+1
New age of Indian design scarifies the practicality to look.
Here is the link of discussion of uncomfortable bike seat, origin-ed by the radical design approach.
Most uncomfortable seats - Indian motorcycles - Team-BHP

Just look at pillion rider of new R15, u cant do anything but laugh at him.
Many of the post refers to the fact that, they cant sit fixed on seat, and often start rely on tank within some minutes of riding.

If looks does not intruded in practicality & comfort territory, I wont write down this post. But friends, I feels by heart, our new bikes & cars sacrificing its easiness to so called wow look.... of which first one should always kept above other parameters. (Very personal taste. No offence indeed.)

& For RE & ZMR, what nitrosatya said, is not totally false. I agree with him. But writing down more on this will lead our discussion to different brand war. So better to stop.

Hi nitrosatya,

I don't get your point... Please explain...

1. Do you want to say that all whoever goes for these bikes are non-bikers..?
2. If yes, then in what sence...?
3. Do you want to say that these are "JUST" poser bikes, and are not performance oriented..?
4. again, If yes, then in what sence...? Please explain...

In case of ZMR, it's a proven best tourer, everybody knows that... In case of Enfields, ...
I'll say it's better not to talk about it. Totally agreed that these are not realiables and all (only old bullets, newer ones are better). But it's not like they are for 'POSERGIRI' only...

I'll say, 99% of Enfield owners go for it just for the love of that beat. And I don't think it's wrong in any way...

P.S.: I don't want to create any brand war here. You can me PM me your answers..

Simplistic/minimalistic design be damned, people want change and that's what drives the world. How many would buy a P200NS with same tech spec, but in classic 2001 design?? Everything needs to be changed in order to remain contemporary. Standing out in design will certainly lead to success. Ask Honda, when they introduced current civic design way back in 2005, Toyota had to scratch all new Corolla project, they had to go back to drawing board to put up a better design. Design got a part to play in a product's success. Whether it's loud or minimalistic depends upon individual taste.

bike != ipod.
bikes sold worldwide are hardly minimalist designs.

@Nitrosatya: I didn't mention it earlier, but I agree on the ZMR part

Yes completely. In the end the posers will earn money for the companies.Companies can't afford to ignore them.

Hehe Out of my 5 Enfield owning friends, 3 said they went for it because the way people look at them when they ride it. One ZMR owner said that he went for it because it looks like an imported bike. I would call them Posers.

The average age of motorcycle customer is increasing by passing year. For BMW it is now in 60s. That is the reason they bought Husky and made S1000RR. To attract younger customers.

KTM Duke's styling & graphics are inspired by urban art and graffiti. A mature rider would not associate with it easily. Tailor made for youngsters.
Today's young generation was brought up on Hollywood movies and heavy dose of superheroes. They would be the people who would go for these bikes as their firsts.
And that would explain the bold styling. I will explain this in my design thread.

To each his own but then how come people liked the CB1000R design and also the KTM Duke 200 or even the Range Rover Evoque?

You guys may like the minimalist styling but some may not.
The fact that the aggressive designs sell so much doesn't mean that Indians lack taste or whatever the reason.
@nitrosatya: Your points of the low performance and poserdom are right but there are posers everywhere and not just India.

That's a very bold statement my friend!

@mustang70: It's mostly due to the need to stand out. Moreover, when a new product is launched, it's styling is something that is the first to gather attention for the manufacturer, engine specifications and other tit-bits then follow. Now it's a very subjective matter whether you like the radical approach towards the product styling or not. but it did get everyone's attention. When the dust settles, then people are in a better position to judge a vehicle. Initially, you'll get to hear/read opinions of the extreme end.

Another reason to go for a radical approach towards styling is to make the motorcycle look futuristic, and some manufacturers may find it difficult to achieve with simple styling. For Bajaj, they are relaunching the Pulsar brand after 10 years, it's a celebration for them. For the first time, it's an all new Pulsar. The DTSI architecture was still shared by the classic pulsars. So when Bajaj is relaunching a brand, they want to do everything new with their product from the engine to the styling. And styling is one of those elements with which you pose a challenge in the face of the competition. You want to tell them "beat that!". Also, since Bajaj is responsible for launching KTM motorcycles here, they want their own products to look equally different! As I said before, not everyone may like this approach. For some, KTM 200's styling may be too loud for day to day riding!

You are right my friend.

Gone are the days of simple sober designs. Atleast in India. The thing is that with a product of mid to premium level positioning, many people tend to go for it. Because of increasing incomes. Now what happens is we start seeing same product at lot of places.

In this situation how do you stand out? Bright colors,flashy styling and noise.
Why do you think non biker people go for ZMRs and Enfields? Pure poserdom!

Just because the bike or car will look different from tens other of them, in-spite of it's low performance or quality, people will go for it.

The world has moved on from the typical pop culture design [90s and 2000s] to a sophisticated minimalist design [Apple ipod]. That phase is yet to come in India.

No it's not traditional switch you think it is. It seems like one because illusion created by camera angle. They have just made more thin. than current version.

Yes.

One for resetting the trip and the other for setting clock etc,.

Ya me too want to know this. About the console.
Does it boost a clock?
What are those two black switches under the RPM meter?
MG, please reply to this.

Apart from booking issue of 200ns, I have something very offbeat to say.

When I saw this bike very first time, I simply loved the styling... (like 99% xBhpian did...) But after passing through the images time to time, I came across the fact that how complex (or read... complicated!) the design is. Check out some sort of under seat portion or headlight design, u cant express it with simple lines.

BTW, when M&M launched XUV Five Oh Ohh, same happened to me. Styling was undisputed great, but letdown by overdone bumper design. I heartily feels that, M&M should toned down the bumpers for more indigenous looking SUV. I know many takers of Mistubishi Pajero or very own Tata Safari, just for their looks. (Pajero is nearly 30 years & Safari is nearly 15 years old design... but as said, simplicity lives for eternity.) They had very practical exterior, and very minimal make ups. Till if somebody give me choice to pick between XUV & Safari, I will definitely go to Safari... just for its plane Jane looks. (Its my personal view & no offence to XUV indeed.)

Now, back to our bikes. Some questions come to my mind:

Do we Indian always likes shining, sparkling, flimsy, overdone design & hardly recognize the beauty in simplicity?

If this pulsar gonna big hit (Ya, it will be...), will we see more & more over designed, wedge shaped, triangular, trapezoidal etc etc bikes coming in future?

Did other manufacturer (read TVS) follow the Bajaj footprint & launches bikes with more effort on radical design than on hardcore engineering of engine & gearbox???

I write up this post because, I m feeling that all of our mindset is shifting to radicalization of exterior than sheer practicality and sober looks.

Your views are welcome.

To fully take advantage of new frame and suspension set-up, soft compound is required. 220 stock MRF rubber offers decent number of miles before giving up. There is no point in going back in time with rubber after all this rubber. I think production version will sport an MRF soft.

At MG,




MG,Can you clarify this, is self cancelling indicators are going out with NS? Switch in above pic by you looks like a rather conventional stuff!Previous switch for turn indicators where better.(Yes I know this switch and the RVMs are not used my most owners in Pune, I even thought that's why 220 have a set of elbow reflectors instead of RVMs) .

Also it will be great if you/or any one can tell something about what are the features new in the clock/console..

any upgrades for the smaller pulsars? anyone??