ken cool

WHAT NEXT!


Progress is a never ending continuum. Though this adage is painfully misinterpreted in the Indian motorcycling scenario. For decades biking enthusiasts of this country has been dished out choices in sticker options in shiny matt glossy rehashes of the same old country-brewn, home-made engines with suitable-for-India downtube frames burping out a handsome 8.7 Bhp across the table. These half-baked home-grown rehashes of mopeds have made this motorized two-wheeler industry the biggest in the world. These so-called motorcycles can go from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and back in less than six tank-fulls with fuel to spare! But somehow nobody outside India is willing to even try out these wonderful machines.

There have been short bursts at providing the enthusiast with some modicum of comfort in the guise of the famed RD350, doubtless a good bike, but a decade late in coming with outdated technology but revolutionary in our case. It was a dream bike for many of us. It outran the competition in performance and in every aspect including the pricing. And it soon died a pricey death. The RX stood steadfastly for a long time and still rules the roost amongst the 2-stroke smoking barrels despite a rickety chassis. Then once upon a time there was a Fiero.

But the bikers have never been really spoilt for choices till the bashful entry of the Pulsars and the silent launch of the Karizma. A detuned motocross bike, redesigned re-stickered for India as a Premium Sports motorcycle was hailed as the epitome of performance engineering in this country. And what to say of the Pulsars, despite their terrible shortcomings, they have been ruling the roads for more than half a decade.

I am not saying good stickering is bad. Downtubes can be good as well. But then there is more to motorcycling than JUST a set of fancy stickers and the same set of frames being used for the past two decades. Or is there!

Biking enthusiasts in this country have made the biking industry look like it is the place to be on two wheels. Making a close approximation, we can safely assume that the first long tours were started on the “performance” machine, the CBZ closely followed by the Karizma. Today, for lack of any choices, the tables have turned and Karizma, the original CRF-turned-tourer-executive has taken top slot. And this remains their showcase model with an added “R” and a coloured console and you know the effects. This is how they celebrate their Silver Jubilee. And then comes a music video. This is what they call motorcycling. Sheesh!

And despite that, what do the figures show every year. Growth, growth and more growth. What does that mean! It definitely does not mean that bikers are happy with the plethora of choices that are displayed on the shopping windows. It only means that with growth registering in the overall economy, more people deeper into the masses and in far flung areas, revenues have become stronger giving them the ability to buy their first 8bhp motorized means of transport. And I wholeheartedly support this idea of reaching out and democratizing biking, if not in spirit, but at least in material accessibility.

Where does this leave the people who have been riding a 180 CC for half a decade now and wants to move on to something better, a wee bit more powerful, something that handles a little better, can really eat up miles without having to wheeze for breath, or choke for oil or have seizures. Is the movement from 180 to 200 a real graduation? Or is it just blatant consumerism, wherein my bike is newer than yours, I got a better paint job?

It has been quite a while that Bajaj has made its entry into motorcycles. What kind of R&D do they have? And HH? They have a big brother. Together they churn out crumbs so stale that I wonder if it is at all good for Hrithik Roshan’s image. Bajaj has tried to look good with electronic sensors, glitzy displays. But I wonder whether backlit switches make the bike run any better.

In the midst of this almost total nonperformance, I hail Yamaha’s laudable efforts to usher in big changes in lower and higher CC departments. But even there… it seems too high or too low! And is it enough?

The RTR guys in the meanwhile have been busy. I appreciate their efforts as well.

My point still remains; we do not yet have a motorcycle that can do 600 kilometres in a day without rider getting tired and bike getting fatigued. Does anyone remember when was the last time that anyone designed anything more than one cylinder in this country of more than a billion people. If my history serves me right, NEVER! Are we a bunch of incapable nincompoops that cannot design a performance machine? Or are we still so poor that if we designed one and made it, nobody will be afford it? We do not even have a decent 250CC 30+Bhp machine to write home about.

