Norton some time ago; however, at the event they launched the Commando 961 Sport and the Dominator, priced…

To welcome the festive season, Suzuki Motorcycle India have launched the Intruder SP and Intruder FI SP to give customers a more stylish small-capacity cruiser. Both the motorcycles will come in a matte black shade with orange accents and a stylish pillion backrest as standard equipment. Suzuki have priced the Intruder SP at Rs 1.05 lakh and the FI SP at Rs 1.07 lakh, both prices are ex-showroom, Delhi. The SP variants carry an overall dark theme with very little chrome on them. The exhaust cover, which is available in chrome on the standard variant, is also painted black to maintain the new theme of the bike. Both the bikes come with Suzuki’s reliable 154.9-cc air-cooled, single-cylinder engine that produces 14.8 PS at 8,000 rpm and 14 Nm at 6,000…

After the launch of the Versys 650, Kawasaki have now launched the 2019 version of the Z900 at Rs 7.68 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The latest iteration of the Kawasaki Z900 hasn’t received any design or mechanical changes but is now available in three new colours: Pearl Flat Stardust White with Metallic Spark Black, Metallic Flat Spark Black/Metallic Spark Black, and the limited-edition Metallic Moondust Grey with Ebony. Powering the streetfighter is the 948-cc, in-line four which makes 125 PS at 9,500 rpm and 98.6 Nm that peaks at 7,700 rpm. The bike comes with a 41-mm USD fork up front and a rear monoshock unit, while braking duties are managed by 300-mm dual front discs and a 250-mm single disc at the rear.…

CARS, AS I HAVE NOTED AD NAUSEAM, LEAD THE motorcycle industry in terms of design and technology. The latest driver aids, which warn of impending danger (lane assist, peripheral vision warnings) or act automatically to avoid disaster (lane realignment, collision avoidance braking), have seemed less and less applicable to two wheels as they evolved. The next-gen autonomous and semi-autonomous driving modes appear to be totally irrelevant to two wheels and may even threaten motorcycling in its entirety. Although our lives may be less endangered once cars are programmed to avoid colliding with us, our very existence will be in question when car accident statistics start to drop dramatically, which they will once human error is removed from the equation. Like it or not, motorcycling will need to measure up on…

YOU PROBABLY HAVEN’T heard of SWM before; that is, unless you took an active interest in the Trials and Enduro championships being held across Europe and the UK during the late 1970s and early ’80s. The company was founded in Milan, Italy, circa 1971, and specialized in building Rotaxengined off-road and competition bikes, some of which can be found dominating retro and classic enduro and trials events even today. Unfortunately, the company folded in 1984 and hasn’t been heard from since, that is until 2014, when Ampelio Macchi, a former engineer and technical manager at Cagiva, Husqvarna, and Aprillia with a passion for SWM motorcycles, brokered a deal between the owners of the defunct brand and the Shineray Group, a Chinese conglomerate willing to pump funds into the revival of…

DELHI. LA CAPITOL. GOOD OL’ HQ. House of the Parliament, the Supreme Court, and the residence of Citizen One. The city, home to 18.6 million souls on paper (could be more), sure is a busy, busy place to be. Delhi has, in the recent past, suffered from pollution woes which the government took a number of steps to curb it. At night, however, I found no such problems. Cannot explain why, but the weather was nice and the big roads made sure I had no real issues. Traffic, though, tends to be a little helter-skelter, so it is wise to be defensive while driving or riding here, especially when on a two-wheeler. Apart from that, a night ride in Delhi was quite enjoyable. The city has its old side which…

I TRULY BELIEVE THAT THERE IS NO BETTER WAY TO explore, experience, and enjoy a journey than when it is done on a motorcycle. Towards the end of September I got an opportunity to be part of an experience few ever opt for or are able to. The ride in question was Royal Enfield’s Tour of Bhutan 2018. It is very difficult to write about an experience that at times cannot be explained. I will try, though, to best put euphoric emotions into mere written language. Bhutan, Land of the Thunder Dragon, is a country that stuns you into silence with its beauty. Throw in the superbly smooth tarmac, with about 10 curves per kilometre, and you end up with any motorcycle fan lifting their lower jaw off the floor,…

HONDA HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE. NOT IN 1989 WHEN Eddie Lawson stunned the paddock by joining bitter rival Wayne Gardner at Rothmans Honda, because they worked out of different garages, but the previous year, when Ayrton Senna joined Alain Prost in the McLaren Honda Formula 1 team. Jorge Lorenzo joins Marc Marquez at Repsol Honda next season, just the same as Senna entered the McLaren Honda garage in 1988. Marquez is the established Honda star, just as Prost was three decades ago. Prost and Senna spent two years together, Senna taking the 1988 F1 title ahead of Prost, who got his revenge the following summer. The Frenchman and the Brazilian were the greatest drivers of their generation, just as Marquez and Lorenzo are the greatest bike racers right now. Indeed,…

