Bike swap

There's a site called swaptree.com. It facilitates swaping one product for another among its members. Quite cool, isn't it? But it caters only to the western audience.

How about a swapping site for India too? I am not aware if there's anything in that space here. I can understand the apprehensions especially when it concerns the honesty of people who would like to involve themselves in such kind of barters. However, in the category of bikes it can work well. What say?

Anyway, whether there's a site or not, I am ready to swap my Bullet Machismo 350 for, let's say, an Avenger. Anybody game. No, my bike has no problems. Just that I am bored.

Blue Collar Sunday

To tell you the truth, I decided a couple of months back that I would sell my Bullet Machismo 350. Prospects, all of them, thought I was charging a little higher for this two and a half year cub. Nonetheless, I didn't budge; it's in superb condition, apart from a little rusting.

Before Diwali, I almost sold it to a prospect for the desired price. But novice as he was, he wanted to buy a Bullet without any bike-riding experience. Now that was audacious to say the least. Well, I said 'almost'. But that guy changed his mind and that set me free.

When I went to Ahmedabad for Diwali, I got a saddle-seat made and today, I opened the tool-kit, undid the earlier seat and fixed this one up. A little task but what a pleasure! Mechanical as this bike is, using my hands to actually undo the bolts and nuts and fix them again was quite a different experience.

Now, this is how the bike Bullet looks. Beautiful and mighty! Not selling it any more. Here's one more snap.

Smooth & Refined - Hero Honda Hunk

Am in Ahmedabad for Diwali celebration (let me coin a new word 'chillaxation'). Bad isn't it? :)

Nonetheless, was out on the streets yesterday with my friend on a Thunderbird. As we neared Nehru Bridge going towards Ashram Road, I happened to see a guy riding a red Hero Honda Hunk. Whoever has seen the pictures of this bike online or in any magazine knows that it's terrific looking bike notwithstanding the dislike for the name. However, I saw it from a distance and wasn't satiated with just a glimpse. As is my habit to test-ride any new performance bike, we starightaway headed to the city's biggest Hero Honda showroom.

Hunk is a stunner. It's styling is brilliant. Matches international standards and Honda's offerings in the international markets. Beats other 150s on that front definitely (taking nothing away from the Pulsars, I think it's just a case of preferring something fresh and new to something that's been around for many years). The tank is huge. The meaty looking fairing nicely hugs the tank even as it fans out to grab the rider's and others' attention.

Instantly, I looked at my friend and said, "This frame can definitely hide a much bigger engine". We decided to explore further. We asked for a test-ride. But the sales exec said that he didn't have any bike at that moment. What a turn-off! We walked out; he came running behind and said he had a test-bike. Litesh rode it first. When done, he said he had a couple of observations.

As soon as I took the bike in my hand, I noticed it felt lighter (though it's a good 145kgs and I ride a Machismo which is 175kgs). The gear-shift is typical 1-down, 4-up. And it's only a toe-shift, which is very typical of sports bikes. The stance is forward-inclining making you balance your weight on the handle. The pick-up's fantastic and the engine is super-refined. Butter-like.

Having driven Machismo day in and day out, it was a very different and exhilarating experience. The effects were more pronounced than otherwise they would be on a person who's already been riding these 150cc bikes for some time.

So if you are thinking of going for a good mid-level sports bike, you must check the Hunk out (forget Achiever, CBZ and the likes). And I like the name too; I am not a gay :). Don't mind saying, "I ride a Hunk." I can sell my Machismo for that kind of performance. Any takers?

Avenger 200 test-ride

Yes, in one of my previous posts I speculated that Avenger might come with a bigger engine since the launch got delayed by a couple of months. Well I am sure much much more time is required to build bigger engines. Nonetheless, couple of days back, took an Avenger 200 for a test ride.

Nothing has changed as far as styling is concerned. Being a Bullet rider I was a little skeptical about its handling and feel. But I was pleasantly surprised. It does feel lighter and shorter than Bullet but it rides great. It's sturdy (it's heavier than the Pulsars though the engines are almost the same). The exhaust makes a bolder beat than Avenger 180. It's oil-cooled and has got a nice little fuel-meter on the tank, just where it should be. And I am sure, being a new-age product with good cutting edge technology it would be free from many many maintenance hassles.

