Ahh rich kids killing themselves with other stuff , right ... and when they got a powerfull machine in their hands they kill others too ... still ok with it?

so instead of 5 people killing 25 others , you'd prefer 100 killing 475 (assuming only 5 out of 100 who bought these bikes will ride sanely)

more options ? agreed , but should not be within the reach of everyone , only a few.

In UK , i drove on 2 lane higways (which they call dual carriage ways) at 60-70 mph (legal speeds) without a sweat because I knew nobody will come in my lane on any corner .And mind it there are atleast 10 corners for every mile in scotland.In india I'd expect atleast 10 superbikers (or fast running bikes) in my lane in a kilometers stretch.

And about the overtaking issue , if you want to be safe while overtaking assume you got a 100cc bike , ride as per that margin .That 17-20 ps will give to a lot of safe margin.If you wish to max out on a bike at 110+ and still want more speed for overtaking then you should also have this in mind that we have 80kmph speed limit on all national highways for 4 wheelers and 40/50 kmph for 2 wheelers.So you are already way over the limit.

First of all this is very good topic!

And believe me,higher officials will be reading this.

From my pov there is say X type of biker.

This biker buys a bike or his dad buys him one. He can now pose around on it and ride it till he passes the education.This bike can be anything from the Poser diaries to Rossiter's diary. Then when the job and family thing sets in, this biker easily puts the bike on back stage and gets a car. That's it! it is the end of this biker. I think a majority of bikers fall in this category in India.

Try selling big bikes to such people!

And then there are like u and me types. Who have sworn to buy a big bike come what may! But for what? posing? ascertaining their status on society?
NO!

Because i[and us] enjoy that feeling when the tacho needle jumps up and the road blurs, a deeeep howl to accompany.That feeling when you really scrape your knee in the corner.That feeling when u realize that the only thing u have with u on the far away roads is your bike.The feeling at cold dawn when u approach a city waking up, small twinkling city lights and u cozily ensconced in your gear! Heaven!

Sadly these riders don't make profit for the companies. But the former ones do! That is enough to sum up my point. I will add more later.

With many many thanks to Ken da!

Exactly! Not the direction you'd expect members of the country's foremost biking club to take..Whats wrong with some of you guys?

Exactly! Point well made!

Here we are waiting for the biggies to bring down affordable 600s and 250s and some of us have the nerve to re-iterate the "fact" that the roads aren't ready for them.

I for one, pee in my pants everytime some dick in white with a mike in hand and a jobless audience of a thousand, raises the question of higher capacity motorcycles ( read P220, Zma in their perspective) being unsafe on our roads, post an accident involving reckless riders stunting/dragging on public roads.

This isn't the time to analyse whether we're ready for the bikes. Dude don't forget we've limited resources of oil! If things keep going at this rate, the only superbike I'd be riding would have to powered by 60 Lithium Nickel Cadmium whatever batteries that I'd have to tow along on a trailer behind me.

I don't want that. I want a well engineered, brute power motorcycle that I'd be able to afford/maintain/feed after working and saving up for not more than 2 years.

You are incorrigible @theslayer. Loved it ^.

Totally agree. But then again, we've still got people killing each other in accords, sx4s, balenos, hell even BMWs! And people crashing their LP640s(go to team bhp, there's an entire thread dedicated to it!!!) Some things never change. And there is absolutely no way to change that other than education, and stepped licensing!

Who decides? (ala nevermore, if anyone on this forum listens to that stuff!)

So? You ride carefully! Everyone knows of the dangers in riding ANY vehicle in India. Do you quake in your boots everytime you take out your bike? You should. It's bloody dangerous. But you still take out your bike no? Even a rabid pulsar/zma rider at 60 is a lethal weapon! Don't forget that. Bigger bikes might just help in causing accidents at higher speeds, but those idiots would have crashed anyway. It's called life. Shit happens.


What world are you from buddy? Ever been on the delhi-ambala-chandigarh highway? Even trucks move at 90+ speeds. On the jaipur highway you'll see the average idiot on a scorpio or a qualis belting the cage for all it's worth. Please don't bring up the extremely outdated speed limits on the roads of this country. Those ROADS are all designed to be ridden at speeds of 160+. Note the embankments and the banking angle of the roads in a turn on the new highways. I would seriously like to be able to overtake everyone, since there lies safety. I might cruise at 100-120, but would not want my bike gasping for breath!

If you're out on the delhi gurgaon expressway, most cars are doing 100+. Bikes arent allowed. Why? Because they just arent fast enough. So bikers have to theoretically still use the shitty roads. Bikes still go on it. But I get scared just looking at them when I overtake them at 120+ on my bro's baleno. If I have a big enough bike, I'll probably go at 10kmph faster than the rest of the traffic just to prevent being squashed under a cager.

