+1198 to andante's post.

If ducati is the ferrari of bikes, aprilia and KTM are the lamborghinis and bugattis(sort of...atleast in desirability if not a direct parallel). Look at the rs125 and the duke 125. Granted the rs125 is a 2 stroke but what a bike it is. And what a bike the babyduke is as well! And nuff said about the duke200. With the advent of the smaller KTMs, the desirability of the KTM brand is increased manifold(atleast to me, a poor guy) simply because I can live with burning just a hole in my pocket against burning my whole pants if I wanted a 690 duke. I remember reading that even triumph is considering smaller capacity bikes.

Now if there was a mini harley, I'd say yuck! That would be an insult to the name and the legend and that'd be a condescending mega insult to us as well. But, miniature ducatis, aprilias??, triumphs, buells?? are more than welcome here, simply because these bikes arent built around 'lifestyle' as much as rideability. And we want a variety in rideability!!!

We are damn tired of bullets and samey 150s and out of reach or half assed quarter litres. We want different styles of bikes, we want different philosophies of biking, we want a miniature of the biking ecosystem what exists abroad. With the rising petrol and commodity prices and the crowded cities, these smaller but superbly engineered showpieces make damn good sense for the average middle class bikeloving dude who is having an increasingly larger amount of spare change to spend but not much choices to spend it on.

We have say 20 years before petrol is exhausted and we have to mine the moon and mars for alternative fuel (and living space). And not to forget, we are doomed by the endof this year. Lets atleast dream of a ducati within our poor, grimy reach.

I imagine a handshake with hero can open up such a large and hungry market here....I imagine a 200 or 250 single cyl ducati, a baby monster or a mini multistrada. I imagine Hero stickering it in teh national tricolour and calling it the 'funky hunky junk 198'.....yet, I imagine Im buying.

Excuse th rant. Im passionate ++ about the idea.

Small Ducatis???

There is something called "Technology Sharing" . Something similar to Bajaj is doing to KTM. But What I see is Ducati will be R&D for Hero and will small motorcycles for Hero brand but not Ducati.

Small Ducati's..??

Just because one makes 800/1000 cc engines don't necessarily mean that they are masters in making small capacity enignes. Ducati has to first learn to make small capaity machines in order to teach Hero make them.

On the other hand KTM have always specialized in small engine tech, they had/has bikes starting from 65cc.. not to mention they have awesome 125/250/350 cc range of off roaders.

Companies like Ducati face big problem during recession and other economically bad times. A smaller but technologically advanced bike will not only earn them handsome profits to sail through lean times but also they extra dough earned can be put to great use in their higher end as well as in MotoGP etc. The biggest reason Honda managed the recession better than others is their huge market share in small capacity motorcycles world over.

I found it complete stupidity comparing that Hero+Ducati will succeed just becz Bajaj+KTM succeeded. Bullshit.

Hero cannot be compared to bajaj when it comes to technical prowess. They are a company which developed their own motorcycle and received national/international patents for that. They are much more famous than Hero abroad. What did Hero did apart from selling puny engines which were actually the credibility of Honda???? Nothing... They dont have even a single innovation even in the bicycle they develop. Bajaj lacked built quality in their bikes but its just a matter of time they can correct it. Main thing is technology and they have had a lot of technologies. Be it Liquid-cooled engine, Fi, twin-spar frame, projector-headlamps. A multi-cylinder engine is on the cards with a 350cc bike to be launched an year after.
Even the KTM and Bajaj development was a Joint one and KTM do benefitted from some of the development experience Bajaj had. Just after Bajaj's association KTM sales zoomed more than 20% ahead. In just 2-3 years Bajaj is coming with its own Superbikes and the revamping of all its discover to pulsar line up based on P200NS quality its brand image would be too strong unlike Hero which is a brittle company from inside.
Giving undue importance to Hero is a stupidity that we Indians have in abundance. Just let the Honda stickers go off the bikes and Honda launch a 100cc bike Dream Yuga.. I can bet my whole money in my bank account that Hero sales would fall like anything and they would run into huge losses.
Do not overestimate Hero. Period.

^^^ Better late than never. Necessity is the mother of invention\adaptation. You dont need originality to make a well functioning product.

+1 to karthik mathur's post.

Its logical for such a company's growth and sustainance to make thoroughbreds accessible to teh bourgeois also.