Bajaj Avenger is a nice little city cruiser. Of course, highway rides would be more pleasurable. But it serves for kinds of environment. Low seating is good for Indians in general and definitely adds to comfort in handling in city conditions. While it's sturdiness and relaxed posture would make it worthwhile on highways too.

If you want to cruise, go for it.

TVS Flame provokes

Aren't we glad? I, for once, am surely. Many reasons:

1. This stunner comes from a company which has been known to launch relatively conservatively and shabbily designed bikes; of course Apache broke trend.

2. It induces Bajaj to file a court case for IPR infringement against TVS. Bajaj claims that the latter has used its patented DTSi technology. I am not happy that the launch of the bike has resulted in legal fights. What thrills me is the fact that these are two totally indigenous companies battling on technological issue while biggies of the world like Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki watch this from the sidelines. To me, it marks the coming of age of Indian auto companies. Certainly, we are in for some thrilling competition to capture the roads, to capture the pulse of biking.

3. TVS doesn't launch just this. It launches 7 products in one go. Certainly there would be many flames, not just among aficianados but also in the boardrooms of many a company in the industry. Bajaj was digging it in, TVS has started drilling in the earnest.

4. TVS surprised not just with the quality of designing but also with its muted pre-launch behaviour. The project, to me, seems more like a stealth project, though of course TVS had announced long time back - at the beginning of this year - that it's gonna launch a slew of products. It's quite unlike some other companies like Yamaha/Suzuki who've announced quite a bit but fall very very short of satisfying the excited Indian biker.

Flame comes fitted with a 125cc CC-VTI engine (well, you can read more on the site) . Generates 10.5bhp at 8250rpm. Don't want to comment about performance unless I ride it for a while. Looking at Apache RTR as a precedent, definitely this one's gonna be neat. Enjoy!

Bajaj Burst

I relish Bajaj’s approach to biking like I relish Domino’s Cheese Burst Pizza. Bad analogy! Nevertheless, I read about Bajaj’s announcements yesterday in The Economic Times.

The 220cc Pulsar DTS-Fi was officially launched on Monday. Bikers were waiting for the official launch for quite some time now. The bike comes for 81290 (ex-showroom Delhi). Not bad.

Apart from that, Bajaj plans to launch a new 100cc bike developed on a new bike platform by September.

It’s also planning to launch Avenger with a bigger engine very soon. Well, in my earlier posts I had mentioned that Avenger 200 might be launched by June end. Well Pulsar 220 was supposed to be launched by end of May but that got delayed by a month. So, applying the same case to the new Avenger, it might be launched some time in August.

Earlier the newspapers reported that Bajaj would launch Avenger 200. I have other thoughts though. Bajaj might not have taken so much time to launch the 200cc variant. The fact that it’s taking more time and the fact that this latest article mentions only ‘bigger’ engine instead of being specific, I would like to speculate that Avenger’s coming with a bigger engine than 200. So what is ‘bigger’? I really don’t know. I would like to think 220 at least. On the higher side 250 may be. If it goes beyond 250, then… Well hold your breath and control your imagination… On a serious note, my gut feel is it would be bigger than 200cc certainly.

More news. Bajaj is in talks with Yamaha and Kawasaki for bigger bikes (800cc and above). Not sure how many takers are there but if there’s one company which rocks the biking scene in India that’s Bajaj. Hats off! Hope newer bikes keep rolling out.

Bullet in my dream

I've managed to somehow maintain my sleep hours even through some of the most trying times at workplace. And when I've woken up in the morning I've also managed to remember many of dreams. But just didn't get a chance to note them down.

Here's a bit of what I remember from today's dream. I was a with a newly born baby. It was wrapped tightly in a white cloth; a typical way of protecting little babies, mostly seen in families/communities in Rajasthan and North India (don't know about the customes in other parts of the country). I could feel its little hands. I carried it while I was walking around the place. Some people, friends and relatives, known to me were also around; I can't recall who exactly. I also remember riding my Bullet...