0 Review: Alpinestars Bionic Knee Guard

Review of the Alpinestars Bionic Knee Guard..

In case of a fall from a bike, most of the time a biker falls on his “hands and knees”. A select few do wear gloves to protect our hands in case of crash. But “Indian knees” hardly ever gets protection.

Blame it on not being practical to wear protective knee guards/protectors for our city commute, we Indians would rather risk getting the occasional knock on the knees (and a couple of days bedrest).

Agreed that knee protectors are not very practical for our everyday commute, but when it comes to long distance touring, a knee guard/protector is a must.

Posted here is my review of the “Bionic Knee Guard” from Alpinestars, one of the worlds best known names when it comes to protective riding gear.

I had used this product during my road trip from Guwahati to Tawang (Apr 2011). I had borrowed a pair for the trip from a biker friend of mine who is into heavy touring.

6 Royal Enfield Classic Chrome for India? Maybe.. Maybe Not

The desi blogosphere has broken news of Royal Enfield launching it's Classic model in Chrome for India.. really?

Its like a domino effect.. one blog breaks out a news, soon the others follow suit. This time it is the news of Royal Enfield planning to launch it Classic Chrome (so far an export only model) in India.

Most blogs has quoted the "Official Royal Enfield Facebook Fanpage" for making the announcement on it Fanpage wall. Try visiting the fanpage for yourself and try to search for that comment.. I tried doing that but couldn't find it.

[Let me know if you can find it]

8 KTM 200 Duke India launch by early 2012. Plans of a 350 Duke as well..!!

Official word about the KTM 200 Duke launch date in India..

I hate to spread useless speculations without the backing of some solid info. This time economictimes carries the news of the launch date of the KTM 200 Duke in India.

According to the news, KTM CEO Stefan Pierer has revealed plans of the launch of the KTM Street bike (Yeah..it's NOT an offroader), the 200 Duke in India in the 2012 Auto Expo in New Delhi..!!

Interestingly Mr. Pierer also revealed plans of a 350 cc KTM model for India to be launched a year later (probably by 2013).

It's almost certain the the KTM 200 Duke would look the the KTM 125 Duke, which Bajaj manufactures for KTM and exports to Europe (exports started just a couple of months back). Indian bikers can rejoice as the "Baby" Duke slated for India will have a more powerful 200 cc engine instead of the 125 cc for europe.

It's not clear if the next 350 cc model will share the looks of the 125/200 Duke or will be an entirely new model. Anyway, the 350 cc KTM would definitely be out of my budget.

Engine/Power specs and pricing have not been revealed yet. But just from the fact that the 125 cc Duke can belt out 15 Ps of max power, I am expecting at least 22-23 Ps of power from the 200 Duke (provided it's not detuned too much for India). 22-23 Ps of power coupled with a light weight kerb weight of around 130 kgs would mean that the KTM 200 Duke would have a healthy "power-to-weight" ratio (to easily take on bikes like the Honda CBR250R) and will be an absolute fun machine.

0 Best Official 2 Wheeler Websites in India [2011]

Two of the best "Official 2 wheeler websites" in India which goes beyond providing plain vanilla "information"..

What makes for a great "official" 2 wheeler website?

A. A seamless browsing experience: The site design should be simple, intuitive and very easy to browse. All the pages should have a similar design, layout, theme so that it gives the visitor the feel that he/she is always on the same site.

B. Relevant content which adds value: Going the extra mile and providing value adding and relevant information differentiates a good website from a mediocre one.

C. Attempt at brand building: An official site can be used to build upon the brand by adding sections like a "historical timeline" of the brand, by building a community of followers and helping them to interact with each other.

Posted below are two of the best official 2 wheeler websites which have gone that extra mile to make browsing these sites a "paisa wasool" (value adding) experience..

1. Official Royal Enfield Website: (www.royalenfield.com)

The official Royal Enfield website has been updated very recently (probably today). The previous site was good but the latest one is better.

18 Introduction to different types of Motorycle Helmets

One can tell a lot about a biker by his helmet..

We Indians have it in us to turn our humble bikes for "multi purpose" use. Be it a Super Sports replica like the Yamaha R15 or cruiser replica like the Bajaj Avenger, the end use most of the time turns out to be nearly similar. For example, we use the same bike for riding on good/bad roads for "Touring", "Racing", "Stunting" or "Commuting". Bikes like the Yamaha R15 and the Bajaj Avenger have actually been designed keeping in mind certain specialized kind of riding.

Similarly there are Helmets which are specifically designed keeping in mind the kind of motorcycles that you ride. Posted below are different type of helmets which are designed keeping in mind specific motorcycle styles and which go along with specific kinds of motorcycle design / motorcycling activities.

1. Race Track Biker: Full face Helmet