Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2021 i BIKE India

Who I Am: Abhishek Iyer Riding: The Honda XR 150L (2019 model) THIS STORY HAS ITS ORIGIN IN ME spending a month studying an adventure on a bicycle. Let me fill you in first, though. A few years ago, I bicycled across southern India, then, a step further, along the length of Nepal, and, a year later, the length of Norway. It had been a whole two years since the Northern Lights and the mind yearned for another epic adventure. I found a slick-looking website about a six-week route through a desert in northern Mexico and, a couple of weeks later with visa formalities taken care of, I was on a 24-hour bus ride across Mexico to the border wall: my starting point for this bicycle ride. Little did I…

DRIVE THROUGH THE STREETS OF BEAUTIFUL Auroville, Puducherry, and you might run into a little ice-cream cafe by the wayside, called Cafe 73. This happy little establishment run by two gentlemen, Ami and Luca, sells home-made ice-cream, lemonades, and desserts. But it isn’t the friendly owners and staff or colours and flavours on offer that strike the motorcycling gene here. That inquisitiveness is brought about by the motorcycle paintings on the wall, the fully restored Jawa hanging on it, and the huge “Transformers” statue made up of numerous motorcycle parts right outside. What is this madness? One must find out. Starting with the name, Cafe 73, contrary to immediate thoughts, this is not an Alex Marquez fan ice-cream cafe club thing (nothing wrong with that either). However, the name is…

HONDA RECENTLY ISSUED a challenge to retro-themed bike makers like Royal Enfield and Jawa with the launch of the oddly named H’ness CB350, and have now launched a second salvo at this growing market segment with a scrambler-inspired variant: the CB350RS. We recently spent some time with this new Honda in and around Pune and, while this may not be a real off-road-capable motorcycle, it handled the urban jungle in style. The letters RS, when used in naming a motorcycle, usually conjure up images of sporty race replicas or variants loaded with track-ready kit to make them faster and sharper; however, Honda claim that the “RS” here stands for Road Sailing. I don’t know what exactly is meant by this, but I do wish the folks at Honda would get…

REIGNING MOTOGP king Joan Mir goes into 2021 bursting for a fight with Marc Marquez, the man whose crown he stole. Last season Mir came out of nowhere to win biking’s biggest gong while his fellow Spaniard languished at home, nursing a broken arm. Now Mir and millions of MotoGP fans cannot wait to see the pair go head-to-head for the first time. Only one problem — we do not know when that will happen, because Marquez is still in rehab. When Mir wrapped up the 2020 championship, some people said his success was of little value because Marquez had not been around to defend the title he had won six times in the previous seven years. This is pure bunkum — there has rarely been a Grand Prix season…

AFTER YEARS OF TEASERS AND MOTORCYCLE SHOW APPEARANCES, THE production version of Harley-Davidson’s adventure bike has finally been launched in international markets. It is powered by a revvy 1,252-cc V-twin that makes 152 hp at 9,000 rpm and 127 Nm of torque at 6,750 rpm. Continuously variable cam timing ensures that enough twist is delivered at lower revs without sacrificing top-end performance. Harley-Davidson have also done away with valve clearance service intervals by incorporating automatic hydraulic valve clearance adjusters. Other interesting bits include the linked braking system that automatically sends some braking force to the rear wheel when the front brake lever is squeezed, fully adjustable suspension at both ends with electronic semi-active suspension on the top-end model, and a comprehensive suite of rider assistance systems that includes riding modes,…

NOTHING IS MORE PLEASURABLE than owning a customized motorcycle and it looks like the team at Royal Enfield have aced this formula. Within months of introducing the Make-It-Yours (MIY) initiative for customers to configure their Royal Enfield motorcycles, the company has now extended the programme to its range of helmets and T-shirts. I was given an opportunity to put my creativity to test — to customize a helmet and get a first-hand experience of styling it from scratch. Through the online configurator, customers get to choose from as many as 7,000 unique options, three helmet types (open-face, full-face, and the very cool and retro Urban Trooper), and a whole range of colour options offered in matte and gloss finishes. Once you select the helmet type, the website takes you to…

