4 24th Jan: KTM 200 Duke, 30th Jan: Next Gen Pulsar?

The onslaught from Bajaj Auto is about to start.. Amen

The launch date of the much awaited KTM 200 Duke in India is on 24’th January 2012. The official countdown of the "baby" Duke in India began when Mr. Rajiv Bajaj gave away the launch date in an interview to a news channel (NDTV) a couple of weeks back.

Having already revealed the engine specs of the 200 Duke and provided a select bunch of Indian automotive journalists with its first ride feel, it’s just the "Price" and the "Booking + Delivery dates" that is left to be officially announced on 24’th of Jan 2012.

Before the Duke dust had even settled, another interesting development has taken place. In a very recent interview given to CNBC TV18 Mr. Bajaj has gone on record to say that a new product will be revealed on 30’th of January 2012, the launch of which will be around March 2012..!!

16 Xtreme (Not CBZ Xtreme), HF Dawn/Deluxe (Not CD Dawn/Deluxe) & Karizma ZMR Fi (Not PGM-Fi) @ 2012 AutoExpo

Nobody has till now noticed that Hero has displayed a couple of models with changed names at the 2012 AutoExpo..!!

This indicates the beginning of the demise of a name (CBZ) which started the trend of 4-stroke, stylish + performance bikes in India..

Its very surprising that nobody, I repeat nobody (blogs, forums or mainstream auto journalists) have so far noticed that apart from removing the Honda name from all the vehicles that were displayed at the 2012 AutoExpo, Hero also displayed its 150 cc “CBZ Xtreme” model with just “Xtreme” branding..!!

Not just that, Hero also displayed it’s 100 cc “CD Dawn/ Deluxe” models with a new brand name as “HF-Dawn/Deluxe”. Also when observed closely the PGM-Fi letters from its Karizma ZMR model has been rewritten now just as “Fi”.

1 TVS @ 2012 AutoExpo: 125 cc Radeon Prototype & official word of Victor brand to be re-launched

Motorcycles from TVS Motors @ 2012 AutoExpo..

TVS @ previous AutoExpos:

The image that TVS Motors projects itself at almost every AutoExpo is that of an extremely adventurous 2 wheeler maker who are not averse to trying exciting stuff. Since 2004 at every AutoExpo, TVS have been dishing out outlandish 2 wheeler concepts. Chicane, Taurus, Isotope, Predator, X-Fossil are names of some of those motorcycle concepts. There was even a futuristic quad bike concept called Hammer head during the last 2010 AutoExpo.

TVS @ this year’s (2012) AutoExpo

TVS pavilion @ 2012 AutoExpo

6 Royal Enfield "Continental GT" Cafe Racer Captured By BobbyRoy @ 2012 AutoExpo

Some detailed photos of the Royal Enfield's Cafe Racer model shown at the 2012 Auto Expo..

Bobby Roy captures the gorgeous Royal Enfield "Continental GT" Cafe Racer at the 2012 AutoExpo. Posted below are some equally gorgeous and detailed photos clicked by the passionate biker cum photographer.

22 Royal Enfield Displays "Continental GT" Cafe Racer @ 2012 AutoExpo

At last a Royal Enfield of my dreams.. the "Continental GT" Cafe Racer..!!

Nothing could be more Retro and cool at the same time than the "Continental GT" Café Racer model that Royal Enfield has shown at the 2012 AutoExpo..!!

The anticipated Café Racer model from Royal Enfield was displayed at the 2012 Auto Expo. Royal Enfield did show a Café Racer concept at the last 2010 AutoExpo, but that was quite clearly just a concept based on the current “Bullet” chassis.

This Royal Enfield promises to graduate you into a mature yet cool biker dude amidst a sea of plastic bikes/bikers..

But the Café Racer displayed during this AutoExpo is based on a completely new chassis. The finishing and detailing on the display bike suggests that it is almost production ready..!!

What is a Café Racer? In short, it is a classic/retro bike born out of the retro/classic road bikes of the 1960’s which back in those “Black & White” days days were used for racing on the European freeways by making customizations/modifications.