Bajaj has reached its big bored out extreme. Any more boring and you will be carrying the bike rather than the other way round. HH can do a lot, Big Brother willing. And it looks like that Big Brother is not willing. Suzuki looks like it will try to settle down in this country with 15 more new releases of 125 cc bikes over the next decade. Yamaha will try to win back the masses with the sales of their latest decent releases and they are smiling for the first time in a decade. Do not expect them to up the ante yet again very soon.

Now where does that leave us? High and dry! Back to the showrooms, get your 200 or 220 or the Karizma with that horrible R, (maybe with a Hrithik Roshan poster for free) and then be happy with what we got since we cannot get any better. I did the same. So will you.


DISCLAIMER: Articles here are the sole opinion of the writer who is trying to present his views on the performance motorcycling scenario of this country. He is in no way denigrating any manufacturer but stating some hard truths in a caustic manner.

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greyanaroth

Hyper LMAOness!

Very pertinent though. Brilliantly and emphatically written, with possibly the most polite outpouring of a pissed off biker! Kudos!

I think kenda pretty much summarized what every self respecting member of this community feels!

This should go into print - at least our pathetic bike manufacturers can read what almost every performance crazed biker wants!

L.P.

I still Wonder shal i go for a new bike..??

Or shal i wait for some time for a machine which could do a 600kilometers in a day,as rightly said by Ken.da ...
These were the only options i had in my mind,now i certainly feel trapped as in what shall i do..??
ZMA,200 with a paint job and some add-on's on its tank,, ..or R-1-5.. Which yamaha claims to be atleast a " .5 " of a superbike,atleast in Looks.. ..

Crux of everything: What Shalll we do..?? Wait.. Or GO for what we have today in market..??


P.S: Entirely My sole opinion..

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prakash_mvpa

in my last trip to coimbatore city from my town(near cochin) a 200kms run on my RE Bullet Electra 4s ,I took only for a 10 minute chaya(tea) break.the bike simply runs covering miles and miles .

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pratik.pat

indeed a very emotional rite up............
u actually regret that u were born here(the feeling persists only
for a second, but then y for a second also???)
really an emotional outburst.........
the same ,what you experience when you get frustated after of all the things you have seen............
n then realizing what a fool you have been making out of your self by getting happy n exited over the revs n acceleration of those 150s n 200s.
the world has changed but the bike senario remains the same here.
n all those enthusiast who took a ride of a SBK or saw it going past you at
insane speeds(insane for all the lay man) and cant afford it realise that they have been pissed off by these multinationals by providing some punny bike with 13-17horses (20 at max) under the tank.
what a shame n this will happen till d perspective of the common man changes as hez who demands milegage n the same monotonous schedule n speed n compromises on the excitement factor

touring is far off thing, and only few ,very few see it as a way of life.
people here see bikes nothing more than mere commuting asses.n all those who have niche for speed either require for posing (the monetry value of bike) or for street racing.

no one has a serious attitude for touring n things.
n if you are your self a person who has passion n inclination towards
the two wheeled and tell it to other ,you are either claimed a moron or insane,
immature or simply a poser.
well i wont xtend it too much simply i m oppresed and disheartened by the way the india bike senario is proceeding,its moving slower n slower n is stagnant for a particular clas of 125s ,150s n200s.
n if u ever give it a thought we have the most varety in bikes (223, 220, 200, 180, 175(beamer), 160, 150, 135, 125, 115, 100, 85, 75 what more can u ask for) but extending to mills which have no power (i my opinion)

neways no more can type some thing which will be crap for others.

P.S.-no offences for any rider or his bike,its just my perspective.
n also no offences toward the country,n i can proudly say i m an INDIA.

L.P.

@pratik : You seem to be saying very logical things..people are more intrested in mileage and stickering..

Lemme jst tell what people say:
"Arrey,zma leke k karega chhore,ae lele (CBF stunner)..same si hi to laage hai..ye le le..average bhi badhiya deve hai.."
And i pity on that guy instead of buying ZMA he had to opt for CBF stunner cos he cud not convince his Dad..for a ZMA..

