TVS unveils Apache RTR 2012 series.

TVS has launched it's new Apache RTR series on march 3o of 2012.The company has unveiled the new Apache RTR 160cc and 180cc with all new beast themed styling. The new design, with all lines pulled back, all excesses eliminated and all curves chiseled to perfection, synergizes seamlessly with a high performance powertrain to look dynamic, even when stationary. The new design and styling has been incorporated in all TVS Apache models namely TVS Apache RTR 160, TVS Apache RTR 180 and TVS Apache RTR 180 ABS. 

DESIGN :
"We have taken the Apache RTR to the next level with obsessive engineering and menacing design. The priority in every step of the Apache brand's development has been race bred performance. Every system, detail and component has been tuned to maximize performance. Apache as a brand has been very well received," H S Goindi, President-Marketing, TVS Motor Company said. The new version of Apache RTR comes with all new ,one of its pilot lamps inspired by "Eye of Fury" , which consist of LED lights that is activated on ignition night or day.

Chiseled and sharp tank shrouds constitute a revolutionary new aerodynamic package which helps reduce engine heat helping in unbridled top end performance for race enthusiasts and increasing the usable power and crispness of response.

The bike sports a sculpted digital console with new muscled styling and race inspired carbon fiber cues. The new nocturnal blue backlit display adds to the design element.

Leaner race designed new aggressively angled seat cowls along with a muscled engine cowl echoing an aerodynamic razored design, brings the new design full-circle, giving the RTR a racier feel.


ENGINE AND POWER :
The TVS Apache RTR comes with  the best power - to - weight ratio in its class. The TVS Apache RTR 160 produces 15.2 ps of raw power and can be pushed to speeds up to 118 kmph. The TVS Apache RTR 180 however churns out 17.03 ps of bone-crunching power that can reach speeds of up to 124 kmph


COLOURS :

All the three variants comes in different colours , the Apche RTR 160 comes with four dual tone colours namely green,red,yellow and grey with black being its base colour and the Apache RTR 180 also vomes in four colours namely white,black,yellow and grey while the ABS version only comes in black and white.

PRICE :

The new TVS Apache Series RTR is immediately available in TVS dealerships across the country. While the TVS Apache RTR 160 will cost Rs. 67,505* , TVS Apache RTR 180 will be Rs. 72,090* and TVS Apache RTR 180 ABS will cost Rs. 82,780*  

*Ex showroom price, Delhi

Courtesy :www.tvs.in 

Tips for riding in heavy traffic.

• First and foremost wear an helmet.
• Try to stay out of other motorist's blind spots. Two-wheeler riders always need to assume they're invisible to everyone else.
• Desist from weaving in and out of traffic. If this is done, drivers cannot predict where you're going to be next and might even get nervous and swerve into you. 
•  Double-check the passing lane before you pass. Pass only in instances where it's legal and safe.
• Remember that "white lining," or passing other motorists in their own lanes, is not recommended for beginning riders.
• Make sure your mirror is adjusted to give you the best view of what's behind you.

Bajaj Pulsar 200NS Coming to a Dealer Near you Soon

Good looking, well equipped, packed with exhilarating performance and handling, Bajaj’s 200NS takes the Pulsar family one step ahead of all other Indian bikes.Within the first few minutes you will clearly know that you are on a vastly improved machine with the new Pulsar. The refinement on offer is excellent, the engine revs freely as usual, gets to its 10,800rpm redline without fuss and is generally a mechanically happy sounding engine.Bajaj’s Pulsar 200NS is a storm raiser.The Pulsar 200 NS has been armed with the right hardware. It has petal disc brakes front and rear, a steel rectangular section swingarm and a pressed steel twin-spar frame. engine matches the chassis by providing smooth and flexible power delivery.

The ride quality is probably going to be stiff but it's hard to tell at the Bajaj Chakan plant track where we rode the motorcycle. Handing on the other hand is eye-opening. Gone is the long, slow-turning feel of the old Pulsar and in comes a new weightless and agile feel that keeps the stability intact but speeds up response to inputs noticeably. The bike seems to drop to lean angles without any hesitation, almost too quickly and feels nearly weightless in direction changes.
Good looking, well equipped, packed with exhilarating performance and handling, Bajaj’s 200NS takes the Pulsar family one step ahead of all other Indian bikes.This is a busy design and there are a lot of lines, planes and slashes on it. But some of the roundedness of the old Pulsar is there, a lot more definition is visible in the lines and it's a distinctive, extroverted design to be sure.
Bajaj have said earlier that the motorcycle should see light of day in April and the pricing is the only unknown quantity, but keeping Bajaj’s track record in mind the Pulsar 200NS will carry a tantalising price tag of Rs 1 lakh.

