Other Bikes @ Auto Expo

Despite being present with a lot of fanfare and a lavish set exclusively designed by Nitin Desai the famous Bollywood art director who created the magic for the blockbuster "Sawariya", Hero Honda dissappointed the "technocrats" with their products. Yes !! A lot of AAM JUNTA must have been impressed by the presence of a design studio corner equipped with a couple of IIT Brains who designed revolutionary and custoer oriented next generation STICKERING (WTF!!!!!!) for the new bikes HH would be launching. The Star of the show was a column in the center on which they had mounted (hung) two Bikes. A Honda XR motocrosser and the Legendary Paris Dakar fame Honda Africa Twin.

The second biggest attraction was abviously the HUNK which had almost 5 - 6 colours displayed all over, some which were not even in production. All around was a hanging walkway on which models catwalked to groovy numbers and showed off their charms while riding on HH bikes. Infact one of the staff members actually mentioned that it was actually the new age Splendour plus which was attracting most attention. Splendour plus !! You Gotta be kidding!. These guys definitely do have the largest numbers in terms of Sales but then, what about fundaas? Exactly on the lines of Honda, HH too had a rider training corner with a simulated splendour showing you how to ride on the motorcycle. Their was a huge line of kids there all wanting to try out this new Video Game, which deterred me from even trying it out. So that was all at the HH stall. I am sure i must have missed out some stuff, but then i guess it wasn't all so worth reporting.

Click here to see more Pictures from the Hero Honda Stand:

KTM was there with a vast range of motorcycles starting off with the small 250 cc enduro and ending up with the large 990 cc Adventure Fuel Injected machine.KTM is now coming to India through their tie up with bajaj and the first model expected would perhaps be the Super Duke 990 and the Duke 690 which would be perhaps more acceptable to the Indian Superbiking scenario. There was the radically stylized Supermoto 690 with wierd silencers, thus making the display a fantastic collection of 5 great machines. Sad fact is that although KTM is famous worldwide for their Enduro Motorcycles by the time Enduro motorcycling becomes fashionable in India a lot of time would have passed.

Incidentally KTM also had on display a lot of accessories starting from the oh so essential Body suit to coffee mugs, key chains and other daily usage items. Everything needless to say was ORANGE !!

One thing which was quite shocking was the BAD state in which the Bikes were hurriedly put together. One headlight actually had BIRDSHIT on it and no one had bothered to clean it at all. At the same expo we had bouncers shaking people off a HYUNDAI stall and here the legendary KTM had pigeons crapping all over them. Kahan gayi woh respect for legendary machines? Kahan gaya woh motorcycling spirit? Anyways, there wasnt even any person next to the bikes to even explain what each of the bikes meant or did. Somehow it would have been great had there been at least some small name tags or boards describing the specifications of the bike. Felt quite bad to see these brutes so neglected and disrespected. Anyways, having ridden with a couple of KTM Riders sometime back i knew once the bikes came out on the roads they would definitely get their share of fame and TLC.

For more pictures of the Katooms click here:



Kawasaki has been trying to enter into India for a long long time and looks like finally their time has arrived. They tried getting into India with their buddy Bajaj in the form of the KB100, then 4s and then the Eliminator, but couldn’t create BRAND awareness. The Wind also couldn’t do any magic for the Kwacker. Finally looks like the long due project, the Ninja 250 is set to see the light of day. We are getting the baby ninja, albeit a decade late. LOL !!. But at least we are getting it. On display were a couple of cool looking Kawasaki machines starting with the fat tyred VN Cruiser and the flagship model the ZX NINJA in pristine Black. In the center of the stage was the baby they intend to launch in India the Ninja 250 in Kawasaki Green and next to it were the Kawasaki Z 1000, naked muscleman in green and the ER6n, made in Thailand / Malaysia Street bike. A Bajaj official was strolling inside the fenced area and trying to answer as many questions as were possible. Looks like Kawasaki is all set to finally set Indian roads ablaze.

Let the good times roll !!

For more Kwacker Pictures click here:



The THUNDERGOD, Royal Enfield somehow was prominent despite putting a rather plain jane looking display. I mean..the Bikes are definitely thundersome..I am a self confessed Bullet fan..not a fanatic though...and I like the metal gods but then 2 tents and 2 bikes..not a very impressive display. Maybe it could have been better !!

Also met Bawa, the dude from Delhi who heads the WILDBEASTS and comes across as a true blue Bullet brether. The brotherhood of the Bullet clan is something which has remained a mystery for a lot of people. You cant avoid it. Either you love it or you hate it, but you can’t ignore it. Guess the machine has today reached a stage where it’s a living legend, or perhaps a living fossil. Its definitely here to stay and stay a long long time.



The other mentionable names were the electric bikes; namely the YO, and the Hero Ultra. Yo bikes even had a next generation innovative model named the ELEKTRON. There were a couple of attractive girls standing at the stands trying to explain to everyone how Electric Battery powered bikes not only saved money but also saved the environment. Somehow I wonder what about the electricity that is needed to charge the batteries. In India how much coal do we burn to produce the electricity to charge the battery? I am sure the pollution created by NTPC would be more than what perhaps a couple of rickety old polluting jalopies would be creating. Hero Ultra on the other hand were all gung ho about their new age electric bikes with a lot of on the spot games and competitions and an EmCee creating a fun-filled atmosphere. Lastly there was the atrociously modified Bullet, the “Sardar Chop” Chopper at the Overdrive stands which did catch my attention. Besides this there were many other mentionables who had some real good looking bikes displayed, namely Bike India, Triumph etc etc.



The Vintage Motorcycle collection put together by the Heritage Motor club of India was quite impressive with a Vintage Army Harley and a red colored Indian Chief. I am absolutely floored by the oodles of style which just kinda trickles out from this SKIRTED beauty, so much so that my Classic yezdi has also been re-modeled on the CHIEF. There was a a lot of British muscle too in the form of Nortons, Triumphs, and Velocette. There was a small exclusive corner for the Vespa’s and Lamberetta’s and the Viller’s 75 cc Paratrooper’s Bike too.

For pictures of all the other bikes click here:

So that’s what sums up the experience at the Auto Expo when it comes to motorcycles. Looks like a great year is around the corner which might just revolutionize the way India moves on 2 wheels as such.

Until then keep riding !!