So was I confused to buy a new Bike,Now this thread seems to be a head turner for me.. what shal i do with it now..
Shal I or Shal I NOT..?? ..
which seems to be a better option..

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chetanpulsar

We all have a very similar thought deep back in our brains, but never really vent it out. Its just coz we know that wont make any change in the present scenario. Its not just machines of higher ccs, multiple cylinders, but we need better roads, infrastructure and stuff to support such mean machines/speeds.

I can very well consider buying a ZMA or a 200/220 for the sheer pleasure and power, but will I be able to make full use of it? Take for example, how many percent of your riding is considerd as "touring" ? and how many percent as "commuting" ? If its commuting that you want and 20% touring, I would suggest you to go for a proper 150-180cc bike. If you consider going in for a bike just for touring, it better be something over 200cc (seeing the current scenario of roads/infra and 2-wheeler market). Its not just ccs and bhps anymore, not even milage, its more than that, its sheer business. Getting a 250cc 30+bhp 2L machine is easy, but will it sell like the current crop of 150ccs?? If not, then what ??

If touring for 600 kilometres in a day without rider getting tired and bike getting fatigued is the main issue, I dont guess a higher cc multi-bore bike will suffice it. The only thing being you can do the same 600km in a shorter time stint. But then the risks of speeding on our non-worthy roads come into picture.

The whole reason of not getting big machines is coz of the duties the customer has to pay and secondly the usable power that can never be used in the manner it should be, and last but not the least, the milage factor.

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sherry_unicornlover

and yeah thats the reason i'm still with my old Uni. I don't see any logic to move to any other bike in india and that too when i will not get any real pwer upgrade. So whats the use? i know there is a diffrence between a 13.3 bhp and 20 bhp bike but then for how long can it excite you??

i never understood as why every machine which we get here is detuned for Indian conditions??? what are these Indian conditions which forces them to detune all the bikes????

and then what's the login behind a mere 20 cc upgrade in every new launch? just a marketing gimmick and the easiest way to earn profits from a billion population which will buy anything termed as supersports...

and i'm not saying that we don't get better options and i'm happy the way Yamaha returned but again there so called performence bike still has only 17PS, 150cc and price over a lack???

ps: no offence to anyone.

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ken cool

All our roads are not as unworthy as far as I feel and see it. I keep moving through 5 or 6 states right through the year and I know that there are bad roads at quite a few places. But there are a LOT of good roads too at a lot of places where you wring the Zma to the hilt and still get blown away by a clumsy looking Scorpio.

I have never said anything against good 125CC bikes that exist. Commuters will be there, they need to exist, they have a right to be in any and all countries and they are clearly the biggest selling crop in ANY country. What I am talking about is the lack of anything better in another "Segment" if you get the gist of the story.

It is not making the 600 kms with a big time difference. It is about doing it nice and easy without rider and machine fatigue. I have done 550 kms on identical trips on a Litre class and the 220. It is not the time difference that will amaze you which was barely half an hour at the end of the day. But after doing 550kms on the 220 at the end of the day all I wanted to do was think about writing this article.

The Zma is good. So is the 220. But hey, give me a break. Please do not sell these to me as a Premium Sports Bike. They are not. The Zma is a CRF for biker's sake! The CAM was lowered to detune it to make it roadworthy for this country, shod with street tyres. A laudable effort to give us something rather than nothing. But it has been 5 years since. (Or more?)


Yes. Stick to your Uni. There is no point in moving to anything else. From the current crop of the bikes, nothing will excite you much and not for long either. If you got something similar to a Comet with a little more power (5 odd Bhp), some more reliability on the service front and regular supply of parts, I would have been talking a different talk.

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The Wheel was a great invention; Two Wheels with a Motor in between was even better!


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Xbhp's Indo-French Kashmir-Ladakh Tour