On the other hand, the likes of bugatti run at a loss but dont even consider providing lesser than the best of the best of the best, sir!

Ducati need not teach Hero again if Hero owns substantial shares in Ducati to make them owners of it, My point of emphasize is that Ducati being R&D to do the brain work for Hero and Hero would just sell them.

Small Ducati's are big NO NO! Small Engines by Ducati on Hero are big YES YES.

Its quite similar to Hero & Honda partnership earlier where Hero was separate entity, but now ducati will be part of Hero. And what ever patents owned by Ducati will transfer to Hero (?).

Hero would still cannibalise Honda till 2014 by which, Ducati might be in position to bring out smaller engines (only for) Hero as they have already ESTABLISHED R&D and need not start from scratch.

Hero is playing a great gamble here, it has got risks and got lots of potential in it, How successful will this combo be (if it happens)? Time will tell.

Lot of acquisitions, but very less are making sense. Its has now become a trend in xbhp to relate two brands merger into a fruit salad. Hero would not buy out Ducati to make 100 cc Panigale bikes. It just doesnt fit their brand value and the idea of leading the Indian market with great sales percentage.

A mass product can never be premium. Period. Please read the previous line if you still imagining a 100, 150, 223 cc Hero Passion, Splendor or whatever with Ducati tag line or a engine in future. Yes, at most if Hero would really push it that far, we can definitely expect a Hunk with ducati red trademark paint scheme if the deal is sealed. Its not unreal to keep the two or more brands completely separate with totally different market positioning. Tata-Jaguar Land Rover, Flipkart-Letsbuy and Disney-Pixar are few to name. I am sure you still look at these brands as individual and separate entities. One never buys a Tata nano because the company "controls" the management of Jaguar Land Rover.

The mergers and buyouts are NOT done keeping in mind the turnaround of 2 organizations but to share the ideas and deliverables of establish institutions.

PS: We seriously need some strict online rules to control the level of phishing going on in the forum. Good luck to upcoming new moderators.

@2strokerama Thanks!
Bugatti may have run at a loss, but then what happened, VW took them over, now they have the funds, and producing the Veyron.
Finally for anything and everything, sufficient money and a level headed manager for the same is required.

@Enthusiastic
I totally agree with you that Hero is hardly anything compared to Bajaj in terms of R&D. But u gotta agree that no one matches them in terms of money-power whether that was earned by way selling bicycles or motorcycles.
So if they buy something like Ducati u know who is at an advantage here. No exactly an advantage, but the R&D factor that Hero was lacking after the break-up will now be restored by 1st a rebound with Buell and then a proper relationship with Ducati.

Just hope Bajaj makes the most of its stake in KTM and its own tech.

My take on Hero + EBR is something similar to what Mahindra did/is doing with Engines Engg.

i.e Sponsor EBR's racing ambitions in AMA (some American Road Racing thing) the way Mahindra sponsors Engg. Engineering's Moto3 ambitions. In return both Mahindra and Hero gets the opportunity to splash their corporate name on the race bikes for the world to see.

Why sponsor an AMA team..?? Don't ask me..

+1
But the next small land rover will share parts with tata aria...Im not saying that the same will happen with hero-ducati if at all they go through with this,but itll definitely give a nice push.And munjal hinted at multiple partnership for tech,and this surely isnt for the lower segment

what ever it is, I would really love to see a street fighter 350 & a monster 250 L-Twins(please no graphics), the coming years. Dont let it go Hero

Indians are on fire. Tata's planning to buy SAAB too.

Personally i would love to see Mahindra acquire DUCATI.If not someone like BAL or TVS at least.Somehow ive never felt that HH/HERO are a passionate bunch of people who like to produce great motorcycles.They just like mass market-quick money products.HERO-DUCATI just doesn't feel right.

wheres as MAHINDRA and TVS seems like Manufacturers that are interested in manufacturing some great bikes.

There are some positive comments on this topic on MCN. As someone pointed out, Jaguar is doing well especially with the money flowing in from Tata. I am sure Ducati will have a little more money from Hero for their work and Hero can gain some technical know how too about higher spec engines. And who says the bike will have Hero Ducati stickers on....Jaguar does not have Tata Jaguar on their cars. I am positive about this. Good for Ducati, good for our country !