Yamaha’s Sales Performance For August 2011

New Delhi, August 01, 2011: On a consistently successful path, India Yamaha Motor again continued to show an upward trend in the sales growth, registering 28.5 % growth in its overall sales that stood at 38,197 units in July 2011 vs. 29,728 units in July 2010. In the domestic market, the company sold 29,021 units in July 2011 vs. 22,899 units sold last year. The export figures stood at 9,176 units in July 2011 while 6,829 motorcycles were exported in July 2010.

Speaking on the results, Mr. Hiroyuki Suzuki, CEO & MD, India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd., said, "We are pleased with the consistent sales growth that we’ve been witnessing month-on-month this year. The new variants of the FZ Series and the SZ Series have largely contributed to the highest-ever monthly sales we have achieved in domestic market this year. We are engaging in targeted marketing activities and expanding our dealer network to tier 2 and tier 3 cities to further strenghten our market share in the 150cc+ segment. We are also very upbeat about the upcoming festive season which will further propel our sales."

Yamaha continues to reinforce its relationship with the customers and has launched the 'YES!YAMAHA' campaign that endeavors to provide the Best 3S Experience so that the customer always appreciates Yamaha and accepts the brand like the word "YES". The company is making steadfast efforts by conducting consumer-centric marketing initiatives such as Yamaha R15 One Make Race, Yamaha Safe Riding Science (YSRS) for college students & kids, Yamaha Service Camps to name a few.

SOURCE : YAMAHA

Hero Motor Corp new logo UNLEASHED

Hero MotoCorp’s new logo and tagline  was unveiled at the O2 Arena in London.The new logo for Hero Motocorp has the word Hero with a capital H, and rest of the letters in lowercase.  The brand identity adorns red and black colours over a white background. The logo also comprises of a triangle, a parallelogram and a trapezoid as its part which together form the ‘H’ representing Hero in 3D.Starting its life fresh without its Japanese partner Honda on starry night with the likes of Shahrukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma making their presence felt.

The earlier tagline of Hero Honda was ‘Dhak Dhak Go’ and with the name  change to Hero MotoCorp, the new one is now ‘Hum Main Hai Hero’ which  just means ‘There is a Hero in Every one of us’. There is also a theme song or  a music, which is composed by A.R.Rehman. The company has really shed  out a lot of money to prove itself as a separate company following Honda’s  exit.

Hero MotoCorp also announced two new products, the Hero MotoCorp Impulse, which is a dual purpose motorcycle and the Maestro, which is an ungeared scooter, for the Indian market, scheduled to launch later this year. Irfan and Ranbir have been roped in as brand ambassadors for these two products. Keep watching this space for updates on them. I’ll come up with a separate article on these two models.

The Hero MotoCorp Maestro scooter will feature a 109cc four stroke engine, which most probably is the same unit that powers the Honda Activa and the Honda Aviator given that it produces 8 Bhp of peak power and 9 Nm of peak torque. The Hero MotoCorp Impulse Dual Purpose motorcycle’s four stroke engine displaces 150cc, leading us to strongly suspect that it is nothing but a rebadged Honda NXR150 BROS which Honda sells in the Brazilian market.
The new brand, according to Mr Pawan Munjal, Managing Director and CEO,  Hero MotoCorp, epitomises and symbolizes continuity and change.  According to Business Line, ‘The new logo stands for the new face of India –    that youthful energy and ‘can do’ spirit’. “It is in true sense the Indian catapult, which signals that while it is deeply rooted in Indian values, it is also poised to go for global expansion – a Leap of faith,” he said.


