Bajaj Avenger 220 Launched!

Bajaj has launched the Avenger 220 for the Indian market. Avenger 220 would sport a bigger 220cc engine with bigger oil cooler.

• Bike would sport the 220cc 4 stroke air cooled engine. It is the same engine which does duty on the current Pulsar 220 DTSi
• The bike now sports a bigger Oil cooler to boost cooling characteristics of the engine.
• Power has been bumped to 19.3 horses
• Torque has been raised to 17.2 Nm @ 7000 rpm
• On road Price of the bike in Pune is Rs. 76,876
• Bike has a battery Sensor, Auto-cancel Indicators
• Electricals are all DC
• Looks of the older version have been retained
• Bike is available in 4 colors; Black, Red, Blue and Silver

The bike is available for booking and would be yours within 15 days of booking. We are trying to dig for more information and as soon as we get that we would keep this news article updated.

Enfield Seeks Kinetic’s Help

Thump producers, Royal Enfield is going through a huge demand of its Classic series of bikes not only in India but in the foreign markets like US and UK as well. But the company has completely failed to cater to the huge demand and as a result the waiting period of Classic 500 Efi and Classic 350 is as high as 6 months or more in major cities of India.

The Chennai based motorcycle manufacturer’s has a capacity to produce 4500 bikes per month but these figures fall short of the current market demand by 2000 units for every month. This comes as a deep point of concern for the company as they lose out a good chunk of customers who do not wait that long. In fact, only real thump lovers who have only one bike in mind wait that long. The actual problem, as RE puts it, is that ‘Classics’ use a better and high quality paint along with a tedious painting process for which the current capacity is not able to meet the huge demand.

Hero Honda to Increase Prices of its Motorcycles…

Countries largest two wheeler manufacturer, Hero Honda, has taken the unprecedented step of raising price of its products. Many Hero Honda products will be dearer by 500 to 1000 rupees. As the company puts it, this price hike comes in wake of the rising commodity prices. Since August 2008 Hero Honda has been bearing the brunt keeping the prices unchanged but with the rising global steel prices, tires and other important commodities the company has been forced to hike prices of its products.

Good news is that the omnipresent Splendor has been spared of any price hike along with company’s flagship motorcycle Karizma. 125cc Super Splendor and Glamour and 150cc Hunk and CBZ Extreme will be dearer to customers by about 1000 rupees. Will this step affect the company adversely? Sales figures of the forthcoming months will only reveal the impact!

Vespa Set to Come Back by 2012

The name which became synonymous with scooters during our teens, Vespa, is all set to make a comeback in probably the most luring and profitable two wheeler markets, India. The Italian company Piaggio, makers of Vespa line of scooters, has finally decided to re-foray into the Indian market and this time as a fully owned subsidiary. The company would be investing around 30 million rupees over two years to set up a plant with a production capacity of 1.5 lakh two wheelers. The strategy and plannings of the operation of the company have been discussed on the higher scale for sale of two wheelers in the Indian market.


Piaggio entered India during the 1960s in collaboration with Bajaj Auto for the first time. After license rejection in 1971 due to India’s privatization initiatives, LML had to break their alliance with Bajaj. After more than a decade Piaggio returned back in 1983, this time with a new Joint Venture, LML and a competitor to Bajaj Auto. Vespa brand of scooters enjoyed a cult status in the Indian market with superior engines and greater fuel efficiencies. However, due to disputes arising between partners, LML procured Piaggio’s stake in 1999 resulting in the conclusion of the JV. More than a decade later Piaggio is planning to foray into the Indian market yet again. The difference this time, however, would be that Piaggio would enter the India market as a fully owned subsidiary of the Italian firm.

Bigger Kwackers this year

Kawasaki’s Indian arm established
With the setting up of IKM (India Kawasaki Motors) for import and sale of high capacity Kawasaki motorcycles in the country, it’s finally time for two-wheeler fanatics (who had been waiting patiently for years to own and experience a legal Superbike without having to shell out a million rupees) to rejoice. Though no confirmations have come from either the Japanese giant or its Indian counterpart Bajaj, we at BIKE India strongly believe the Ninja 650R will be the next Kawasaki - after the Ninja 250R - to hit various Probiking showrooms across India by Diwali.

This 650cc and 70odd bhp motorcycle would be priced below the Rs 5 lakh (ex-showroom) mark. Shocked? The credit for this goes to the fact that the bike will be imported in CKD (completely knocked down) kits from Thailand, a country with which India enjoys the benefits of FTA (free trade agreement) and hence the extremely low custom duties. This Ninja carries the design heritage of its bigger cousins and at the same time provides a very relaxed and neutral ride experience. 

The second motorcycle which we feel will follow the 650R will be the naked and extreme looking Z750. With over a hundred horses on tap, the Z750 will satisfy the power hungry soul easily. Pricing for this bike will be around Rs 7 lakh (ex-showroom). Both bikes might come with ABS (anti-lock braking system) as standard fitment s.

MTV Pulsar Rockathon

Recently MTV India in association with Bajaj Pulsar organized a stunt show by Ghost Ryderz which was followed by a rocking rock concert by Parikrama. All of this adrenalin fueled excitement took place on the grounds of Bharati Vidyapeeth on May 22^nd 2010. The Rockathon was also a chance for the Puneri stunters to showcase their talent as the organizers also had the Pune auditions for the Pulsar MTV Stuntmania season two. The event also had a few attractions apart from the stunt show and rock concert like paint ball zone, playstation zone, tattoo booth and food stall. One thing which was noticeable was that the organizers were stressing more on the rock concert rather than the stunting part of the event. This seems a bit odd given the fact that it was an audition for a reality stunt show. Moreover the stunts were being performed on a dirt surface instead of tarmac which is the ideal surface for stunting.

Bajaj-KTM’s Rs 1 lakh bike

The anticipated performance bike will hit the Indian markets in a year’s time

 We have been talking about KTM bikes coming to India since Baja displayed the Austrian bike in the 2008 Auto Expo. Finally we have some official news that India's second largest two-wheeler maker, who is jointly developing performance bikes with KTM, will launch the much awaited bikes in 2011. We had earlier reported that the Bajaj-KTM is looking at introducing a 125cc bike with a max power of 15bhp, which complies with the European norms. But fresh information suggests that the bike will be priced around Rs 1 lakh. A 125cc bike at that price will not fetch large numbers in terms of sales, which mean that the firms might be looking at launching a bigger bike, probably 200cc plus. Praise the lord!