Some tidbits from me too.

A good article on homologation:

What is Homologation? - Team-BHP


Triumph would have dug its own grave

Surprise of surprises! The smartest off the block here was HD. Yanks can learn fast if they want, it seems.

Dear Sir,
When a product is homologated for India, it incurs an additional financial burden on the factory.When i say additional burden I mean it runs into crores.So, any model which is homologated has to generate volumes enough so as to compensate the additional costs.These additional costs when get merged with the price of the bikes, the low volume bike tends to be proprtionately more expensive then its high volume siblings!

Regards,
Shift_ride

Sent the following email to Ashish Joshi yesterday:

Dear Mr. Joshi,

I am one of many riders here in India eagerly awaiting the arrival of
Triumph. I have been following the news of Triumph's entry on the
xBHP.com website for several months now. I was particularly excited
because Triumph intended to bring many of the models it would sell
here in as "Complete Knock-Down" kits, thus enabling it to bypass the
ruinous customs tariffs and therefore to sell at a reasonable price.
In the wake of the Auto Expo in Delhi, the preliminary pricing for the
models Triumph will be bringing was released, and then was confirmed
in an email you sent to another xBHPian, Arun, a couple of days ago,
to wit:

Bonneville INR 5.50 L
Street Triple INR 5.75 L
Daytona 675 INR 7.00 L
Speed Triple INR 8.00 L
Tiger 800XC INR 11.40 L
Storm INR 17.00 L
Rocket III INR 22.00 L

I was dismayed to discover that the Tiger (the bike I intend to
purchase, preferably in orange) was going to be priced like an import
bike, rather than the CKD. In every other market, the Tiger sells for
the equivalent of about 6-7lakh rupees ($13000 USD according to
ADVrider.com and 7700GBP according to your website). Yet here, we're
going to be charged nearly double that. This despite the fact that the
Tiger, at 799cc, falls under the homologation limit for motorcycles
brought into India, and therefore must be brought in as a Complete
Knock-Down and assembled here. I am writing to seek an explanation for
the enormous premium that Indian riders are going to be required to
pay for this bike, seeing as how there is no customs duty to cover. I
look forward to your reply.

Sincerely etc


Hoping I'll get a reply, and not a form letter, soon.

the tigers are indeed 799 cc's. Unless Triumph India is so dumb that they don't know the displacement of their own motorcycles. I read on team-bhp that someone from Triumph at the Auto expo pointed out that Bonneville had carbs and the fuel injection version will come later! They apparently did not know the Bonny has dummy carbs and the existing model IS fuel injected.

7 year old
weren't the street triples first launched towards the end of 2007 & later refurbished in 2011 & 2012 as well

So here's the response from Triumph India:

Appreciate your thoughts on the Tiger 800XC and its pricing. The bike at
exactly 800cc qualifies for CBU import and that is the route being taken
as of now.

Off road motorcycles are a bit of an unknown in the Indian market and
hence the call that we have taken to initially import it as CBU. We will
gauge the market and revise our call at an appropriate time if needed.

Best regards,
Ashish

So here's the response from Triumph India:

Appreciate your thoughts on the Tiger 800XC and its pricing. The bike at
exactly 800cc qualifies for CBU import and that is the route being taken
as of now.

Off road motorcycles are a bit of an unknown in the Indian market and
hence the call that we have taken to initially import it as CBU. We will
gauge the market and revise our call at an appropriate time if needed.

Best regards,
Ashish

Note the Bolded text. According to Triumph's own website (and no doubt the casting on the side of the crankcase), the Tiger displaces 799cc, not 800. Does anyone have the exact wording of the import regulations regarding engine displacement? If customs gets a good look at the engine on this bike, and it says 799cc, is Triumph going to be facing problems?

Edit: I think I found the relevant section of Customs Tariff. Section 87-11 40 10 covers motorcycles with engine capacities not exceeding 800cc. So if it's 800 or less, it's within that "category". Still looking for requirements for when a new bike has to be brought in as CKD and/or subject to India homologation.

Second edit: Found something in the import regulations as follows: (9) Import of new motorcycles with engine capacity of 800 cc or more, by all categories of importers, including: (a) Individuals; (b) Companies and firm; or (c) OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers- who have manufacturing and service network in India) will be exempt from the conditions at Sl.No. (2) (II) (c) above. However, at the time of Customs clearance, an EC Type Approval Certificate / Certificate of COP, of an accredited agency from any member state of EU, including a notarized English translation thereof, shall be furnished. This Type Approval shall stipulate that the vehicle to be imported meets the technical requirements of all relevant separate directives, as last amended and as listed in EU Directive 2002/24/EC. Such imported motorcycles shall meet the EURO III emission norms as defined in EU Directive 2003/77/EC.

So that's 800cc or more falling into the exemption category for needing various testing certificates. Looks like 800cc is an overlap point. Still searching for the specifics of a requirement that bikes of 800cc or less than 800cc can only be brought in as CKD. It's not looking good for Triumph though.