Also see -Hero Honda name changed

2011 Honda CBR250R

From the makers of VFR1200F here is the new baby. Honda CBR250R is a 250 cc bike from Honda to challenge world’s best 250cc bike Kawasaki Ninja 250R. Though it shares styling cues with the pricier and massively powerfull Honda VRF1200F, the CBR250R's underpinnings are far kinder and gentler.It's designed to have instant low mid end grunt, so you just pull back and you're shot off. The power eases around 8500RPM so you don't get the high end power kick you do in most of the bikes.
Honda CBR250R is available in two different variants- CBR250R and CBR250R without ABS. Honda CBR250R is the first bike in India which offers Anti-lock Brake System for more safety.As expected, Honda has priced the CBR250R just right. We would go so far to say that this is the first Indian bike that Honda have priced correctly and not at a premium. The on road price of this bike is Rs 1.43 lakhs whereas the much talked about version with ABS is 1.68 lakhs.

Engine of Honda CBR250R
- 249cc Liquid Cooled Single Cylinder
- 25 Bhp of Maximum power at 8500 rpm
- 23 Nm of Maximum Torque at 7000 rpm
- Economical and Eco-friendly

The new Honda CBR250R is equipped with 249.4 cc, 4 storke, DOHC, 4valve water cooled engine. With the Bore x stroke size of 76 X 55 mm, CBR250R is able to produce massive power of 26.4 bhp (18.7KW) which peaks @8500 rpm (Electronically controlled) which makes the power to weight ratio at 163bhp/tonne.  You don’t need to engine rev hard as the maximum torque of 22.9Nm produced @7000 rpm.  As most of the power available at lower rev the bike will fire at traffic points.The CBR250R engine was developed by aiming at a global single-cylinder engine that transcends regions, while being sporty and eco-friendly at the same time, with a look ahead at the next generation.
The engine mass is kept as low as possible by elimination of unnecessary parts and keeping the moving parts like rod and piston light weight. The friction between engine parts also reduced to significant level . The Iridium spark plug to squeeze out maximum from every drop of fuel. You don’t need to worry about overheating of engine as liquid cooling system ensures the engine temperature at recommended level.

Driving Comfort of Honda CBR250R
- Better than Kawasaki Ninja 250R and Yamaha R15
- Highly flexible riding position and riding space
- Split seat improves the comfort of the pillion rider
The new CBR250R got hydraulic 37mm fork as a front suspension which offers travel of 130mm the rear got Pro-Link Monoshock suspension which offer 104mm travel. Thanks to the combination of the front and rear suspension, the CBR250R is able to deliver excellent ride quality with or without pillion.Honda CBR250R is also very comfortable to driver in comparison to its main rivals: Yamaha R15 and Kawasaki Ninja 250R. To enable a rider to experience the exhilarating feeling of riding into a pleasant wind, which only a sport bike can provide, an abundance of convenience is provided by creating a highly flexible riding position and riding space. At the same time, the design capitalizes on the slim and compact single-cylinder engine to minimize the front projection. In addition, a separated seat that enables the rider to enjoy a wide variety of situations from touring to sports riding and easy-to-grasp separate left/right rear grips that provide the passenger a sense of comfort come as standard equipment.

Design and Styling of Honda CBR250R
- Looks best in its class
- Carries many design cues of VFR1200F
- Available in three shades
- Saree guard added specially for Indian market
The new CBR250R features a new full fairing and reinforces its sporty design with sophisticated and dynamic lines. In addition to its sporty look, the fairing proves comfortable for the driver side and weather disturbances. The new CBR250r got 55/60 watt light for its monoblock integrated headlight which makes the visibility better during night journeys. The front cowl and headlight is largely derived from the VFR1200F. The muscular tank and sharp rear tail look like derived from its larger sibling CBR1000RR. The concept of mass centralization is widely used while designing the bike.The middle cowl expresses a simple yet beautiful surface design and brings an aerodynamic feel, while taking on a high-efficiency air management function that aims to achieve both high cooling performance and low Cd value. The under cowl structure leads the wind from riding directly to the engine and the catalyzer in order to boost cooling performance. Its design makes it look integrated with the engine and muffler to highlight the functional beauty of the lower portion of the vehicle body.
A special silencer with an irregular pentagonal section was chosen for the muffler design in order to reflect the cutting-edge design of Honda motorcycles. The banking angle and the comfort surrounding the rider's feet together with engine and muffling performance are all reconciled at a high level. Made of stainless steel and coated in black, the muffler adds a protector coated in matte silver as one more feature to accentuate the side view. Honda India has also added saree guard for the comfort of female pillion riders.