I reiterate - its called the power/freedom of choice. Something we don't have here.

So don't get all high and mighty and join the moral police - it's business. And the government makes a big buck out of all this control. We have the roads, at least wherever the people who'll be able to afford these bikes live. So thats a stupid argument.

Next.

What bothers me even more than the dearth of real motorcycles is the fact that we are being prevented from owning them due to incompetence of a lame babu who probably lazes his days behind a desk and has probably NEVER ridden a two wheeler and who believes that 'India is still not ready', his other argument being that the indigenous manufacturers will suffer. If the liberalization laws of 1991 and their fruits are anything to go by, the infusion of new bikes into the market will only promote a more open market, resulting in greater choices for the consumer,as ken da aptly puts it. The days of Fabian socialism are behind us, so why are we abiding by these residual laws of the colonial era? If not for the progress, do it for the money! Is the Government blind to all the moolah thats at offer here? Quite inexplicable.

The age old argument about Indian manufacturers losing out to the Biggies holds no water. Afterall, how long can the government shield them? They should now have garnered sufficient resources to compete with the best in the world. HH is supposedly the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world,so are we all about volumes?? If Bajaj can contemplate taking over Triumph, surely they are not cash strapped? If anything, more choices for the consumer will possibly force our moped makers out of their slumber and get them doing some real RND, instead of splurging money on lame ass Bollywood actors for promotion. Competition never hurt anybody, except the lazy asses. Besides, even if they still feel threatened, the Govt can atleast rationlise the segment above 30 BHP(for instance), so that we dont have to pay insane amounts for segments which our Indian manufacturers dare not venture into.

And does any body actually believe the road rage argument? I mean, come on! A stray animal ambling in your path is a real possibility in a lot of places in the world. The more discerning rider will always make allowances for such contingencies and ride accordingly. There will always be people who'll ram into stationary lorries, big bore or no big bore. What I do not understand is that if cars, with all their bulk and cost can be allowed, why is their a stigma with motorcycles? If we can have BMWs and Audi adding to the chaotic traffic, how much more congestion can a two wheeler add??
Its high time the redtape ridden bureaucracy shakes off the dirt and does something for the motorcyclist in this country. I agree with theslayer. No one wants a NiCd motorcycle.

My Opnion

Old Fox Sir,
very rightly said sirji.
My Opinion now.

Power in wrong, novice hands can be dangerous.
Now there is obviously need for power bikes. But that doesn't mean that there should not be bikes like P220, P200 or R15. I mean, those who dream to own a powerful bike & who enjoys biking in all sense should not be deprived off from having the addiction of riding a bike just because right now he cannot afford to own a sports / super bike. For majority of the people, like me, who some day wishes to own an R6 or R1, riding a far less powerful bikes like P220 is like 1 step closer to the dream. There should be gradual transition. Just imagine, an 18 yr old lad who all his life has gone everywhere in 4 wheeler, on his B Day his rich dad gifts him an R1. Bingo! he gotta impress his female friends, gotta scare all fellow riders on street & god forbids, something terrible happens & we all bikers are in the prime time of News TV channels.
I am also in favour of Big, Powerful bikes being manufactured by our Indian Cos & Foreign too at reasonable price. But there should also be bikes like Pulsars, Karizma, Fazers & R15s for those who wants to get a glimpse of "superbiking". And We should also remember that majority of Indian Bikers are just commuters. They cannot think of going out of city or places on bikes. Bikes for them is just another mode of transportation.
So my point is there should always be two end of spectrum. Bikes like P220, P200, FZ16, ZMA, R15 & then ofcourse BIG bikes like R1, R6, CBR, GSXR.
For me my P220 is a "SUPER BIKE" !

I had to go look up what 'incorrigible' meant! See, so its just the vocabulary that is distancing my skills of writing from yours ! Now if I could just find out what 'corrigible' meant!



Exactly! If the ones at home can't make it, then I've every right to get the ones made by others without having to pay a 'duty' ' penalty' and the lot!

Good. Your membership ID is 4x9633400 and your task will be to eliminate the use of alkaline batteries in TV remotes and replace them with NiCd ones! That way there'll be no Ni or Cd left to put in bikes, also we'll be doing a favour for the huge population of the country who want to keep switching between umpteen reality shows on million TV channels.

Bro, be honest. Don't you feel like the cruel ol' man from the SAW movies when you wring the throttle all the way up to feel the surge and listen to the exhaust note, mercilessly squeezing the engine for all its worth?

We need bigger engines, that can excite from the word 'Go'..thats is all my need.

Period.

