When one thinks of a dream team, what comes to their mind? Best of heroes from the MCU assembled as the Avengers? Best from the DCEU assembled as Justice League? Those can be good examples for people like us, pop culture buffs. But then, we are more fond of motorcycles than comic books and superheroes; just by a bit, but it counts. So what does a motorcycle dream team look like? To us, it looked something like this; Kawasaki ZX-10R, Suzuki Hayabusa, Triumph Rocket 3 R, Ducati Streetfighter V4 S, and Kawasaki Z900!
Back to the point of a dream team. xBhp is two decades old. Twenty years of pioneering motorcycling in India and being India’s only lifestyle motorcycling platform? Not to toot our own horn but it’s a big deal for us. And an occasion like that deserved a celebration worthy of it. So, as always, our imagination went into overdrive and we came up with the #20YearsOfxBhp Dream Team. It is a celebration of motorcycles that are pinnacles of engineering, all draped in a livery that does more than just look cool.
Let us start with the livery and the mainstay of it- Axor. Ever since its inception, xBhp has advocated safe riding. ATGATT- All The Gear All The Time and stuff like that. The point has always been to propagate the message of safe riding. And today, it would not be too farfetched to say that Axor is at the forefront of motorcycle safety in terms of gears. Their helmets are world-class, so we have collaborated with them on three xBhp Special Edition helmets over the years.
With their helmets already some of the most coveted in the market, they have now forayed into riding gears as well. So if riding safety was to be the core of the #20YearsOfxBhp Dream Team, Axor was an obvious choice. The other noticeable thing in the livery is the presence of two distinct sides- Red and Carbon Fibre. The idea behind this particular idea or the ideology behind this idea is rather interesting.
The Axor Apex Carbon Fibre is a shining example of how Axor is dedicated to innovating and bringing world-class products to the riders of India.
A motorcyclist who has stepped into his twenties is also a man in his twenties. And this is an interesting age. They tend to have the energy and zeal of teenagers but a certain level of maturity and sophistication as well derived from experience. Get the gist? The red of the livery refers to energy and zeal while the carbon fibre side represents sophistication and maturity. The fact that Axor has also launched their Apex Carbon Fibre helmet also nudged us in the direction which suggests that Axor is slowly but surely breaking ground.
With all of those ideas, in their crude form still, we got to work on designing a livery that would depict all of that, something that would really drive the point of this celebration home. And after some initial designs, redesigns, changes, new ideas and such, the usual deal, the digital blueprint of the livery was ready to be deployed on our motorcycles of choice. With that, I think it would be a good time to talk about the machines!
After its successful foray into helmet manufacturing, Axor is already making waves in the riding gear space complete with jackets, pants, gloves, and boots!
Kawasaki ZX-10R :: 998cc inline-4 | 203 bhp | 114.9 Nm
Let us start with one of xBhp’s newest acquisitions- the Kawasaki ZX-10R. We have always been suckers for racing. From being in attendance for some MotoGP races to frequenting racetracks as much as we can, we can say that racing, or at least riding on a racetrack, has always been a key part of the xBhp philosophy. And for that reason, we have had our racing team in the past and for the same reason, we have almost always had a motorcycle to represent that in the xBhp Garage.
The latest one in that illustrious list is the Kawasaki ZX-10R. A distillation of years of WSBK racing and domination, the ZX-10R has always been a wonderfully balanced machine. It was not a chart-topper in terms of numbers but it always did everything well. It has been a platform that race engineers of the Kawasaki Racing Team have been able to utilize to arm their riders with world-beating machines. The latest ZX-10R is an evolution of all that. The fact that it is the only motorcycle to don the River Mark insignia apart from the H2 line is a testament to the confidence Kawasaki has in this machine. And after a fair bit of riding it on both the roads and the racetracks, we can assure you that their confidence in this thoroughbred is not unfounded.
Suzuki Hayabusa :: 1,340cc inline-4 | 188 bhp | 150 Nm
And then there was the Falcon. It has been forever since the Suzuki Hayabusa has been around and yet, there have only been three. The venerable first, the diabolical second and the astounding third. xBhp Garage was home to the second-gen Hayabusa but sadly we had to let it go, only to fall for its allure again. As soon as the 3rd-Gen Hayabusa was launched, we inducted one in the xBhp Garage and it has been here since.
Offering an unmatched combination of comfort, protection, and style, it is hard to fathom that Axor’s presence is still nascent in the riding gear market!