HONDA SUNCHASERS WAS THE FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND RIDE EXPERIENCE organized by Honda BigWing in India. In this ride, we were invited to cover over 1,000 kilometres in six days in Arunachal Pradesh on the H’ness CB350. The event was organized in collaboration with Arunachal Tourism as the state aims to become a tourist destination in the coming years. This scenic state is known as the “Land of the Rising Sun” or “Land of the Dawn-lit Mountains” and is spread over an area of 83,743 square kilometres. According to the latest online research, Arunachal Pradesh has a population of approximately 17 lakh and is a diverse state with its inhabitants belonging to various tribes. The state shares international borders with Bhutan in the west, a disputed border with China in the north, and…

THE BENELLI TRK 502 CREATED quite a stir when it was first launched during BS4 times. At first glance, what was not to like about it? It was huge and noticeably European, with styling cues that made it quite obvious as to where Benelli got their “inspiration” from. If you felt that way back then, you are in for some good news because, in true BS6-update fashion, nothing has changed in the visual department save for a few minute details. These include additions such as knuckle-guards, larger mirrors, a black handlebar, adjustable hand levers, and redesigned pillion grab-rails. Thankfully, Benelli have taken this opportunity to redesign the saddle and they have made it a nicer place to be in. The new seat padding has worked in the motorcycle’s favour and…

AH, THE DUCATI Multistrada 950 S, Bolognian “brutiful” beauty at its best and in red too. Meant to ferry you across the span of the country whilst taking on the curviest stretches on offer. Slapped bang opposite is the Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro whose distance in character is longer than even its name. This Brit caters to the “adventure” part of the segment, 21-inch front wheel and all. Yes, an odd comparison then; however, with both sharing a very similar price tag, which one would be the better choice? Starting with the Ducati Multistrada 950 S, smallest of the “Multi” family, the argument of design is useless here, as that is a perception-based topic and then you have an Italian. In short, the Ducati is an image of art,…

SOMETIMES LIFE COMES A full circle. It doesn’t happen at a set moment, but it does happen and when it does, it’s accompanied by a flurry of memories of moments that storm the mind and, unmistakably, leave a nostalgic smile. That moment for me was when my eyes found the TVS XL100 in the lot. There was the most modern iteration of the bike I’d learnt to ride on. The first-ever powered set of two wheels I’d plonked myself on and twisted the throttle. That was three decades ago for me. That was a two-stroke XL50 with 3.5 hp and a mini-clutch and pedals to get it started. Yet today, here’s its most modern iteration; an apt successor. And it’s loaded with some features I’d never imagined back then: an…

THE TRIUMPH TIGER 850 SPORT HAS MANY similarities with the highly acclaimed 900, including the same capacity of 888 cubic centimetres (cc), but Triumph have electronically detuned the engine to make it more user-friendly and road-focused. Furthermore, unlike the Tiger 900GT, the new 850 Tiger Sport can be converted to A2 for the European market. Lean-sensitive rider aids and the IMU have been removed and replaced by conventional traction control and ABS, while the suspension is no longer multi-adjustable. However, this lower specification is reflected in the price, £9,330 (Rs 9.33 lakh), which is over £2,000 (Rs 2 lakh) cheaper than the base Tiger 900GT (£11,400, that is, Rs 11.40 lakh). On price alone it’s tempting and, after our first ride, I can tell you the words “base” and “entry-level”…

AS MORE MANUFACTURERS START venturing into the 250-cc segment, the enthusiast has a pretty decent buffet spread to choose from. Honda and Kawasaki no longer rule the quarter-litre class since the CBR250R is now phased out and the entry-level Ninja has graduated to 300 cc. Practically every other brand has entered the 250-cc arena now, allowing us to invite them all to the Bike India fight club. These include the recently re-styled Yamaha FZS 25, the muscular Bajaj Dominar 250, the nimble Suzuki Gixxer 250, the stylish Husqvarna Svartpilen 250, and the sporty KTM 250 Duke. But which one is the best in the ring? We have a unanimous winner, read on to find out. Mechanically, the Yamaha FZS 25 is the oldest motorcycle here, but let this not overshadow…

ONE SHORT BLAST WAS sufficient to be reminded of just what earned the big bad V-Max its reputation. When the traffic briefly cleared on a wide main road, I wound back the throttle and the V4 engine went to work, revving hard to send the bike storming forward like a rampaging buffalo. For the next few seconds, it was a wild ride. I was hanging on tight, the cold wind ripping at my carelessly fastened jacket, no time to glance down at the speedo, let alone the tiny tacho set into the top of the dummy fuel-tank. This sort of performance is exciting from a naked bike now, never mind when Yamaha’s V4 wheel-spun its way on to the scene 35 years ago. And when riding a V-Max, it is…