bike india august 2012

BIKE INDIA SHOOTOUT ATVOLUME 8 ISSUE 001 AUGUST 2012 WWW.BIKEINDIA.IN

IN DEPTH

ISLE OF MAN

Everythingabout

Tyres and Lights

PUBLISHING Giant Shootouts: Scooters and Commuters

1199 PANIGALE S

GSX-R1000

` 100

0-100-0Seven of

India’s quickestto 100 km/h

and backto zero

FIREBLADE

YZF-R1

Because th

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yours. B

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agazine in

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.

Because you st

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www.bikeindia.in8 Bike India // August 2012

www.bikeindia.in

EDITOR Aspi BhathenaASSISTANT EDITOR Sarmad KadiriCOPY EDITOR Deepak UpadhyeEDITOR AT LARGE Navroze ContractorMOTOGP EDITOR Mat OxleySENIOR CORRESPONDENT Adhish AlawaniCORRESPONDENT Ravi ChandnaniSENIOR STAFF WRITER Saeed AkhtarSTAFF WRITERS Sridhar Chari,Rommel Albuquerque, Piyush Sonsale, Gasha Aeri AlawaniART DIRECTOR Ramnath ChodankarSENIOR DESIGNER Ravi ParmarDESIGNERS Varun Kulkarni,Santosh Wadhai, Shajib ShamimSENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Sanjay RaikarCONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS DPPIPRODUCTION EXECUTIVE Dinesh BhajnikADMIN. EXECUTIVE Roshni BulsaraCREATIVE DIRECTOR & HEAD PRODUCTIONAtul Bandekar

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARDHoshang S Billimoria, Aspi Bhathena,Navroze Contractor

PUBLISHER Marzban Jasoomani

MARKETING & SUBSCRIPTION HEAD OFFICENext Gen Publishing Ltd.Trade World, C-Wing, 2nd Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel(W), Mumbai 400013. India.Tel + 91 22 43525252 Fax + 91 22 24955394

REGIONAL MARKETING OFFICESNext Gen Publishing Ltd.Plot No. 225, Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase III, Okhla, New Delhi – 110020. IndiaTel +91 11 42346678 Fax + 91 11 42326679

REGIONAL MANAGER Ellora Dasgupta

# 903, 9th floor, ‘B’ Wing, Mittal Towers, MG Road, Bangalore -560001. IndiaTel + 91 80 - 66110116

Unit No. 20, 3rd Floor, Modern Towers,No. 35/23 West Cott Road, Royapettah,Chennai - 600014. IndiaTel + 91 44 39149889 Fax + 91 44 39149892

Chandan House, 3rd Floor, Mithakhali Six Roads, Ahmedabad - 380006. India Tel +91 79 40008000

Richard G.C. Territory Sales Incharge (Circulation),Hyderabad. Tel + 91 9949217127

NEWS-STAND DISTRIBUTIONIndia Book House, Mumbai.Tel +91 22 22840626, Fax +91 22 2835099

Printed by Marzban JasoomaniNext Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, C-Wing, 2nd Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel(W), Mumbai 400013.Published by Marzban JasoomaniNext Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, C-Wing, 2nd Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel(W), Mumbai 400013. Printed at Kala Jyothi Process Pvt. Ltd,1-1-60/5 RTCX Roads, Hyderabad - 20.Published at Next Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, C-Wing, 2nd Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel(W), Mumbai 400013.

EDITOR Aspi Bhathena

Member

BIKE India Magazine, 401B, Gandhi Empire,5th Floor, 2 Serene Estate, Kondhwa Road,Pune 411 040. INDIATel: +91-20-32930291 / 2 Fax: +91-20-26830465Email us at: [email protected]

ASPI BHATHENAEDITOR

THE

RIGHT L

INE

THIS MONTH BIKE INDIA COMPLETES seven glorious years and to celebrate this event we have some exceptional stories lined up for you in this issue. We are happy to say that Bike India is the only magazine in the world to do a four superbike shoot-out on the Isle of Man TT course during the TT week with the all-new Ducati 1199 Panigale.

By way of another special anniversary offering, we have compared seven scooters currently available in the market to offer our readers a complete insight into this segment, including the perspectives of both the sexes, to zero in on the best all-round scooter.

BIKE INDIA IS THE ONLY MAGAZINE IN THE WORLD TO DO A FOUR SUPERBIKE SHOOT-OUT ON

THE ISLE OF MAN TT COURSE DURING THE TT WEEK WITH THE

ALL-NEW DUCATI 1199 PANIGALEWith two new commuter motorcycles

entering the Indian market we have conducted a comparative test of the best commuters to help you choose the winner in this segment. This time we have conducted a very different performance test, known as 0-100-0, which will be relevant to most of you who ride your motorcycles on a day-to-day basis. We also carry a complete road test of the all-new Bajaj Pulsar 200NS in this anniversary issue.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our readers, advertisers and well-wishers for their unstinting support to make Bike India the number one bike magazine in the country and look forward to their continued support in the future too.