Ever since its inception, the Suzuki Hayabusa has been known for its speed, derived not only from its massive inline-4 but also from its revolutionary aerodynamics. Everything was improved with the second-gen and contrary to popular belief, with the third as well. The problem here is that even as a concept, the Hayabusa was aimed at being the fastest and for more people, more power means faster. And with the slightly reduced power of the latest-gen, the numbers were enough to gaslight some so-called purists. But the 3rd-gen Busa, more than being a noose around the idea of speed, has liberated and elevated it beyond what it ever was. Everything is smoother, happens more easily, and is more under control than ever. As a result, the 3rd-gen Busa is faster than ever and yet, easier to ride than ever. The one thing that remains is that deceptive perception of speed!
Triumph Rocket 3 R :: 2,458cc inline-3 | 165 bhp | 221 Nm
When you call a motorcycle a rocket and not just call it that but name it, there are… certain expectations that come with it. The original Triumph Rocket did a fair bit of justice to that name but it lacked something. It was trying to be too many things and was doing that too but because of this very thing, it lacked a personality, a character. You say that to the new Rocket 3 R and it’d snap your neck without laying a hand on you.
Always at the forefront of protection and comfort, the Axor Apex series tops all that up with stellar looks bound to captivate the onlookers!
When Triumph got to work on the new Rocket, the folks at Hinckley must have been pissed about something. It certainly feels that way with how it sounds and how it accelerates. A 3-cylinder engine with a near-2.5-litre displacement sounds nuts for something that needs to power a motorcycle. With all that, it starts to seem like the Rocket 3 R is just a brute pounding its chest and shouting No Replacement for Displacement; far from it. The new Rocket 3 R is heavy but not as much as you expect it to be. It certainly does not feel that way when it is on the move. From the way it handles to the way it drops the anchors, we’d say that the rest of the motorcycle is more impressive than the engine. But… not really. That powerplant is something else.
Kawasaki Z900 :: 948cc inline-4 | 123 bhp | 98.6 Nm
We are closing this show with perhaps the most popular and the most sold inline-4 in the country- the Kawasaki Z900. This one belongs to Dr Manan Chaturvedi, also known as Shuttervedi. He has been with xBhp for a long time now and so has been his beloved Z900. So when we were celebrating #20YearsOfxBhp, we decided to take it on that ride as well. And Shuttervedi responded with a resounding yes and so, here it is.
What has made the Z900 so popular though? The magic began with the Z800, a stellar middleweight streetfighter with a silken inline-4 that growled and barked and howled. Its road presence was unmistakable and with all that it brought to the table, it was also one of the most approachable motorcycles you could ride. With the Z900, Kawasaki has kept the same formula with every aspect made better. The result is a motorcycle that you can’t help but love. It is a big bike, no doubt about that, but it is one of the most manageable ones out there. The power curve is linear and progressive, the clutch is very light, and the motorcycle feels practically weightless on the move; it is not just a motorcycle for Sunday rides. You can easily use the Z900 for your daily commutes and Shuttervedi can vouch for that. A no-frills inline-4 equals Z900.
Ducati Streetfighter V4 S :: 1,103cc 90°V4 | 208 bhp | 123 Nm
What can one say about a motorcycle the ideology behind which is called ‘Fight Formula’? Ducati were really serious about bringing back the Streetfighter badge and this time, they decided to not pull any punches. The Ducati Streetfighter V4 S is essentially a Panigale V4 without fairing. That is not to say that it is not a new motorcycle in its own right but just to emphasize how serious a naked motorcycle of a ‘Streetfighter’ from Ducati could be.
It gets the same engine as the Panigale V4 with a little work done to suit the Streetfighter V4’s brutal nature. But there’s no detuning here, no consideration for the fact that this is a naked motorcycle, no dialling down the track-ready superbike just because it is losing its fairings! That is not the Ducati way after all. The result is a naked motorcycle with biplane wings! In essence, the Ducati Streetfighter V4 is not the mere result of the ‘Fight Formula’, it is the ‘Fight Formula’; a combination of looks, brutality and state-of-the-art technology. As a result, you have on hand a motorcycle that exceeds the power output of many superbikes, weighs significantly less than any of them, and has electronics that could probably safely launch a moon mission. And the V4 S is even more. Lighter and more advanced still! Not to be violent but this is one fighter that you have got to love.
And for good measure, here are some more photos from our time out with the Dream Team!
