The Avenger 220 is the only proper ‘cruiser’ available in India, this side of the imports – no, the Royal Enfields are not cruisers; they are ‘standard’ motorcycles that most people happen to choose to cruise. So while Indian manufacturers stay reluctant to enter this category, the American United Motorcycles have sniffed an opportunity in this segment and is about to slot one (in fact two) small capacity cruiser in the big (price-wise) gap available between the Bajaj Avenger 220 and the Hyosung Aquila 250.
United Motorcycles (UM) will be launching its first motorcycle in India, the Renegade Commando at a price of INR 1.25 lakh according to a latest report by Zigwheels.com. Of course, we would have to test it before we tell you if it’s worth your hard-earned money, but, if first impressions are anything to go buy, this looks like a sweet deal.
Dig further and you’ll know that the cruiser is powered by a single-cylinder 223 cc air-cooled engine that puts out 18 PS of power at 8,000 rpm and 15.5 Nm of torque at 5,500 rpm. The oil-cooled Avenger 220 in comparison offers 19 bhp at 8,400 rpm and 17.5 Nm torque at 7,000 rpm, but the Renegade is lighter by around 10 kg…
The Renegade also looks a lot more substantial; view it head on and you’ll mistake it for a bigger capacity cruiser. Also, this Fat-Boy-Slim (sorry, couldn’t resist that) will be the first cruiser in India to be offered in matte (military) green. UM has kept it simple here with black and white being the only other color options.
I like this motorcycle and really hope that it justifies the premium UM India is asking you to pay over the Avenger 220, which happens to be the only competition to the Renegade as of now. United Motorcycles will launch the Renegade most probably in November and reportedly initially in New Delhi, Pune and other metros. Obviously, it will be followed by other cities but we are not sure by when…
Related: Upcoming UM Motorcycles Developing 350cc V-Twin Engine for India
