Motorcycle News Update

I don’t know what went wrong or where it did. So I guess I made a little error in not posting this earlier. Motorcycle manufacturers have gone into ‘upgrade’ mode it seems. This usually is the time when it happens. Although sales figures for April have shown a positive trend, but with nothing new on the horizon (for some), it seems a nice time to play with paint and stickers.

Yamaha will launch the R15 this month, but before they do that they have given the Alba an electric start. Only other 100cc commuter with an electric start that comes to mind is the TVS Star. Also a new set of graphics for a slight increase in price.

Suzuki are supposed to launch their own 150, but there doesn’t seem to be any news of that. Or are they going to surprise all of us? Let’s hope they do. In a good sort of way I mean. Till that happens, Suzuki have freshened up their 125s. The Zeus has been given a new fairing (ugly) with a set of air intakes. It (Zeus and Heat) also gets new graphics, a small mudguard on the rear wheel and a stainless steel throttle cable.

Honda have brought out the Unicorn with a black treatment all round. The exhaust is all black. There is a new toe only shifter and bar end weights. The tank gets an embossed Honda wings logo. The engine though remains the same.

On the other hand, there are a few launches lined up, that are not just paint and sticker jobs. The most talked about is the R15 from Yamaha. TVS will try and upset some with the fuel injected RTR160. Bajaj has the Blade lined up for an assault on the 125s in the scooter segment. It will be nice to see how the four valve twin spark engine fares and will be a good indication of the performance of the upcoming motorcycles featuring the four valve layout.

On the other end of the market, Ducati launched their entire range of bikes. The 696 is being homologated while the rest are available as I write this. The range starts at 15lakh and goes upto a half a crore rupees. That R1 looks cheap now, don't it?