Yesterday evening a very dear friend of my mine, Ashish Seth, drew my attention towards an interesting article published on the Rediff. I tried to reason some of the excerpts from the article.
- The first line that caught my attention was the definition of Super Bikes - "Super bikes are motorcycles that have 800cc engines and can cost upto Rs. 10 lakhs if they are bought in India." Now the thing is, a 800cc is machine is definitely Super machine in India, but it's a not a Super Bike my any standards Internationally. They are just street legal fast bikes and that's it. Wonder what the writer would call the likes of Suzuki Hyabusa and Kawasaki Ninja ZX14.
- According to the article, the Japanese giants are planning to launch the striped down version of their Super Beasts. "Fine Tuned" for Indian conditions, to produce more mileage and cost less. Well, if the Japanese giants are planning to give the Indian Kings a fight for their success, then I guess they should try and invest more in India and come up with assembly units in India where they can produce these bike in India only. That way the end-user would not have to pay the 105% import duty which is now the case with the CBUs.
- The article boasts of the launch of Yamaha YZF R15 and the Honda CBF Stunner. In both the cases I had my reservations as the R15 was heavily over priced and didn't met the ultra high expectations for the bhp figures of majority of the bike enthusiasts in India. Again, the Honda CBF Stunner, well................ nothing more to say..... Honda really stunned me with it's senselessness and then trying to compare the bike with CBR1000!!
- One point which can make bikers anxious is the news that Suzuki is planning to launch a 250cc bike, priced at around 1lakh, which would be based on the GSX R. Well let's see .... a 250 cc machines provides at least some ground for innovation.
The only positive, that I see from this increased activities from the Japanese Houses, is that the Indian bike makers would get more competition to try something new (God knows when their hibernation would end!!!).
PS : These are my personal thoughts and others are welcome to have their difference in opinion. Every input is appreciated!!
They are hibernating for sure.There was an article in the aug issue of BI that suzuki is gonna launch a 150cc machine(a R15 competitor)with a price tag of around 65k.Now I get how it works out.A completely stripped down bike with no goodies.Now a 250cc bike for 1 lakh is possible.Grow up guys(japanese giants),bikers in India have moved on and look forward to great loaded bikes from you.You can't disappoint in that sense.However it helps them gather"volumes" for sure.
ReplyDeleteSrinidhi dude!!!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right!! And further more, what makes the R1, or the CBR1000 Fireblade, or the Kawasaki ZX14 or the Hyabusa, the king that they are!!! it's their sheer monsterous presence. Cosmetics come secondary, but a R1 is nothing if you take away it's engine's qualities............
The situation depicted in the Rediff article is same as a baby boy is crying for a toy and you try to make him quite by giving him a lollypop!!!!
I agree that engine is the king...but without the goodies the bike looks like a crap.........anyway,lets cheer them 'coz they're bringing in some interesting bikes.That's the reason I've postponed my bike purchase.....Too much expectation,pls don't dissapoint you japenese giants..[:D]
ReplyDeleteSrinidhi Dude!!!
ReplyDeleteGood, at least your postponment of the bike and wait for the new bike, would give us a chance to know about a new bike in the group!! ;)
God knows from where that Reporter got the news that the Japs are going to launch 250 cc bikes for 1 lakh...!!
ReplyDeleteits actually funny reading such news.
It really beats me.. How can responsible (??) publications let something publish without any solid proof..?
Payeng Dude!!
ReplyDeleteI guess over excitement and anticipation is the answer!!
what say??
Over excitement might be a reason..
ReplyDeleteBut in the long term it effects the credibility of such publications.
Classic example would be the famous Aesop's Fable: The Shepherd who used to cry "Wolf.. Wolf..!!"
[P.S: Check ur Gmail.. I have sent u a mail]