I would also like to thank my young and enthusiastic marketing and editorial teams for their hard work day in and day out throughout the year. Enjoy this power-packed special issue!

CONTENTS

AUGUST 2012


28Our first impression of the soon-to-come 250-cc Suzuki Inazuma

What’s new in the Kawasaki NinjaZX 10R 2013?

Bosch venture into two-wheeler servicing

HMSI touch one-crore customer mark in the country

Audi visit Ducati factory

Mahindra open R&D centre and display micro-hybrid Duro DZ

TVS Motors to tie up with BMW Motorrad

TVS’ new executive commuter spied

IGNITION

8 YOU! 20 MAILBOX 26 TECHNO MAIL 38 YOUR STUNTS & RIDES 40 COLUMNS 49 MOTOWARE

REGULARS

THE 0-100-0 TEST

A racy account of what happens

when seven of the best bikes in

the country decide to challenge

each other for the crown of best

acceleration and best braking

BACK END 154 MADOX 156 MOTOGP BRITAIN 159 MOTOGP NETHERLANDS162 MOTOGP GERMANY166 MOTOGP ITALY170 WSBK 172 INDIAN MOTORSPORT178 BI BUY-BOOK

58THE 0-100-0 TESTTHE 0-100-0 TEST

A racy account of what happens A racy account of what happens

when seven of the best bikes in when seven of the best bikes in

CLASH OF THE TITANS

When four litre-class beasts

decide to leave their mark on the

land of speed, the Isle of Man,

the spectators can only remain

awestruck. That’s precisely what

happened during this exclusive

Bike India shootout

100 CLASH OF THE TITANS CLASH OF THE TITANS

When four litre-class beasts When four litre-class beasts

COVERSTORY

COVERSTORY

12268

Design: Ramnath ChodankarPhotography: Sanjay Raikar

FEATURES

52

BIKE INDIA SHOOTOUT AT

VOLUME 8 ISSUE 001 AUGUST 2012WWW.BIKEINDIA.IN

IN DEPTH

ISLE OF MAN

Everything

about

Tyres and Lights

PUBLISHING

Giant Shootouts: Scooters and Commuters

1199 PANIGALE S

FIREBLADE

GSX-R1000

YZF-R1

` 100

0-100-0Seven of

India’s quickest

to 100 km/h

and back

to zero

HANDS OFF!

Google seeks to reduce

driver error with an

autonomous car (Toyota

Prius). Can we have

autonomous bikes in the

future? Maybe, yes

JUST TWIST THE

WRIST

Everything about his

scooter and her scooter

told the way it is. And,

yes, there’s an Italian

wasp in the fray!

RIDE OUT RODEO

STYLE

Mahindra Rodeo

undertakes another

quick weekend ride to

Mulshej Ghat to greet

the first showers of a

belated monsoon

SOUTHERN SOJOURN

God’s own country and

neighbourhood, visited

on a Honda CBR 250R

A PERFECT PACKAGE

The Bajaj Pulsar 200NS has

finally reached the Indian

market, with good looks

and other confetti to add

to the celebration. We find

out if it is worth the hype

LET THERE BE LIGHT

We throw some ‘light’

on the history of the

headlamp that illuminates

your way on a dark night

COMMITTED

COMMUTERS

With two new entrants in

the market, this one is a

mega shootout to crown

the ruler in the commuter

segment

POWER

PERSONALITIES 2012

A brief introduction to

the Who’s Who of two-

wheeler industry in India

A PERFECT PACKAGE A PERFECT PACKAGE

The Bajaj Pulsar 200NS has The Bajaj Pulsar 200NS has

finally reached the Indian finally reached the Indian

128COMMITTED COMMITTED

COMMUTERSCOMMUTERS

With two new entrants in With two new entrants in

138POWER POWER

PERSONALITIES 2012PERSONALITIES 2012

A brief introduction to A brief introduction to

82RIDE OUT RODEO RIDE OUT RODEO

STYLESTYLE

Mahindra Rodeo Mahindra Rodeo

86SOUTHERN SOJOURNSOUTHERN SOJOURN

God’s own country and God’s own country and

neighbourhood, visited neighbourhood, visited

FOOTWEAR

FOR YOUR TWO-

WHEELERS

Everything about tyres,

that part of our two-

wheelers most of us take

for granted

144FOOTWEAR FOOTWEAR

FOR YOUR TWO-FOR YOUR TWO-

WHEELERSWHEELERS

CONTENTS

AUGUST 2012


According to the company, the Twister has an eight-litre fuel tank. However, when I went to a Hindustan Petroleum petrol pump at Domlur, Bengaluru, for the first time, the attendant there filled 10.2 litres of petrol. How was it possible? I feel that either the petrol pump cheated me or the information given by Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Private Limited is incorrect.Girish Babu, Bengaluru

Dear Girish,The fuel tank capacity of the Honda CB Twister, as mentioned by the company in the owner's manual (which you too must have got when you bought your motorcycle), is eight litres, including a reserve of 1.6 litres.

