Kinetic Flyte – the review

Some one asked me to write a review on the Flyte because he wanted to know if it’s worth purchasing. So here goes…

If you are looking for a practical scooter which should help you shunt from office to home and home to the market place, effortlessly, and without lightening up your wallet by much, the Flyte makes brilliant sense. Given, of course, these destinations are in striking distance of each other.
On the practical front, the Flyte offers comfortable seating- the seat, handlebar and floorboard relation for an average Indian (read 5’9” – 5’10”) is bang on. The seat itself is quite agreeable for short sprints.
Then of course you have the huge loading area under the seat which can house your full face helmet, fabric jacket, gloves, mascara, eyeliner, hair drier and all the extra stuff today’s man loves to carry around. Get the helmet and jacket out and there’s place for your shopping bags. Furthermore, there are hang hooks, a mobile charger which can also double up as your i-pod power source.
Front fuel filler, a SYM trait and borrowed by Bajaj for the slow selling Kristal, is another practical touch, as is the key slot guard.
Furthermore, build quality and the fit and finish; two areas which you’d agree Kinetic hitherto has failed miserably to deliver on, thankfully, is top class on the new scooter. The tie up with SYM sure seems to have had its plus points!
The panel gaps, though present are even and as good as on the so-called benchmark scooter, the Honda Activa. The switchgear works well too and is easy to navigate, even on the move. The visibility is good too, and the Flyte is easy of manoeuvre through congested traffic, thanks mainly to its smaller dimensions.
The engine in question is SYM’s 8bhp 125cc engine. But it doesn’t feel like it at all, especially when compared to 7bhp somethings 100cc scooters already available in the market. Not that it feels anaemic or even lethargic; in fact, it motors around effortlessly, be it getting off the mark or overtaking, but it just doesn’t fit the 125cc psychological performance grade. It feels more like a faster Scooty Pep rather than feeling like a faster Dio. Which honestly, it should.
It is overwhelming refined though - there’s hardly any variomatic judder and even with the throttle completely wrung open, moving close to 80ks, there aren’t any uncomfortable vibes that might numb your hands or behind.
To boot, the Flyte is endowed with well sorted ride quality – it isn’t back breakingly stiff nor is it wallowy like the older Kinetic Honda. It just goes about cushioning the rider and the pillion with plush-ness so far uncharacteristic of scooters sold in the country. And is almost perfect for our interior roads.
It, then, does everything you’d ask from your everyday runabout scooter pretty well. So should you buy it? Given its price which is significantly less than the Dios and the Activas and comparable to the likes of the Peps and Kristals, absolutely! It just won’t help you with your hep image if you are a guy, that’s all.

What are we cribbing about?

Was recently in Germany. Hamburg to be precise. And as you’d be aware, like in India, it is winter time there as well. However, the temperatures there during the hottest part of the day hover around 0 degrees! To add, the road surface is slippery, and as a result, bikers are truly few and far between. I saw just one, riding the BMW R1200GS (probably because it had ABS!), during my three day stay in the city.
It’s the same story across most of Europe. Summer, dear reader, is the only time when bikers there can actually enjoy their bike’s full potential, if ever.
Imagine, if we had less than half a year to enjoy biking, I for one would be one unhappy soul. Moreover, we can exploit the potential of our bikes far easily (and regularly if I may add).
So then why do we crib about the goras having it better than us? Just because they have more powerful (and better looking and better laden with technology and better handling and …) machines than we do! Sure, it’s a sore point. But looking at the bigger picture, I think we are better off. And not because we can now buy the R1s and the MT-01s of the world (that’s for the select money bags amongst us in any case), but because we can enjoy ourselves and our set of wheels probably to a level our firang friends can only dream about.
I love the motorcycling here - it’s challenging, what with all the daft motorists around braking, overtaking, lane changing and spewing pan juice (not to mention the trucks laying in the oil for royal treatment) at the most unexpected moments (and places). It’s also entertaining and involving – the roads in Maharastra, in Rajasthan, in Kerela these are superbly surfaced with twisties abound. And for those who enjoy excursions off road, there’s Bihar, and UP too.
We also aren’t burdened with devastatingly high insurance costs, or ridiculously low travel range (barring the Kinetic Blaze, no doubt), or 250kmph rockets – cause the latter will most definitely kill the majority. The stories coming in from Greater Noida are an indication, wouldn’t you say? Rhetorically speaking, of course.
Okay, I am not completely kicked about the sort of bikes we have here at the moment, sure these look good but score poorly under the ‘capacity-horsepower-performance relation’ head. A 125cc bike making 8-10bhp, or a 150cc that has only recently crossed the 15bhp mark aren’t the makings of an enthusiast driven scene. Things get even more dismal up the capacity ladder – a 200 making 18bhp but struggling to beat a 223 with an even more shameful 17bhp on tap is seriously sad.
Now the good news! Come Auto Expo and we will see the capacity-horsepower-performance head realign itself. And expect Yamaha and TVS to lead the charge.
It will also not be a one model brilliance this, but a continual effort leaving us bikers with even lesser reasons to crib!