Hasn't the graduality of change started??? Options are available today, all we need is big bucks.
200,220s are being sold here is masses bcoz of a simple reason -its affordable . I do not see any other reason.
If R1 was available at 100k bucks, then it wudn't be a surprsise to me seeing a doodhwala delivering cans on his mighty R1.

I accept the fact that legally R1 is available for double the cost as in the US, but for the mass bikers in India (uncounting commuters) , will the R1 at Rs.500,000 be affordable??? Well I dont think so!..

Why are we treating 200,220,100,150 etc. as a nauseatic junk food? Splendor was once upon a time the largest exporting bike to south America.
And yes these low powered bikes are also available as options in developed nations also, in the commuting segment, so as in India.

My point is- We guys are complaining about the limited options available, but as said by ken , time has to ripen.

We say its not sensible to buy and ride SBK on these dangerous roads, tell me this ,is the suspension system of porsche made for these roads? But ppol are riding it and the company has balls to launch it in India officially.

The below point by rx100 makes sense to me as an average Indian Biker. But still I too support and welcome the set of options for SBKs, and I may be a potential buyer for one of them.

Nobody is talking about discontinuing the production of these bikes. I am talking about something else. Read through the article, see the posts thereon that I have made. We do not even have a genuine good multi or twin 250 with decent specs. As I have said, the Comet was a decent deal. But spares have become a nightmare. And it needs a little bit more power, 5bhp would do it.

So shouldn't we have this first instead of asking for bigger bikes?
With the kind of driving/riding sense we have here the chances and road accidents will increase even more.But a person wouldn't understand this untill and unless he experiences it.I know it because I lost everyone where there were two kids crossing a divider , overspeeding tanker and a drunk driver were involved.It just takes a fraction of seconds for things to happen.For you its just shit happens and its called life.

If someone dies because of his/her own mistake , its ok but in most of the accidents even innocents die because of a jerk who thought speeding is fun.But why would you care , you just want a bigger and a faster bike ....
Oh so you are the law here or you think you are above the law? just because everyone is speeding way above the limit you'll speed up too.If everyone is stuipd , you'll be stupid too! wow , and here we call people like you as the sane responsible bikers !

Are you the authority to certify what speed is safe for us on the motorways? Which part of the world are you from?

UK , US , saudi all have 110-120 kmph limits on their motorways , do you know why? because they have poorer roads than what we have in India ... yeah right ....

can't we enjoy a 10k watts music system at low volume?

I would surely prefer a high output NAD powerhouse with Jamo at low volume against a lousy BPL/Santosh/Philips at high volume!

And I dont think it will be underutilized .

and how many will play it at low volume ? moreover playing music at loud volumes won't kill anyone .

I agree that we should have options but I am still in favour of keeping them priced high enough to keep it out of the reach of most of us.

I see that this topic has hit the bullz Eye.
well, we have been talking about poor authorities, lack of Roads, cattles on highways....and what not!
then we had some sensible inputs like people have other ways too to kill them, why shud we restrict higher power bikes
Mates, the point is...I need a GUN!
a GUN that can safe-guard me against an intruder, but if u "THINK" that I will kill Black bucks or will go hunting a game or will use the Gun to rob a bank...Boy...Get a Life!
let Those Babus NOT decide whats Good for me or not...Roads are not good for Bikes, let them be the way they are, they aint good for Cages too.
I would like to seek the attention of the Bike manufacturers rather then asking for the permission from the Authority.
I would simply Not blame the authorities...I would rather criticize the Manufacturers.
the only bikes we have today with some Extra Horses is Unfortunately RD350( launched before I was wearing a 'Chaddi' in my shorts), or if U MAY add the RE with the primary tech. that dates back when My Grand Dad was in his Primes!
Now that my Grand father is with the Maker, and I am for sure wearing a Jockey inside my Jeans..do i still need to buy either a 2nd(read Nth) hand Rd, or the RE.

So, if it has to be a blame Game...I would simply Blame The Money Making manufacturers who would make Not mind making something as stupid as a BYK( 100 nahi to kuch nahi), but would Just simply not think of producing a Bike with more then the usual 18-20BHP....

in simple words...I dont have an option and so I dont Buy and because I dont Buy the manufacturers dont see a market and hense they dont make...see..its just a vicious circle.

I hope Mr. Rahul Bajaj reads this some how, call his developers and Yo..we have a bigger bike before I loose the last strand of Hair from my head!

AM WAITING, till then...ZMa it is...Be it a ZMA!

I will surely NOT risk my life and savings by purchasing an Indian make SBK , Say Bajaj "Pinja- 600R " or TVS "MayaBusa 1350R" etc... No matter how many IITians put their brain in R&D and how many IIMians put their mgmnt skills into it.

An example is an Indian version of Eliminator- My Avenger, whose Engine suck big times. Everytime I rev it and only thing comes to my mind is "I Need More"