25 KTM 200 Duke Vs R15 Vs CBR250R. But Why..??

Can a Street Bike, Super Sports and a Sports Tourer.. honestly be compared..??

A casual search over the internet will land you on many virtual/keyboard comparo between the KTM 200 Duke, Yamaha R15 and CBR250R, courtesy auto blogs and sites. Even not actually seen the models in flesh (forget riding them) doesn’t deter these online gurus to give you expert gyan.

Comparing a "Street Bike" (200 Duke) with a "Race Track Focussed Bike" (R15) and a "Sports Touring Bike" (CBR250R) is as useless an exercise as trying to find out which a better student between someone who is "brilliant in science" with one who excells in "sports" and another who is great in "fine arts" (in no particular order).

38 Power to Weight Ratio of Made in India Motorcycles: 2012 Comparo

A collection & comparison of the "Power to Weight ratios" of the "Made in India" motorcycles.. in 2012

How “fast/zippy” a motorcycle feels (particularly in which part of the rev range) depends on various factors like

[1] How the Power is spread across the rev range
[2] How the Torque is spread across the rev range
[3] The Weight of the vehicle
[4] The Gearing on the vehicle (tall geared or short geared)

By comparing the “Power to Weight Ratio” of various models, one can get a rough idea of how the bikes stack up against each other. To compare our "made in India bikes" by their "Power to Weight" ratios, I have compiled a list posted below.

In 2012, the KTM 200 Duke has emerged as the bike with the highest power to weight ratio in India (among the Made in India motorcycles) followed by the yet to be launched Pulsar 200NS. Both the 200 Duke and the Pulsar 200NS beats the Honda CBR250R which had the highest Power to Weight Ratio among made in India bikes in 2011.

Although not a "Made in India" model, for those interested about the Ninja 250R; with 33 Ps of Peak Power and 172 Kgs of Kerb weight it has a Power to Weight ratio of 192

No.	Model Name	Max Power (Ps)	Kerb Weight (Kgs)	Power to Weight (Ps/Ton)
01	KTM 200 Duke	25.35	136	186
02	Pulsar 200NS	23.50	145	162
03	CBR250R	25.35	167	152
04	Classic 500	27.56	187	147
05	Pulsar 220F	21.04	150	140

20 Honda CBR150R launched in India with a price of 1.17 lakhs (Ex-Showroom Delhi) [Price/Colors/Specs]

Honda officially launches the CBR150R and announces its price for India..

After unveiling it in the 2012 New Delhi AutoExpo and announing that the CBR150R would make it to India by early 2012, Honda has kept it's word and has now officially launched the bike. Unlike the CBR250R which has been positioned as a "Mini Sports Tourer", Honda seems to be positioning the CBR150R as a "Mini Track bike".



Price:

Priced at Rs. Rs 1,16,385 (ex-showroom Delhi) for the Standard and Rs. 1,17,385 (ex-showroom Delhi) for the Deluxe variant, the CBR150R is pegged at about Rs. 10,000 dearer than its closest rival in terms of specs and body style, the Yamaha R15 Version 2.0. On the other hand it is priced almost at the same price of the KTM 200 Duke.

22 Segmentation of Motorcycles in India (in 2012)

Segmentation of "made in India" motorcycles as seen by me..

Ever thought of how motorcycles of India are segmented?

Someone might quip: "Simple, we have 100 cc bikes for commuters, the 125 cc segment for those who need power & fuel economy. The 150 cc bikes are performance models and then the 200 (+) cc are premium bikes".

Hmm.. really? Just for the record we now have a Boxer 150 (cc) as a basic entry commuter, a Discover 150 (cc) as another simple commuter bike and the Yamaha YZF R15 (150 cc) which is currently considered as a premium model in India. Therefore segmentation by engine cc? Nope... doesn’t make sense.



Posted above is the segmentation of “Made in India” motorcycles in 2012 as seen through my eyes.

But why are all “desi” motorcycles segmented as commuters here?

10 Bike History/Timeline: Hero Karizma (2003-2012). Is the Karizma getting outdated?

Is the bike which started the trend in India of desirable bikes slowly losing its desirability?

Losing it’s "Premium" sheen?

Launched in 2003 the Karizma was the first so called made in India “Premium” motorcycle. No surprises that Hero (Hero Honda back then) pasted a decal on the bike which proudly declared “Premium Sports”. With just the Pulsar 180 as competition, the Karizma without any doubt was indeed a made in India “Premium” motorcycle.

In 2012 the list of made in India motorcycles read as: Yamaha YZF-R15 Version 2.0, KTM 200 Duke, Honda CBR250R and the soon to be launched Pulsar 200NS.

There should be little doubt that the Karizma the no longer as “Premium” as it used to be in 2003.