Have the Japs missed out on the quarter litre party in India?
I was born in the early 80's, i know, you are probably formulating adjectives like ancient, or antediluvian and laughing your guts out. However, that apart, in those times a motorbike was simply a means of hauling your 'arse' from Point 'Á' to Point 'B'. We had a wide choice of 4 motorbikes to choose from, viz. Bajaj (made the KB100), TVS-Suzuki(made the AX-100, IND-Suzuki) and Hero Honda (made the CD100 of the fill it, shut it, forget it fame). If you look closely the integer 100 is the HCF.
Circa 2016, Indians have woken up to the fact that motorbikes are not simply for getting you from home to office and back. You now see bearded 20 year olds wearing t-shirts with quotes like, four wheels move the body, but two wheels move the soul. If you see a new motorbike, the first question they ask you is probably how fast does it go as opposed to "kitna deti hai" (whats the average petrol consumption) like earlier.
Bajaj was the first one to capitalize on this feat. They launched the pulsar back in the early noughties and shook up the way Indians see motorbikes. Hero honda was mildly successful in comparison with its CBZ, but the pulsar still continues to sell a fair few units more even after a decade and a half of its launch.
So that's settled then. You no longer want a bike that has a seat which can accommodate 3 people at least and goes a gazillion miles in a litre of petrol. Well, what are your options then? You can choose to have a mad street bike like the Duke, a comfortable tourer like the CBR250 or even have a cross-bred bike like the Impulse or the Himalayan.
But one of the above bikes is special. The KTM Duke. It raised a fair share of eyebrows when it was launched. My aunt even went as far as saying that if she sat as pillion, the rear seat would probably break the bike in 2 pieces. Gladly, we never really put her hypothesis to the test. Let us crunch some numbers now.
Folks said that it was a strange bike which had no silencer, and the rear seat didnt seem to be connected to the rest of the bike.
But, KTM sells almost 10 bikes for every bike the Japanese competitor sells.
Let us refer to some sales figures now for bikes in the 150-300 cc category in the past few months. (Data source:http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/175343-march-2016-two-wheeler-sales-figures-analysis.html)
What makes it the such a hero?
I was born in the early 80's, i know, you are probably formulating adjectives like ancient, or antediluvian and laughing your guts out. However, that apart, in those times a motorbike was simply a means of hauling your 'arse' from Point 'Á' to Point 'B'. We had a wide choice of 4 motorbikes to choose from, viz. Bajaj (made the KB100), TVS-Suzuki(made the AX-100, IND-Suzuki) and Hero Honda (made the CD100 of the fill it, shut it, forget it fame). If you look closely the integer 100 is the HCF.
Circa 2016, Indians have woken up to the fact that motorbikes are not simply for getting you from home to office and back. You now see bearded 20 year olds wearing t-shirts with quotes like, four wheels move the body, but two wheels move the soul. If you see a new motorbike, the first question they ask you is probably how fast does it go as opposed to "kitna deti hai" (whats the average petrol consumption) like earlier.
Bajaj was the first one to capitalize on this feat. They launched the pulsar back in the early noughties and shook up the way Indians see motorbikes. Hero honda was mildly successful in comparison with its CBZ, but the pulsar still continues to sell a fair few units more even after a decade and a half of its launch.
So that's settled then. You no longer want a bike that has a seat which can accommodate 3 people at least and goes a gazillion miles in a litre of petrol. Well, what are your options then? You can choose to have a mad street bike like the Duke, a comfortable tourer like the CBR250 or even have a cross-bred bike like the Impulse or the Himalayan.
But one of the above bikes is special. The KTM Duke. It raised a fair share of eyebrows when it was launched. My aunt even went as far as saying that if she sat as pillion, the rear seat would probably break the bike in 2 pieces. Gladly, we never really put her hypothesis to the test. Let us crunch some numbers now.
Folks said that it was a strange bike which had no silencer, and the rear seat didnt seem to be connected to the rest of the bike.
But, KTM sells almost 10 bikes for every bike the Japanese competitor sells.
Let us refer to some sales figures now for bikes in the 150-300 cc category in the past few months. (Data source:http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/175343-march-2016-two-wheeler-sales-figures-analysis.html)
| Manufacturer | Model | Capacity (cc) | Nov-15 | Dec-15 | Jan-16 | Feb-16 | Mar-16 | Total |
| KTM | Duke200 | 200 | 1774 | 1566 | 1956 | 1956 | 1954 | 9206 |
| Kawasaki | Z250 | 250 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 24 |
| Ninja300 | 300 | 22 | 34 | 46 | 57 | 34 | 193 | |
| Hero | Karizma | 220 | 274 | 143 | 65 | 106 | 118 | 706 |
| Honda | CBR250R | 250 | 328 | 295 | 212 | 83 | 80 | 998 |
| Suzuki | Inzuma | 300 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yamaha | R3 | 300 | 47 | 26 | 79 | 69 | 56 | 277 |
What makes it the such a hero?
Well, it is the only fun bike to offer decent power and performance and also is easy on the wallet. Well, it does cost a lakh and a half to buy, but being made by Bajaj means that the maintenance cost is at kept well within bounds of Mr. Joe Average. The engine is a screamer, loves being revved and will reward you with linear power delivery all through the rev range. The chassis is wonderful and brakes are excellent. The bike responds super quickly to direction changes and is a hoot to ride on the twisties.
Enough praises though. It has its share of let downs too. The pillion seat is a tad too tiny for anybody other than a supermodel girlfriend. The engine heats up far too quickly in city traffic and its rear mudguards is anything but what its name suggests during the rains.
Well, coming quickly to the point then. Why haven't the Japanese manufacturers got any competitors in the fast growing quarter litre segment in India? Yamaha teased with the M Slaz, Honda has nothing, while Suzuki keeps promising us a 250 in the near future. Quite clearly this is a missed opportunity if you ask me. India is fast evolving market, and the above mentioned companies have been here for almost 2 decades now. They need to pull up their socks and offer us indians their international models in the quarter litre segment. Quite frankly, I am ready to upgrade from my Pulsar 200 NS right now, but there is nothing to look forward to really. A nice twin engined street fighter would be ideal if it is priced appropriately.. (read the poorer side of Rs. 2 lacs)
Well folks that is what I feel, and I wonder if anyone agrees to my point. I
would love to know your views on the same topic. As always, comments and complaints welcome.
Enough praises though. It has its share of let downs too. The pillion seat is a tad too tiny for anybody other than a supermodel girlfriend. The engine heats up far too quickly in city traffic and its rear mudguards is anything but what its name suggests during the rains.
Well, coming quickly to the point then. Why haven't the Japanese manufacturers got any competitors in the fast growing quarter litre segment in India? Yamaha teased with the M Slaz, Honda has nothing, while Suzuki keeps promising us a 250 in the near future. Quite clearly this is a missed opportunity if you ask me. India is fast evolving market, and the above mentioned companies have been here for almost 2 decades now. They need to pull up their socks and offer us indians their international models in the quarter litre segment. Quite frankly, I am ready to upgrade from my Pulsar 200 NS right now, but there is nothing to look forward to really. A nice twin engined street fighter would be ideal if it is priced appropriately.. (read the poorer side of Rs. 2 lacs)
Well folks that is what I feel, and I wonder if anyone agrees to my point. I
would love to know your views on the same topic. As always, comments and complaints welcome.
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