It may be early in the morning, but here’s a break from your normal routine — a music video for the London-based band Django Django, which features the riders and drivers from Allahabad, India’s Wall of Death carnival sideshow.
Complete with bikes and cars that defy gravity with some clever physics, we find the tune to be catchy, but we think it is the visuals that will really capture your fancy. Please do not try this at home…unless you plan on working as a motorcycle carny.
While for the most part 2012 was a growth year for the motorcycle industry, not all of the OEMs faired the storm equally. Posting a 5.4% sales loss in 2012 compared to 2011, Yamaha also saw a massive decrease in net profits last year.
Generating ¥1,276 billion 2011, Yamaha saw a 5.4% decrease in revenues, with sales totaling ¥1,207 billion in 2012. While units sales and sales revenue were down only a modest amount, net income was down a massive 72.2%, ¥7.5 billion (2012) vs. ¥27 billion (2011).
Rumors of a 250cc KTM sport bike have been around ever since the Austrian brand’s product road map for the American market leaked to the internet.
Expected to draw inspiration from the company’s successful Moto3 race bike, the KTM 250cc street bike is now coming to the forefront of rumors again, as news from India reconfirms its production for 2014.
However, the new rumors from India suggest that the dubbed “KTM RC25” will take after the KTM 1190 RC8 R, rather than the company’s Moto3 machine.
Helped by a strong fourth quarter, Harley-Davidson is reporting signs of growth for 2012, with the company’s global sales again up 6.2% over the figures from last year. With sales up 6.6% in the United States, and 5.6% abroad, Harley-Davidson sold 249,849 motorcycles in 2012, and those sales figures translated onto the balance sheet into a 6% growth in revenue ($4.9 billion) and a 4% increase in net income ($623 million).
“Thanks to the outstanding efforts of our employees, dealers and suppliers, Harley-Davidson achieved its growth and restructuring goals in 2012,” said CEO Keith Wandell. “The ambitious restructuring of our manufacturing operations, aimed at delivering better responsiveness for customers and greater operating efficiency, is now largely behind us.”
Somewhere on the A&R bucket list is riding Royal Enfields through India. Like blizting a German car down the autobahn, there is just something that feels right about taking the classic Indian-made motorcycle through its native terrain.
Now with India becoming the epicenter of growth for the motorcycle industry, a whole new definition of what is motorcycling is about to be written. Perhaps then, it is fitting that Royal Enfield has paired the visuals of this video with the words that Robert M. Pirsig wrote in his classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
“The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn’t any other test. If the machine produces tranquility it’s right. If it disturbs you it’s wrong until either the machine or your mind is changed.” Could anyone have enivisioned better words to describe the shift we are seeing in the motorcycle industry to markets like India and Asia as a whole? Enjoy the video after the jump.
The confusion surrounding the Indian round of World Superbikes looks close to being resolved. According to reports on the ever well-informed GPOne, the race at the Buddh International Circuit is to be rescheduled from 10th of March to the 17th of November, moving it from being the second race of the season to being the season finale.
The race had been facing a number of problems, including logistical and customs issues, casting doubt over whether the race could go ahead as scheduled in March. The customs issues – both the 15-day inspection period for technical equipment, and the temporary import duty charged – are not so much of a problem, according to GPOne.
The real issue, the site reports, is that the race organizers are not yet ready to put on the event. They do not have the organization in place to manage an event of this magnitude, and need a number of months to get everything arranged. The problem lies not with Buddh International Circuit itself, located not far from New Delhi, as the circuit has successfully organized two Formula One races already.
If we asked you which Germanic company was the largest motorcycle brand by volume, you would likely guess BMW Motorrad…and you would be wrong. Snap! Displacing the venerable brand from Bavaria, which set its own sales record, KTM’s 2012 sales year of 107,142 units has handed the Austrian brand the distinction of being the best-selling Germanic brand worldwide (by a margin of less than 1,000 machines).
Shedding more insight on our previous news that Triumph is working on a small-displacement model for India and Southeast Asia, we now get more details on the project from the British company’s distributor in Indonesia, Rudhy Siswanto of PT Global Motorcycle Trading.
Expected to be a 250cc twin-cylinder machine that will play heavily on the styling cues of the Triumph Street Triple, the new model will begin production in 2014 at Triumph’s planned new plant in Narasapur, India, and go head-to-head with the KTM 200 Duke.
According to the folks at Indian auto site Zigwheels, Harley-Davidson is finally ready to get serious about the Indian market, and plans on developing and selling a made-for-India model. The entry-level machine would slot in below the current 883cc Sportsters, and be ground-up manufactured locally in India as well.
Zigwheels goes on to say that its sources peg Harley-Davidson executives from the US and India as meeting with Indian vendors and dealers in order to setup distribution of the new model(s). Expected to debut at the 2014 New Delhi show, the India-specific line will arrive in the 400cc-500cc range, feature a v-twin motor, and cost Rs 3.5 lakh ($6,381).
Evidence of a Yamaha’s 250cc sport bike, which is expected for a 2014 model year debut, continues to mount as India Yamaha Motor CEO Hiroyuki Suzuki confirmed that a “powerful” quarter-liter sport bike is headed for the Indian market after the next model year.
Taking the place of the 150ccc Yamaha YZF-R15 sport bike, and likely to look similar to the Yamaha YZF-R125 (shown above), Yamaha hopes to compete on a more level playing field with bikes like the Honda CBR250R, Kawasaki Ninja 250/300, and other models from Indian manufacturers Bajaj & Hero MotoCorp.
For some time now, we have known that KTM intended to bring a 300cc-class version of its KTM 125 Duke motorcycle to market, thanks primarily to a leaked product road map that covered the Austrian company’s product line-up clear through the 2014 model year.
Slotted to bring the KTM 390 Duke to the US market this coming spring, the leaked road map has so far proven to be accurate, and has two interesting machines listed for 2014: the KTM Moto3 350 & KTM Enduro 350.
Now confirmed by KTM’s CEO Stefan Pierer, KTM will debut a “faired” model (the KTM Moto3 350) and a “travel” model (KTM Enduro 350), which are based off the KTM 390 Duke platform, and will share the bike’s 375cc single-cylinder engine.