3 Big News: TVS Motor might tie up with BMW

Exciting news of another Indian 2 wheeler maker in a possible tie up with an International 2 wheeler giant..

Officials from TVS Motor has come out open to announce that TVS Motor is looking for a tie up with automotive giant BMW (with their motorcycle division).

“It is correct that we are in talks with BMW,” TVS chairman Venu Srinivasan said in an interview on Sunday. “We are looking at a technical contract. I will not be able to share any further detail at this moment”

Source: Livemint.Com

Maybe we can expect something like a Nuda 200/350 to be made and sold in India in the future..!!

This is indeed big news. The precedent set by Bajaj Auto along with KTM has not gone unnoticed by everyone. It appears like now both BMW and TVS are looking to replicate a similar story. Although neither TVS nor BMW has divulged the complete details of the possible tie up, one can guess that it might not be exactly same as the Bajaj & KTM tie up but not too dissimilar as well.

3 Pulsar 200NS can ride though Knee Deep Water with it’s Exhaust Submerged..!!

Pulsar 200NS can wade through knee deep water.. with its exhaust completely submerged..!!

Like its exotic cousin the KTM 200 Duke, the Pulsar 200NS can also ride/idle and even stop/start in water with its underbelly exhaust completely submerged. Posted below is a video posted on the official Pulsar Youtube channel which demonstrates how the Pulsar 200NS can "breathe through water". This puts to rest about the speculation that the underbelley exhaust of the Pulsar 200NS would make it unsuitable to ride through flodded areas.

Looks like the Pulsar 200NS with the underbelly exhaust is actually better to ride in flooded areas than bikes with normal exhausts (which would stall if water enters inside it)..!!

16 Pulsar 200NS Vs KTM 200 Duke: Sibling Rivalry

Can the Pulsar 200NS be compared with the KTM 200 Duke..??

How can an Indian brand (Pulsar) be called as a sibling to a European (KTM) brand? Well, both the bikes actually share a common DNA in terms of their development. The next gen Pulsar was developed by Bajaj R&D alongside the baby Duke which was co-developed by Bajaj & KTM.

There is no better bike between the two, just two bikes with two different characters

Also both the bikes are manufactured in the Chakan (Pune) plant of Bajaj auto utilizing parts sourced from Indian vendors. It has been stated officially that the lower half of the engine on both bikes have been shared. Also the bore and stroke of the piston on both bikes is identical. The underbelly silencer on both bikes is another visual cue.

So does it mean that both bikes are essentially same with just a difference in their styling, features and subsequently in their price level? Is there a better bike between the two?

124 Ride Review: Pulsar 200NS - Return of the King..!!

Ride review of one of the most exciting and important motorcycle to be launched in India.. the Pulsar 200NS..!!

Pulsar to me is the celebration of being an Indian. It has been a symbol of the Indian spirit, determination and ingenuity. The dominance of the 1st gen Pulsars over the last decade is stuff of business school case studies. But since the last couple of years, bikes like the Yamaha R15 with its technical brilliance had made a point that the 1st gen Pulsars were well.. mediocre.



Therefore even a Pulsar fan like me was starting to think that my feet have grown bigger than my biking boots. i.e. now I have reach that stage of my life where I deserved something exotic, something sophisticated and something better. It was probably vanity and also a doubt in the ability of a home grown manufacturer that led me to pre-empt that, the next gen Pulsar would be good but probably not as good.

By now the KTM 200 Duke had blown me away with its unique ride experience. I was therefore trying to persuade myself that since Bajaj owns 47% of stake in KTM and also since the 200 Duke was co-developed by Bajaj (with KTM) and is manufactured in India by Bajaj, the 200 Duke is for all practical purpose “Indian”. So if I decide to go for the 200 Duke I would be still holding on to my patriotic fervor.

I had practically written off the Pulsar 200NS even before I took it for a ride. I take the Pulsar 200NS for a ride.. and boy..!! I am amazed and thrilled at how wrong I was..

8 Bike Chronicles of India Special: Interview of Mr. Shivapada Ray (GM: Sales & Marketing, DSK Hyosung)

Mr. Ray speaks about DSK, brand strategy of DSK Hyosung, commitment to the Indian market and ambitions plans for the future..

SP: Hyosung has had 3 partners in India – Kinetic, Garware and now DSK. Kinetic and Garware were short lived. What can we expect from DSK?

SR: Let me clarify. Kinetic never had a partnership with Hyosung. Kinetic had just imported a few numbers of bikes and had sold it as limited edition along with their name on the bikes. It was merely a brand building exercise for them.

Shivapada Ray: GM - Sales and Marketing, DSK Hyosung

We will provide the most variety to the Indian customer in 250-700 cc

Hyosung did enter into a partnership with Garware and it went off very well. We sold around 600 vehicles in a year. And that is a very good number considering all of them were 650-700 cc vehicles. So far we have imported the vehicles as CKD (completely knocked down) kits from South Korea and assembled them here in India.

We now wanted to take it to the next level. i.e we were now looking to reduce the import content and manufacture as much as possible in India itself. Hyosung needed a partner which could bring in the additional capital and resources and the commitment to take it to the next level. Let me clarify that nobody wanted to sell off anything but when all the 3 parties involved (i.e Garware, DSK and ST Motors) sat together; they decided that it would be better for everybody that DSK now takes over the baton. DSK is a big business entity and are very serious about this new business venture.