sent a mail to triumph UK regarding the non availability of R model. Copying it here, will keep you guys updated in case i get a reply.

"Greeting from the resident of erstwhile colony.

Saw the triumph stall at Auto Expo the other day. And i was happy to say the least. The models you are bringing are all good. The pricing seems to be right, not in MBA strategy speak, but in I-can-finally-afford-a-good-sportsbike speak.

This might seem trivial to you but to someone who has spent past 31 years of his life, the birthday is on 20th Feb if you want to wish, waiting for the bike he can finally afford, this is god send. Or queen send as they say in your parts.

The only trouble is there was no R model for any of the bikes. More specifically on Street Triple.

The price difference in UK between street triple and street triple is around 700 pounds. I don't mind paying that extra to get better brakes and better suspension. But the company representative present there said "no plans of bringing the R model". I suggest you make plans sir.

Simply because spending 5.75 lakhs on a bike is a big thing in India. So if i am doing a big thing i might do a bit bigger thing and spend let's say 6.2 lakhs and get a bike i will keep riding and falling in love every morning.

I know this letter/email might seem a bit dense at the moment considering you have to get everything in place, but please understand i have already started dreaming of putting the knee down on my favourite corners in lutyens' Delhi and between theog and rampur (if you are ever in India you should do this stretch. Ahead of Shimla is the most fabulous mountain miles i have ridden on so far). Not to mention if i bug you now maybe by the time dealerships come up there will be a R model, importantly at a not so exorbitant price.

In short I really want to buy a street triple R this year at around 6.2 lakhs.

There i said it.

Please be kind enough to me.

Thanks.

Hoping you success the marque deserves. "

Possible, but why is the Speed Triple, which is way bigger, priced as a CKD? I agree that the Tiger's price looks more like a CBU price, but as you say, it's under the limit, so it should only be brought in as a CKD (and indeed, the big deal with Triumph was that they were/are planning to have an assembly facility in-country, unlike many other manufacturers).

Of course, going by the huge thread over on ADVRider about the Tiger, Triumph has had issues with presenting correct information in the past, particularly concerning the Tiger. If anyone on the xBHP magazine staff is reading this, it might be nice to get ahold of one of Triumph's representatives to confirm the pricing based on the Tiger's engine capacity and India's laws. Did they just misquote the price, thinking the bike was being brought in as an import? Are they deliberately overcharging on the assumption that the Tiger isn't going to sell well, and they want to minimize losses, or some other reason, like trying to make it a "premium bike" (hey, it's still cheaper than a BMW)?

While we're on the subject, my guess is that Triumph will sell almost no Rockets or Storms, based on the recent price reductions by Harley. Harley's already a bigger name in India, due to its presence in hollywood, so Triumph is already fighting name recognition on the cruiser front. To price the Storm at nearly double its Harley counterpart is going to ruin their chances in the marketplace. The Street Bob is now only 9 lakh, and there are several other big twins less than the Storm as well, to say nothing of all the sportsters. The Rocket prices out the same as Harley's full-dress tourer with satellite radio and all the bells and whistles, and more than Yamaha's flagship VMAX (and WAY more than Suzuki's big Intruder, which is a much better bike than either the Triumph or the Harleys). Not good strategy on Triumph's part, even though they don't have much choice, since their big bikes apparently have to come in as imports.

Read in another forums that these are guideline prices, they can vary abit, i m pretty sure when these bikes get launched later in the year there will be 50-100k increase in prices

Bingo!! Think the speed triple and the 675 look good for the cost. THE R versions offer much better stuff in those 500 quid!!

For me, that daytona 675R in diablo red is a inline4 600 killer. It kills them all on the track and the looks too (may be not the ducati)!!!
If they had an ASS like Kawasaki-Bajaj, then i would get that damned red daytona 675R!!

BV - They might be betting on the Indo-Thai FTA

exactly, my bane my wish as well as my hope

I think Triumph might not have done their homework right - the Tiger 800 is a 799 cc motorcycle, which means that they cannot get this in as a full import/CBU. The existing price of 11.4 seems to be based on the full import route.

They would have to get the XC through the assembly route, and the price should not exceed 8 lakhs.

Yes, it should, but it's apparently not; per the "official" price list in Nashrider's post on page 9:

Bonneville – Rs 5.5 lakh
Speed Triple - Rs 8 lakh
Street Triple - Rs 5.75 lakh

Tiger 800XC - Rs 11.4 lakh

Storm Rs - 17 lakh
Rocket III - Rs 22 lakh
Daytona 675 – Rs 7 lakh

For reference, the on-road price of the Tiger XC in the US is 6.8lakh, including shipping, prep, tax, and registration.

What do you mean become popular, it's not Hero Honda Splendor we are talking about. They should have just introduced the R model here, since it is not that expensive from the base model and since we already are paying through our noses for these bikes.

LOL! Cant they give that sareeguard rule a rest ?

Daytona would look soo nice with a sareeguard and a crashguard ( yes that is sarcasm)

They would definitely change the engine tuning a bit (to compensate for our lower quality fuel).
Other than that, they just need to keep the ARAI happy by adding saree guards, front number plate, front crash guards, etc. (and probably tune the exhaust, if the ARAI guys find it too loud).

They will keep it for introduction at a later time. IF street triples become popular, launching the R version would add to the excitement

the prayers have been answered. I think the street triple is as close to perfect bike on indian roads as it can get. Actually in my opinion it is around 40 more bhp than the cows and other idiots running around highways can handle.

And the price is damn perfect. Ducati just misse the beat by pricing the 795 closer to daytona. I know more people know of ducati and will go for it but it could have been a good move for them to price it competitively. Maybe they want to keep it premium.

Pricing issues aside i only have one grouse. Triumph should have got the R model. It costs 600 dollars/500 pounds more than the normal one and comes with fully adjustable suspension and radial brakes.

if am spending 5.75 i might spend 30 grand more to get the better stuff. At least suspension and braking would have been top class then.

So sunny or anyone who can get acces to triumph please get this point across. it would be a wise move to charge a 30-40 grand premium for the better spec model. Anything more might take it out of my budget and hence is not a wise move.

please get the R version.

do it means that they will decrease the power and some speed limit too ??

800 xc shud be somewhere around 7-7.5 ex showroom

And now there's a thread that Harley is slashing prices, so now you can buy 2models of big Harley, not the sportsters, for less than the TigerXC costs. Ridiculous.

Triumph better rethink that pricing schedule or they're not going to last long. In the real world, the Speed Triple costs more than the Tiger.