Indian motorcycling gets a move on

We have seen stunting aplenty - both in motoring magazines as well as on the road. And it’s a brilliant thing because motorcycling is as much about skill as it is about freedom and expression. Stunting, is also an expression, by the way.
Moreover, it’s really heartening to see that we the biking enthusiasts in the country aren’t looking for excuses to steer clear of challenges. We have traversed the most challenging terrain, in equally challengingly inapt bikes; done stunts our western counterparts pull on better suited, more powerful offerings; and the so-called barometer of motoring enthusiasm – motoring magazines have done their bit as well – showcasing brilliantly executed pictures of artistry on our teeny-whiney machines, then be it brilliant shots of wheelies, stoppies, burnouts, jumps or even cornering.
However, what has been missing hitherto has been the lack of show of some everyday riding skill. Getting one’s knee down around a corner is one; power sliding out of bends on opposite lock is, of course, the other!
The former I firmly believe aids corner speed, and is also a vital safety ingredient when it comes to fast riding. The latter meanwhile is a display of not just immense riding ability, but of utmost courage.
And we have been missing both for sometime now, on the road as well as in print. Thankfully, things are changing for the better. And I’d like to congratulate two particular individuals for it - Joshua from BSM who got his knee down on the Bajaj XCD a couple of months back, and Varad from Bike who achieved the same on the Hero Honda Hunk just last month.
There’s good reason to cheer the achievement too, just in case some of you were wondering what the hullabaloo is all about… You see, we have seen all and sundry pulling wheelies and stoppies not to mention burning rubber in mags, on traffic lights, around crowded locales and deserted roads. But, knee down antics, hitherto have been rare.
What makes it all special is the fact that the rider’s have wafer thin contact patches (read ridiculously thin tyres) to play with here. Not to mention tyres that are designed more for life than grip and over roads which are anything but predictable or well-laid or grippy. Unlike our racing friends (in India) who use special soft compound imported rubber on tarmac so grippy, it can shred leather (of your suit and your body) if you were to have a fall. Little wonder, knee down on tracks is a common occurrence.
The feat achieved by both is an indication really that motorcycling in India is getting a move on. We are not afraid to experiment, and take things to a higher level.
What is also of importance here is the fact that a lot of riders look up to magazines and their writers. They emulate them, cause they feel it’s possible – after all the mag guys too are riding the same bikes.
Heart felt congratulations then to Joshua and Varad for not only adding oomph to biking pictures, but also giving the Indian motorcycling youth yet another escapade to embark upon.

Ads – are they a reflection of our bike makers?

I would think so, and here’s why. Let’s talk Hero Honda first.
You’d agree no one understands the entry-level, 100cc market better than the Munjals along with Honda. After all, they have the puny machines to thank for, for their number one bike maker status, umpteen numbers of years running…
And it shows in the CD and Splendor ads. The connect, is superb. And is a reflection of the bike maker’s understanding of the audience. Watch the Blind dad ad for the Splendor and Super Splendor for starters!
However, the ads for the company’s premium segment offerings; the X-treme, the Karizma R or even the latest Hunk, are pathetic, to say the least. These ads lack oomph and excitement; actually they lack everything the product stands for – power, performance and the sheer ability to enthuse. An indication, I believe, that Hero Honda (Honda mostly) fails to understand the needs of the premium TG.
Bajaj on the other hand understands the 20 to 30 somethings as if the company were shaping their thoughts! The Pulsar ads, right from the beginning have had that all-important ‘hook up’ flavour to them. And the fact that buyers, even after having faced quality issues with the bikes, have gone ahead and bought these offerings is a testimony to the same. In fact, they swear by their bikes, do these enthusiasts. And the amazing thing is; they actually consider the bike’s shortfalls as her pluses!
TVS too has done well in the premium segment ad scenario. The Apache ads were brilliant – college guys, frolicking, taking pot shots at boring, and more focused men. And then the RTR ad – the flirting, the rebellion, and of course the carefree attitude – the ad only raises the bar. The Star ads meanwhile have touched the right listeners as well. And though TVS isn’t setting the sales charts on fire, the company is at least logged on to the radar of majorities. And that’s half the battle.
Ads then are a reflection, a refection of our bike makers understanding of our needs.

