i am not denying any fact, but you are forgetting high excise duties, also lets to a practical survey even after road reports, for eg most ppl in see on xbhp are one's who talk abt bikes and they own activa or dio or something, and next step they want to own is a car being more practical approach for there family, and believe me if u have a car its a symbol of respect in india, go anywhere from a dhaba to a mall. The perception beyond enthusiasts and boards like Xbhp is way different, if what we consider is right 100cc bikes would have phased out by now! why would tata give idea of 1 lakh car even birth? its been arn 5 yrs if pulsar launch and Yamaha comes with another 150 in the market, 250cc kinetic met a dead fate, even though i feel that was an awesome looking bike with good rideability and all, but believe me Indian commuter ideology is still strong. I know guys 5"10 - 6" height who can afford pulsar but will go for punty bikes like platina 125cc for mileage etc. i used to think abt performance too but after looking at them my perspective changed drastically.

Oh yes, totally agree. I was quoting 3L on the higher side. But at the same time, I thought about it... a 400cc twin, fully loaded, with twin spar alu frame, engine engine being a stressed member, soft tyres, new alloys, fresh dies, 2-3 models to choose from, to recover all the costs of the R&D and all that, I think initial costs would be closer to 3L even if it were totally locally manufactured. Take the example of the 150cc R15. Look at the pricing with Zero R&D going into it save for the fairing. Now how much do you think a 400cc would cost on similar lines but not a monocylinder and also considering the fact that it would sell much less than the 150!

But still people who have booked have a long waiting list and thats what shows the kind of market its catching slowly.

those waiting for road reports and all are mostly those who want to buy nano as their second car, and if u say 5 year loan on bike i had seen people taking 5 years loan way back in 2000 and 2001 for a simple bike as Kawasaki Bajaj 4s, so even today if the bike is launched it will definately have its own market and whoever comes first with such a product will dominate the market, and that can really bring a change in the 100 cc to 150 cc bike manufacturers market as they will have to be innovative and think something new to survive.

well Nano did not get many takers did it? ppl are still waiting for road reports and ownership experiences, i do not say india does not have capability but complaining is simple, how many of us would take a 5 yr loan for a bike besides this board? if i tell ppl even my gym coach FZ is for 75k or somebody else they go "oh my god" thts pricey......

could be FZ1 and vmax/royalstar(cruisers)/R6

Yamaha to launch two new bikes | ******** | Indian Automobile Blog | Car Reviews | Bike Reviews | Test Drive Reports | Pictures | Videos

Both Ken & kriss anna made the same point it's only that ken thought that kriss is saying it's not possible for a 400 cc vtwin to be costed at 2.5 - 3 L i.e on the higher side..

btw even if a 400 cc is between 2.5 - 3 L yes...there will be buyers .Coming from a small place I have seen it's not the technology or the brand name but rather the feel of owing such machine that converts the mind of people into actually buying it...

kriss you have a perfect point here, the cost can go reasonably low, as innovation can bring a nano out of 600 cc than why not a bike with 400 CC at a lesser cost

I agree hash your point that 10% sales is a big thing but if such a 400 +cc bike is launched in india, than this particular bike will have a different class altogether, we can see today pulsar and karizma are like found in every nukkad and gali in all metros in our country this days, The same is started with R15 which costs 1 lakh, thanks to two wheeler loans, than i feel even a bike at the cost of 2 lakhs or 3 lakhs can also do a better business as the loan period one can opt for 5 years where the EMI wont be a big burden on the buyer. We see today R15 has a different market of buyers same will be for this bikes and if this bikes are manufactured in india than the repairing, maintenance will be complicated in initial stages but 2 years down it will be as common as any mechanic can repair it as now is the case of any 100 cc bikes.

but again whoever manufacturers this should also look at the factor of designing, graphics and performance and last but not least the mileage as thats where the Vitamin Money becomes a deciding factor

@ken: Was there a mixture of sarcasm in it ? .

Its ok that a 1350cc ..for 6 abroad, but a 400cc twin locally manufactured in india.. ?? isnt 3L high ... its a total desi stuff, no import duties. So why 3L.

A 250cc, twin is costing less 1.6L abroad. A 400cc 4 cyclinder bike is costing you 2.5 L abroad.

Then why a 400cc twin bike (made in india) costing us 3L or more ??

Its not arguing... just putting up my ideas.

you got me wrong. my post was meant to be taken in a sarcastic manner. What i meant to say was that even a newspaper worth Rs. 3 is not bought by 10% of India's population. so there's no hope of any kind of product in India that costs in lakhs being bought by 10% of India's populations.
If anyone launches such a product he will end up becoming one of the richest men in the world.
A bike that costs 3 lakh would probably have sales in thousands. I would probably be looking at revenues in double digit crores. If anyone can manage to sell even 20,000 such bikes, they would earn a revenue of Rs 600 Crores.

I don't think there's any product in india in the category of durables, that has ever achieved a sales volume of 100 million (about 10% of India's population). I was just trying to say in my previous post that the figure thrown at us by shrinathrao was a touch unrealistic.

yep they have to, FZ 16 exhaust sound is brought down drastically to meet traffic decibel norms! check out ownership thread for new racing kits, the louder exhaust is not street legal, also mentioned in Zigwheels review, so as per engine capacity sound also matters, the point is market, a high end bike needs better facility with no guaranteed sales, how many of the ppl in india will actually buy a bike equivalent to R1 or FZ 1 here? as per the analysis earlier not even 10%. Pointing part of my post was easier then looking that concept above? the problem we have here is the most ppl on the board look at desires though only few can practically implement it, believe if ppl on this board has 12lakh bucks to buy a hayabusa or intruder, most of em will go for a car in real life scenario, though how much we ask or question abt whats next and all, passionate are only few.

Guys, would any of these imports not match "your" pollution Standards? Market is the bigger problem, not pollution...

1. Even the 2007 model of 600's match Euro III standards...!
2. The R1 & CBR1000R have not been "tuned" or "detuned" for India. Well, obviously they match pollution standards, right?
3. If a 500cc Royal Enfield can survive Pollution Norms, I'm sure almost anything imported can too!

I stress that market is the practical problem. And also, diversity of needs, because someone needs FZ6, others need R6 ... We can't agree on any one such bike!

What do you think, ARAI will homologate bikes that do not conform to our norms?

Do you think companies like Yamaha, Honda & Suzuki will have to recheck the ride safety + pollution issues while launching a 250CC or a 600CC bike ???