8 Yamaha R25 Concept in Tokyo Motor Show. My Take on its chances in India

Finally Yamaha shows the R25 (250 cc, twin cylinder) concept..

Internationally Kawasaki has ruled the sporty 250 cc class with its Ninja 250 over 2 decades now. Taking a cue out of Kawasaki’s book, Honda made the plunge a couple of years back with a VFR inspired 250 cc, calling it the CBR250R. To keep costs low Honda gave it a single cylinder and manufactured both from Thailand and India. Meanwhile Kawasaki upped the Twin cylinder Ninja from 250 to 300 cc (except in Indonesia), and Honda too is now following suit with the CBR 250R replacement with the 300R and thankfully with non VFR like styling this time.

Missing in the picture was Suzuki and Yamaha. Most have actually forgotten that Suzuki makes motorcycles too but the absence of Yamaha from this quarter litre segment was very much felt. Yamaha has finally revealed its quarter litre model in the ongoing Tokyo Motor Show. Calling it as the R25, it is a sporty concept that looks very much similar to the European R125. Although Yamaha insists that it is inspired from Yamaha’s MotoGP bike the M1.

Yamaha R25 Details:

1 Harley Davidson to price the Street 750 below 5 Lakhs in India, launch in Feb 2014

Harley Davidson to launch the "Made in India" Street 750 at a shocking price in India

Its nothing less than a historic moment when Harley Davidson has decided to manufacture in India. The recently displayed Street 750 and 500 will be manufactured in India and sold in India and also exported to other countries.

The Harley Davidson Street 750 is bad news especially for DSK-Hyosung..

Harley Davidson has today officially stated that the Street 750 will be priced at below Rs. 5 Lakhs..!! It means that Harley wasn't to make things tougher with brands like Kawasaki (Ninja 650 is priced at around 5 lakhs). But the real hit would be for Hyosung Aquila Pro (at Rs. 5 Lakh) and ST7.

DSK-Hyosung will now have a real hard time convincing the Indian customer as to why he should not go for a Harley Davidson instead.

4 Full Faired Pulsar Photos

Another photo of the full faired Pulsar..

International website Visordown has has posted a computer generated image of what looks like the Full Faired Pulsar. The image looks quite similar to the Spy photos of the full faired Pulsar that were spied recently.

Visor down states that a 200 cc and a 375 cc variants will be launched sporting the 200 cc engine of the Pulsar 200NS and the 375 cc engine of the KTM 390 Duke and the recently shown KTM RC 390.

So do you like what you see?

1 Triumph's India Product Lineup. From the Official India Site

Triumph all set to officially launch its India models on Nov 28 2013..

Its taken sometime but Triumph Motorcycles is definitely here in India. On Nov 28, 2013 Triumph will officially launch it India models. The model lineup originally planned for India has undergone some change though. The official Triumph India website is up and the model line for India is interesting.

Triumph will have to target Harley Davidson's Market share in India:

Exploiting Harley's Weakness in its Strength..

But

..by the time the "average desi biker" is ready with Rs. 7-9 lakhs for a bike.. he will have reading glasses

Of all the international motorcycle brands in India, Harley Davidson has been the most successful so far. According to reports Harley Davidson currently sell about 2,000 units per year in India. Thanks to Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda which are more interested in selling 100-150 cc commuters and automatic scooters, Harley's only competitor so far in India has been Kawasaki and Hyosung Motorcycles.

If Triumph has to make its mark in India, then it will have to make its maximum presence in the 6.0-9.0 lakh Rupees sweet spot which is currently dominated in India by Harley Davidson with its entry level model like the Iron 883 which is available at a price of around 6.7 Lakhs (ex-showroom).

Exploiting the Weakness in Harley Davidson's Strength..!!:

1 Pulsar 200NS new colors (?)

New Colors for the Pulsar 200NS..

A few years back one could be sure that Bajaj used to make substantial change/upgrade to its models 2 years (on an average) after its launch. Of late Bajaj has been actually been slow in doing so. In case of the Pulsar 200NS, after about a year and half of its launch, Bajaj has finally given the Pulsar 200NS new colors and what looks like, small changes as well.

Pulsar 200NS in Red and Black

Bajaj has posted a few photos of what looks like new colors for the Pulsar 200NS. The bike now has more decals on it now. Whether its a good thing or not and if it goes with what Pulsar stands for? Well, debatable. Will have to check it out in the flesh.

What new on these new Pulsar 200NS?

• Dual tone color scheme


• Darker color engine casings/covers


• A cute looking tank pad