>> HOW ABOUT THE H-D SUPERLOW?I need your advice. I am in search of a cruiser of good power, one that would suit my height (five feet and 2.5 inches) and weight (78 kg). I have zeroed in on the Harley-Davidson SuperLow, but I would like to know all the pros and cons before making the actual purchase, especially since I am altitude-challenged and, last but not the least, the economics. I am on the wrong side of 40. Navin Gadiyar, via e-mail

Dear Navin,The Harley-Davidson SuperLow is easy to ride even for relatively shorter people. Besides, really speaking, we don't think age matters that much when it comes to riding bikes. It's the passion for bikes that matters. As for the price, it is mentioned along with other specifications in the Buyers' Guide of each issue of Bike India. We wish you happy and safe motorcycling!

>> IS STUNTING A CRIME?I would like to congratulate the Bike India team for the work that you do, which gets reflected on every page of your esteemed magazine. Like all other readers of this magazine, motorcycles and riding are my greatest passion and it get re-fuelled each month as I pick up my copy of Bike India from the news stand. The reason I have not yet subscribed to the magazine is because a friend of mine, who is a subscriber himself, advised me that the news stand copies reach much faster than subscribers' copies. Is this because of a lax postal service or is there some other reason for this?

I am also getting to grips with stunting and have sent you my pictures for the 'Your Stunts' section earlier. However, it is sad to note that a majority of the people in India still consider stunting a reckless and dangerous thing. For this reason, my friends and myself take particular care to always wear helmets and all the protective gear while stunting. Furthermore, we practise stunting in empty, private places and not on public roads. We have

>> SAMPLE THESE CUSTOMISED BIKES

I am happy to say that your magazine is very useful for bike lovers like me. Thanks a lot for bringing out the best bike magazine in the country!

I am from Idept Customs and here are a few pictures of bike customisation done with the help of computer software. As you know, everyone wants to look different in a crowd and it is possible by customisation. I am happy to send pictures of the customised Bajaj Discover, Pulsar 150, Pulsar 220, Yamaha FZ-16 and Hero Hunk. Hitender Thakur, Chandigarh

Hello, Hitender,Thank you for the pictures sent by you. We wish Idept Customs the very best in all the future assignments!

>> CONTACT DETAILS OF 'WRAP ME UP'You had featured a company called 'Wrap Me Up' in the July 2012 issue of Bike India. Since no contact details were provided with the story, I should be happy to get the same. Thank you. Hansveer Chandhok, via e-mail

Hello, Hansveer,You may get in touch with Mr Rohan Naniwadekar of Wrap Me Up over mobile phone number 09922504634 (e-mail: [email protected]).

>> FUEL IN EXCESS OF TANK CAPACITY? I recently bought a Honda CB Twister.

heard of instances in Bengaluru and Hyderabad of stunting youngsters being chased by the police and even beaten up. Is there a rationale behind such action against bikers? Does the law have a special section which states that bikers can stunt peacefully without being a nuisance to others?

Please shed some light on this issue. Congratulations to you once again on the anniversary issue.Rahul Hiwale, via e-mail

Dear Rahul,It's true that our subscriber copies sometimes reach them late despite our best efforts. However, rest assured that we are trying to rectify this. Stunting is not a crime anywhere in the world, but it is important to ensure that one does not endanger either oneself or the public while doing stunts. We are happy to learn that you observe all the rules and regulations while stunting. Wish you happy and safe stunting in the future too!

>> PASSIONATE ABOUT BIKE MODELS

I just love your magazine for all the useful information each issue of it contains.

I am a student of animation and gaming and am currently modelling a 2012 Honda CBR1000RR. I have modelled a 2012 WSBK version of a Kawasaki Ninja ZX10R. In earlier issues, there were some show-down competitions between various 1,000-cc superbikes which I really enjoyed reading as it gave me some information about how the model should be when it comes to animating the bikes.

Since I am busy modelling the latest 2012 lot, I would really appreciate if there were an issue about a competition between the 2012 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R and the 2012 CBR1000RR. Similarly, since I would soon be modelling the naked bikes, I would like to know some statistics about the Suzuki B-King, Honda CB1000R and Kawasaki Z-1000.

I am modelling these bikes due to my passion for bikes as well as for my internship.Chaitanya Yadav, via e-mail

Dear Chaitanya,We are happy to carry some of the pictures sent by you. Wish you the best for the successful completion of your internship as well as for your future career!

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