As we have reported sometime back, Suzuki has finally launched a 125cc commuter under a typical name ‘Slingshot’. This bike is seen as an upgrade to their decent performer Zeus. Slingshot sports a 125cc single cylinder engine borrowed from Zeus.
Following are the highlights of the new launch:
- Engine: 124cc 4 stroke, Air Cooled same as Zeus
- Power output of 8.7PS @ 7500 rpm
- Torque: 10Nm @ 3500 rpm
- All Black theme
- Slingshot would be offered in two variants: Spoke Wheel and Alloy Wheels Read the rest of this entry
Ever since the Karizma was launched, Indian biking standards entered the performance arena. Earlier when the RD 350 went on sale, there were only a handful of customers were identified as performance enthusiasts by Yamaha, Bikes were sold only in terms of their Mileage and Maintenance cost. But now the current scenario has entirely changed. Now a days bikes are identified with exact BHP and Torque output that came be made out of it. So I decided to have a check on the top three performers among Indian Bikes.I have to accept that currently in India we have wide range of bikes in every segment. Shortlisting three bikes among the wide range was a bit difficult task.
After consulting various showrooms, Bikers and test rides, finally I figured out the truth that performance is not only about the Engine Capacity or power output that a bike can make, its a overall package consisting a balance between Power and Handling.Now coming to our list of top three contestants, I had hard feelings to have the Karizma dropped from the list as both the variants ZMA R and ZMR fall a tad lesser in terms of performance to the Bajaj Pulsar 220 Dtsi, TVS Apache 180 and Yamaha R15. Hero Honda has a different league and point of view than Bajaj and TVS as they are not into any competition, while others keep re-boring their engines to top the performance chart. So finally I ended up shortlisting the Pulsar 220 Dtsi, Apache 180 and Yamaha R15 as the top three performance bikes currently available in Indian Market and let see who wins by the end of this review.
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Hello all! This is Adnan here. I bought a TVS Wego last month and have done 500kms so far. Let me consider one aspect of the bike at a time and rate it on a scale of 5. These are purely based on my experience with the bike.
1. Looks (4/5) – A head turner (white)
2. Paint Job – Shoddy (2/5) – Let me elaborate on this; I bought a white Wego which I noticed had a bad paint job on it as one side even had paint drips on it and the paint seems to be coming off in a hurry with several black dots appearing; didn’t read about this topic any where so it might just be my bike! Read the rest of this entry
Hero Honda shocked the market when it first launched the Original CBZ way back in 1998, it was the only 150 cc bike available in the market at that time, flash forward to present, the 150 cc market has completely changed, with the pulsars, RTR’s and the FZ’s pulling a lot of crowd to their showrooms, while the Hunk and CBZ xtreme have definitely not set the sales chart on fire, but still are managing some decent numbers for the company.
While the CBZ got a facelift some time back with some snazzy colour combinations, the Hunk was left untouched apart from the limited edition launched in between. It was time for the Hunk to get some more muscle, and it’s just not the paint job Hero Honda is famous for. Read the rest of this entry
In yet another surprising news, Yamaha informed that production of their entry level Alba and Libero G5 along with the 125cc premium offering Gladiator has been stopped since April this year due to lesser demand for these models. According to Yamaha, these bikes were decided to get un-upgraded to Bharat Stage III norms till their stocks last. Though Alba did not seem to click anytime for Yamaha, Libero G5 was a decent performer at the sales chart.
The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Gladiator to this list. Though, after the launch of SS125 we were informed by Yamaha dealers that Gladiator would no longer be available, we remained skeptical. Gladiator was a good seller for the company in this segment but after the launch of Stunner, Pulsar 135, Flame and other strong competitors, its sales were just not picking up.
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The speculations have subsided and the cat is out of the bag, Valentino Rossi has made a switch from Yamaha to Ducati for 2011 season. The Doctor and the Italian team have signed a two year contract. The current world champion will partner Nicky Hayden next year, and will also lead Ducati’s challenge in the 1000cc Moto GP world championship in 2012.
Ducati Motor Holding president Gabriele Del Torchio said: “We are delighted to announce that Valentino Rossi will be with us from 2011. He is a paragon of excellence in the world of motorcycling, coherent with our Italian company, which is a standard-bearer for “made in Italy” excellence. These are key values for success in technology, design and sportsmanship. In addition to the strong and passionate intent of both parties, this agreement has been made possible by the committed support of our shareholder Investindustrial and all the sponsors associated with the Ducati Marlboro Team, sponsors which have believed in this opportunity and share and support our choices.” Read the rest of this entry
The old days are back, in a good way too. The Honda Metropolitan certainly has a retro looking style to it but that’s part of its charm. Scooters like this one has become more and more popular in USA recently. Such a bike is yet to hit India but we just review it for fun 
This scooter is tiny and you will definitely not win any game of chicken riding one of these, but it certainly can win the heart of many with its looks. The Honda Metropolitan has a 49cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke engine, which certainly won’t bring you up to high speeds, but that goes without saying of course. However, the top low speed of 45mph and the somewhat slow acceleration isn’t necessarily a negative, since this the small Honda Metropolitan is ideal if you’re living in a big town where there’s a lot of traffic. Read the rest of this entry
