The Super Duker

Lethal, sedate, scary, sexy, orange, cool, wild, fugly, exotic... these were words that floated around in my little cranial cavity as we pulled near this little monster. And it is little, I kid you not. 'It's just like a Bajaj Pulsar, you know. Some people even think it's those modified Pulsars and my wife and father laughed at me when I traded in my Fireblade for this. They said I was mad' The gentleman saying all of this was Dr Cyres Mehta. An eye-surgeon by profession, he's one of those rare breed of people renowned for their eccentricity, and the motorcycle is even more exotic – it's the KTM Super Duke. And I beg to differ from his wife and his father, because I have my own reasons to doubt this man's sanity. 'It's a S.U.P.E.R D.U.K.E, for crying out loud - it's utterly blasphemous to even utter the P word in the same sentence!' I said to him, before I fastened my helmet strap and tightened my gloves.

Street bikes will never be the same again

The Super Duke is an extremely different motorcycle - different in a... well, different kind of way. It's a naked, it looks exotic, sounds subdued, is totally mad and is tons of fun. Er, not a very coherent description, is it? But what to do, it's true. KTM first had that superb thumper of an engine in form of the LC4 (BSM 06). Then they improvised by taking two LC4s and got themselves the potent LC8, which they put into the 950 Adventure, their first on/off-street offering. And for those who weren't satisfied with that, they took the LC8, grew some hair on its chest, gave it bigger lungs and super sized the whole package to this, the Super Duke............
Read the complete report HERE

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Yamaha to invest Rs 250 cr

Yamaha is investing Rs 250 crore to set up a new subsidiary in India. Yamaha plans to not only use this subsidiary to import its high-end super bikes and speciality vehicles like snow mobiles, golf carts and all terrain vehicles into India, it also plans to forge local partnerships through the new entity. Yamaha has indicated it will pump in Rs 500 crore in the new subsidiary in two years.

In its application to the government, Yamaha has indicated that it is “currently in the process of identifying a partner for the proposed subsidiary company”.

The partner, it said, “may be an Indian or foreign entity and may subscribe up to 30% of the equity share capital” of the new subsidiary. The details of the new partnership will be submitted once the partner is “identified and finalised” said the application. Yamaha was, at one point, seriously talking to Bajaj Auto for a possible alliance in the motorcycle segment. However, industry sources say, those discussions are currently on the back burner.

According to the proposal, the new subsidiary will make, market and export two-wheelers and parts, import two-wheelers and parts not made in India and import other products from its global portfolio like all terrain vehicles, outboard motors, snow mobiles, generators, multi-purpose vehicles, water pumps, electric hybrid bicycles, racing and golf carts.

Yamaha has already announced it will launch two super bikes from its global stable in India in fully-imported form. These are the R1 and MT01. So far, Yamaha has invested just short of Rs 1,700 crore in India. Two years ago, the company bifurcated its operations into two subsidiaries - Yamaha Motor India for manufacturing and Yamaha Motor India Sales for marketing.

Source:- Economictimes.indiatimes


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Japanese bike makers make new plans for India

Yamaha to bring R1 and MT01 in India

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Superbikes are finaly coming

Yes, they are finally here. The macho 1670cc V-twin power cruiser MT-01 and the slick 998cc R1 are already lazing around in Yamaha’s garage in downtown Delhi. By the end of next month, the Jap bike maker is going to announce the price of their super bikes.

“We are putting in place the after-sales infrastructure now. It’s very important to have a solid back-up in place for these bikes. Technicians have to be specially trained to service these machines because they are highly sophisticated,” a Yamaha spokesperson said.

That’s not all. Yamaha also intends to train customers in the skills necessary to handle these superfast motorcycles. These super bikes will be sold for an estimated Rs 11-13 lakh, and when you are coughing up that amount of money, you expect the service back up to be spot-on.

Forty-five-year-old Arun Thareja, who is a super bike specialist and owns three of them, says, “People are going to go down on these bikes, so more than after-sales support, companies should be ready with spare parts like panels, indicators, panels and wind screens. And oh yes, the tyres wear out every 7,000-8,000 km, so the sales department should have a good stock ready. I think one or two service centres in each city would do.”

Even Suzuki is keen to launch their super bikes here. Says Atul Gupta, VP-marketing at Suzuki Motorcycles and Scooters India: “We are keenly studying three aspects of selling high-end bikes. One is how well can we homologate our high-end bikes for Indian conditions. Also, we are looking at what are the top cities where we see maximum sales potential and then the question of how well we manage to handle the after-sales and parts issues.”

So, companies planning to launch their top-end bikes here feel that after-sales service is what they should look into first. “We are already ensuring that Suzuki’s technical team is trained in Japan to handle those bikes who, in turn, will train our dealers in India. Training does not incur lot of cost; in fact, most Suzuki dealers have enough space, which is the biggest cost for them. But we are working out a very sound after-sales strategy for being able to sell our high-end bikes in the country,” Gupta adds.

Even Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI) is bullish about the niche market that India offers for super bikes. Says Sanjay Gupta, senior manager, marketing at HMSI: “We will be going forward by introducing safety riding skills first. We already have simulators in place at some of our dealerships where a customer is put through various emergency situations. At present, we are putting in place the basic infrastructure before introducing the big bikes here.”

So when you have a machine that accelerates from 0-100 kph in less than three seconds and has a top speed of 300 kph, it’s imperative for bike makers to have the necessary service infrastructure in place. And who knows, on Indian roads, an ambulance service also doesn’t seem very far fetched!

Source:- Economictimes.indiatimes

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Suzuki to launch scooters and superbikes

Indian two-wheeler market is set to witness more competition with Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL) planning to roll out a 125cc scooter by September, a 150cc motorcycle and its superfast hyperbike Hayabusa by March next year.

Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd Vice-President Sales and Marketing Atul Gupta said "We are aiming to plug the gap between 100cc and 150cc segment in scooters. By September, we plan to launch a 125cc variometric scooter," .

He said the scooters from Suzuki would be positioned as a family vehicle through its "powerful features and high mileage as USP", while still targeting the youth.

"This segment has not been tapped by anyone and we see a potential in that segment," he said, adding the company expected scooters to contribute about 20 per cent in its overall target of 1.2-1.3 lakh units in 2007-08.

On the motorcycle front, Gupta said the company was looking at bringing high powered bikes, starting with a new 150cc model to compete with the likes of Bajaj Pulsar and Hero Honda's CBZ Xtreme by March 2008 to add a youth-driven product in its portfolio.

Gupta also said launching of super premium bikes from the stable of Suzuki in India was very much a possibility in the near future with the government's relaxation of norms for importing 800cc-and-above bikes.

"If all the aspects go well, including our own service and spare parts, then the likes of Hayabusa (1,300cc) and GXR (1,000 cc) could be brought in here by March 2008," he said.

Source:- Timesofindia.indiatimes

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2007 BMW K1200R Sport tested by MotorcycleUSA

I have been a big fan of website 'MotorcycleUSA' right from the first time i saw there site. This time they have brought us a full blown roadtest of 2007 BMW K1200R Sport. The latest Inline-Four offering from BMW, the K1200R Sport is a versatile mount which they took for a 1000-mile test ride on the freeway, backroads, and track.


REad the full roadtest of 2007 BMW K1200R here:- MotorcycleUSA

The new Sport is a half-faired hybrid of its K-series siblings - the K1200S and K1200R.

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