KAWASAKI RIDER Jonathan Rea has become the World Superbike champion for the fourth consecutive time, thus becoming the first Northern Irish rider to win this laurel. Rea has now also become the most successful WSBK racer of all time, beating former champion and British rider, Carl Fogarty. Race One As the lights went out, it was the Kawasaki duo of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea who zipped to the front of the pack despite having started on row three. The two were engaged in a superb tussle on the very first lap which saw Sykes take the lead as the pair came around for lap two. However, come lap two and Rea started to make his move. He came right behind Sykes after Turn Two, slowly inching closer to pass…

WE ARRIVED AT AN unusually warm Kovai for the third round of the 21st JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship. Gixxer Cup riders were, perhaps, among the few who were thankful for the heat because it would help them keep their tyres at optimal temperature and settle some differences in the points table. Before the weekend began, Joseph Matthew held a comfortable lead with 40 points to his name and you may have already guessed his level of success over the weekend by looking at the headline. Syed Muzammil Ali was on his tail with 30 points. Here is a detailed report of what went down. Race One Joseph, the defending champion, qualified on pole position, ahead of his main rivals. During the course of the race, an incident on…

AFTER INTRODUCING THE MULTISTRADA 1260 RECENTLY, DUCATI HAVE NOW unveiled the Enduro model of the same. The new Multi Enduro comes with the same 1,262-cc Testastretta L-twin with Desmodromic Valve Timing that powers the standard Multi 1260. However, in the Enduro it features 17 per cent more torque at 5,500 rpm than any other bike in this segment, which makes it more rider-friendly. In fact, Ducati have tuned the engine in such a way that there is 85 per cent torque available from as low as 3,500 rpm. Overall, the engine delivers greater torque across the rev-range, making the low- and mid-range delivery better for any situation. The Enduro also comes with fly-by-wire throttle for smoother response from the engine, multiple riding modes for a versatile ride across varying terrain,…

THE RETRO-STYLED ROYAL ENFIELD 650 TWIN RANGE HAS BEEN launched globally with a starting price of $5,799 in the US (Rs 4.2 lakh, approx) and will be launched in India later in 2018. In the US, the price of Royal Enfield twins varies depending on the colour scheme one opts for. The standard version of the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 has been priced at $5,999 (Rs 4.35 lakh, approx), the basic Interceptor 650 costs $5,799, while the special Chrome 650 carries a sticker of $6,499. These are staggering prices considering the fact that they include a three-year warranty and roadside assistance in the US. This seems to give credence to our estimated price of Rs 3-3.5 lakh for India. The Royal Enfield Interceptor and Continental GT 650 will be…

Suzuki Motorcycle India recently launched their much-awaited mid-size adventure motorcycle, the V-Strom 650XT, priced at Rs 7.46 lakh (ex-showroom). Powered by a 645-cc liquid-cooled V-twin, mated to a six-speed transmission, the engine is rated at 71 PS at 8,800 rpm and 62 Nm peaking at 6,500 rpm. The V-Strom 650 also gets the right components and tech to fit in with the middleweight adventure-tourers available today. It comes with ABS and three-mode traction control for better safety, a Suzuki Easy Start system to make sure the bike fires up immediately, and low RPM assist. It also gets an adjustable windscreen with three preset positions, wire-spoke wheels wrapped in Bridgestone Battlax Adventure A40 dual-sport tyres, a 20-litre tank to keep you going for a long haul, and 12V DC outlet as…

TVS Motor Company have launched yet another iteration of the Jupiter which appears to be aimed at the premium scooter buyer. In addition to a few aesthetic upgrades, this variant is equipped with an analogue-digital instrument console; something that was missing in the previous models. Like most of its rivals, the Jupiter also features an LED headlamp. A new shade of glossy paint and heavy use of beige panels in the rider’s proximity lend the scooter a premium appeal. However, that is not all. TVS have also added a maroon seat and a fresh alloy wheel design as well. Furthermore, if your phone’s running low on power, you can charge it on the go using the under-seat mobile charger. Mechanically, the Jupiter continues to be powered by the same trusted…

India Kawasaki Motors have been on a launching spree lately. They have introduced the 2019 version of the Versys 650, Z900, and now the Z650. All of these are simply model-year revamps with just graphics updates. In keeping with the trend, the 2019 Kawasaki Z650 gets a new Metallic Flat Spark Black/ Metallic Spark Black colour scheme as seen in the accompanying picture. The Kawasaki Z650 MY 2019 is priced at Rs 5.29 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), which is about Rs 30,000 more than before. The naked streetfighter retains the tried-and-tested 649-cc, liquid-cooled, parallel-twin engine that makes 68 PS and 65.7 Nm. The chassis of the Z650 weighs just 15 kg and makes the bike light and nimble. As before, the Kawasaki Z650 comes equipped with ABS, and assist and slipper…