Specifications

Name:	CBR250R
Type:	Sports
Fuel Consumption: City	25.00
Fuel Consumption: Highway	35.00

DIMENSIONS:

Length: 2030mm
Width: 709mm
Height: 1127mm
Wheelbase: 1369mm
Seat Height: 784mm
Ground Clearance: 148mm
Rake: 25°
Trail: 95 mm

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE SAFETY
Suspension(Front):	Telescopic Fork
Suspension(Rear):	Pro Link
Brakes:	296mm Disc
Brakes(Rear):	220mm Disc

ENGINE SPECIFICATIONS
Displacement:	249.6cc
Engine:	Four-stroke, Single Cylinder
Maximum Power:	25 Bhp @ 8500 rpm
Maximum Torque:	23 Nm @ 7000 rpm
Gears:	6 Manual
Clutch:	Wet, Multiplate Disc
Bore:	76
Stroke:	55
No. of Cylinders:	1
Cylinder Configuration:	NA
Valve Per Cylinder:	4
Engine Block Material:	0
Chassis Type:	Twin Spar Type
Cooling Type:	Liquid Cooling
Carburetor:	NA
Motor Power:	0
Motor Range:	0
Paddling Arrangement:	0

COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE
Fuel Guage:	Digital
Self Start:
Tacho Meter:	Analogue
Trip Meter:	Digital-2
Alloys:
Warranty:	NA
Speedometer:	Digital
Passenger Footrest:
Passenger Backrest:
Step-up Seat:
Pass-light:
Low Fuel Indicator:
Low Oil Indicator:
Low Battery Indicator:
High Oil Temp. Indicator:
Choked Air Filter Indicator:

Weighty Indians stump e-bikes, sales down

Pune:  Electric bikes or e-bikes are environment-friendly but in India they are yet to prove themselves user-friendly; and this despite the fact that there is a huge market for these two-wheelers.

Most of the e-bikes sold in India are manufactured using Chinese technology and their main drawback in Indian 'conditions' is their poor pick-up. Experts say e-bikes made with Chinese technology do not support the weight of Indian users who are usually heavier than their Chinese counterparts.

When India is looking for options to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and promote energy-efficient means of transport, poor acceptability of e-bikes is a matter of concern. An expert in the field says that the Chinese technology being used in India for making e-bikes is not fit for Indian conditions. The biggest issue is that of pick-up and mileage.

Jaysukh Patel, director of Oreva E-bikes, said, "The average Indian commuter is much heavier than the average Chinese user. This makes the e-bikes less user-friendly here in India as compared to China."

Besides, the typical Indian habit of travelling 'two on a bike' also prevents the vehicles in acquiring the desired pick-up and speed. To add to the problem, there are very few places on Indian roads where the batteries of the two-wheelers can be recharged.

In China, e-bike is very popular with commuters and more than 20 million units are sold in that country every year. The climatic conditions, the average weight of the riders and adequate utility facilities available in China support the use of e-bikes. But in India, e-bikes constitute just 1 % of the two-wheeler market. "In the Indian two-wheeler market, 9 million vehicles are added every year but the share of e-bikes is merely 1% of this,'' said Naveen Munjal, MD, Hero Electric.

According to him, India has a long way to go when it comes to mass adoption of e-bikes as compared to China. Munjal says government support is needed in the form subsidies to buyers or exemption from duties, to push the sale of e-bikes in India.

In India, those who currently use e-bikes are mostly students, youths or people belonging to the lower and middle income groups. The industry wants to take it further to other classes of society, including corporate and business people, but for that it needs government support. 
There is also a need for local companies to engage in research to develop a technology that is suitable to Indian conditions. 

Poor pick-up, low demand  

• Weight of the indian riders does not help in getting the desired pick-up, so many do not prefer e-bikes
• There are also not enough charging points on Indian roads, so commuters fear re-charging problem in case of long rides
• E-bikes constitute just 1% of the two-wheeler market in India, where as 20 million e-bikes are sold in China every year
• Industry experts seek govt subsidy for buyers, feel local technology should be developed

Source:  NDTV