Yamaha have launched the Serow 250 globally. It is high time Yamaha considered launching the same in India. The following are the points that justify the same: • It shares the FZ25 engine • It’s a great product considering that the dual-sport market is growing in India • Project cost shouldn’t exceed Rs 100 crore given the fact that the engine is already developed. (Being a motorcycle dynamics engineer and working in two-wheeler R&D, this is an approximate estimation based on experience) • This will quickly open a new market for Yamaha in India Vinay Karulkar, via social media Dear Vinay, We agree with you. The Serow 250 would definitely be a good fit for the Indian market and, as such, we, too, would love to see it being brought…

THE LONG WAIT IS FINALLY OVER. The two 650 twins from Royal Enfield are here and I got an opportunity to swing my leg over both of them. On paper, the 650 twin configuration is just about right to give you enough performance without being too big and cumbersome. The big point of discussion was: yes, on paper the 650 twins looked great, but would Royal Enfield be able to deliver the product? For me, it was going back 40 years to my very first motorcycle, a 650-cc twin-cylinder Triumph Bonneville with similar performance figures as the Royal Enfield 650 twins. A lot of people will say why only 47 PS from a 650-cc engine in this day and age? There is no end to how much power one wants,…

ARE YOU ONE OF THOSE people who name their motorcycles? Then, perhaps, you can relate when I say that I sometimes personify bikes. Intrigued? Think about it. In the world of motorcycles, a cruiser could be a laid-back person who is in no hurry to go anywhere while a rev-happy superbike could be a racer who is ready to push the limits to cross the line first. That said, what do you think about the TVS Radeon, the latest commuter from the south Indian manufacturer’s stable? When I thought about it, an image of a well-dressed man with a laptop bag and a lunch-box crossed my mind first; a regional Clark Kent, if you will. That is when I realized that by doing a road test, I am conducting a…

BMW R 1250 GS and R 1250 RT BMW Motorrad showed updated versions of two bestsellers powered by the new 1,254-cc Boxer engine. Their much-awaited ADV, the R 1250 GS, is joined by the R 1200 RT tourer in the upper reaches of their 2019 model line-up and both bikes get more power and torque in addition to variable valve timing, courtesy the BMW ShiftCam technology. The latest generation of electronic rider assists and the optional electronic damping systems watch out for the rider over a variety of conditions and surfaces. DUCATI Scrambler Range Ducati, the famous Italian marque, displayed four newfor-2019 variants of their Scrambler line-up to join the 2019 Scrambler Icon unveiled earlier in the year. The new Scrambler Café Racer, Full Throttle, Sixty2, and Desert Sled complete…

HOW DO YOU CELEBRATE SOMETHING special? Cut a cake? Go out for a long ride? Or, perhaps, go away for the weekend to somewhere beautiful? Well, any of them will do if you have one or, maybe, a few reasons to celebrate. When faced with three million reasons, TVS handled it brilliantly and organized a celebration that encompassed all of the above and then some. Oh, yeah, we too were a part of it. September was drawing to an end and, like most people, I was also looking forward to the upcoming long weekend. Unlike most people, I was in an aircraft that was heading towards the small island country of Sri Lanka. This time the mission was to ride all the motorcycles in the Apache series across the picturesque…

Race One It was quite a surprise at the first-ever WSBK race held at the new Circuito San Juan Villicum, Argentina, when in race one KRT’s Jonathan Rea proved absolutely invincible. Rea, who started the race from the third row, was quick to zip past as many as eight riders on the opening lap, overtaking all of them for the lead. It was from there that the Northern Irish rider never looked back as he set the race pace and went on to increase his lead with each passing lap. In fact, Rea was so fast that by the time he reached the chequered flag, he was 9.1 seconds ahead of his closest rival. This victory made him the first-ever winner of the Argentinian WSBK race, adding yet another feather…

IN THE EXPERT class, Abhishek qualified on pole with a time of 2:33.553. The four-lap encounter took off and riders surged down the main straight, seeking an early advantage over their rivals. The top five quickly broke off from the rest and were well within a second of one another. The five-way fight for the podium ultimately ended with Meka Vidhuraj winning the race. Anish crossed the line second, while Abhishek secured the final place on the podium. Unlike the previous outing, the second race was a six-lapper. Thanks to his consistency, Abhishek was able to pull off the win, almost three seconds ahead of second-placed Anish. Senthil appeared to have regained his mojo and used it to finish in third place. In the novice class, Anandhu secured pole position…