Why trusting auto mags is a good idea…

I know many of you might not agree with me when I say, making a buying decision based on an auto mag review is a good idea.
But this is where I am coming from – We generally form opinions based on what we see, hear and feel. So, if we find the bike good looking, like the Pulsar or the Hunk, we are already bitten by it. We then hear and read about the bikes and their performance, on blogs, from friends, and from a lot other channels, besides auto mags, of course. We also, more often then not, take a test ride of our short listed models.
It’s all very good, till you realise, all that you have read about are impressions gathered on a new bike. No one really speaks about how the bike is aging up; whether the clutch is slipping; are rust patches forming all over; or the switchgear or instrumentation has gone haywire, or how many times a month does one need to adjust the brakes (if they do it at all).
But the shallow reviews aren’t exactly the writer’s fault. To begin with, the test rides offered by all company dealers is just too short to understand anything.
Then there’s the question of lack of experience. And no, I don’t mean the lack of riding experience, but the lack of experience riding a variety of motorcycles. If, all you have ridden is a Splendor all your life, or maybe a friend’s Pulsar off and on; you’d be completely blown by the P220, or even the Karizma or the P180 for that matter.
But if you have experienced a plethora of bikes, of various segments, back-to-back, you begin to understand who is short changing you, and who is delivering as promised.
The auto mags have this advantage, the advantage of sampling any model, at any time, and for any duration. Needless to say, they are in a better position to deliver the correct verdicts on a motorcycle’s handling, ride quality, ergonomics (both for city use and for the highway), and also things like performance and driveability, the latter, obviously is backed by test data.
Mags, thanks to running a long term fleet, can also tell you and me, how the bike is aging up, and how well or poorly is it doing compared to the competition.
The biggest issue, I believe, you guys have with mags, is the disparity in their test figures, and at times in their judgment.
Here’s a pointer which helps me make sense of it all, and I hope it might help you too.
Every magazine has a different outlook, so while one might lay more emphasis on performance, the other might choose to base its verdict on the user friendliness of a bike. There’s a reason behind that too – the varying needs and preferences of the Indian buyer. My last post on ‘why we buy, what we buy’ tells you a bit about it.
In fact, you can try it yourself. If you own a 150cc motorcycle, let’s say the Pulsar (cause it’s the best selling model in its segment), try asking other P150 owners en route to work, college, or home at a traffic signal, or at the chai tapir, why they bought the motorcycle, dig a bit deeper and you’d realize, he reasons are quite different from yours! You can try the same with your friends even.
As for the difference in performance figures, a few tenths here and there shouldn’t really matter, cause mags use different test routes, different riders, and moreover different bikes for their tests, and just like no two people are the same, neither are two Pulsars, Apaches, or CBZs.
I have bought bikes and accessories based on magazine reviews, and truth be told, besides making a wrong choice of tyres, it has all gone very well.

Why we buy, what we buy?

It might not seem like much, but the above question is an eternal one. After all, cracking this riddle would mean a gleaming top line for our bike making brigade. And yes, the first for-ever hungry company that manages to crack it, will, of course, wear the coveted number one crown.
But if you have been following the Indian market, and I don’t mean in the hard core sort of a way: keeping a tab on numbers, margins et al, but simply a track of new launches, you’d realize it’s almost impossible to solve the riddle. I mean, just look at the number of new launches, variants, paint jobs, feature enhancement surgeries that happen on a model, and that too within weeks of its launch.
This can only mean two things: one, our bike makers are still clueless about what we as customers demand, and second, as buyers, we too are clueless about our needs!
The latter is well highlighted by the questions I have had to field over the years from a widespread audience on what bike they should buy. The needs put forward are equally wide-ranging: “I want a fuel efficient bike, and it ought to be cheap,” says a 100cc customer, almost always. There’s no talk about styling or features. Why then, are bike makers lavishing their entry level models with electric start, alloy wheels, and bright and contemporary styling?
Cause it helps sell! Look at our top three bike companies, and look at their model line up - Hero Honda has constantly updated the CD, there was the Dawn, and now there’s the Deluxe, fully loaded. Bajaj too played its part with the stylish Platina, and TVS, well… TVS introduced not one or two, but four variants of the Star, before bringing in the fifth – the 110cc avatar. The point of it all being; it’s the top-of-the-line variant, no matter which model, that has the lion’s share.
Yes, that’s a typical Indian bike buyer for you: he knows he wants fuel efficiency, and low purchase price, but give him an extra douse of features, which he thought unnecessary, and he goes and picks the best endowed one!
But why just the entry level customer, buyers in the 150cc plus segment aren’t any different.
We say we want performance. Fuel efficiency can’t be in the 30s of course, but kilometer-to-a-litre isn’t our priority. We want our motorcycles to look good, handle well, and offer a newness so far missing in the segment.
The P150 comes out, and we lap it up. Achiever, Unicorn, Graptors, and the likes don’t catch our fancy. We find them lacking in a number of areas – styling and performance to list a couple.
Apache sees light of day – its stylish, a tad faster, and handles like a dream, but we still don’t exactly take to it like a dog (or was it ants?) to sweets. P150 upgrade is launched, this time with a LED tail and LCD read, but a disappointing gain in performance, but we still take to it, and say, “Look at all that fancy stuff! That’s value for money”
Now, here’s my point.
We as buyers don’t exactly appreciate what we demand. And despise taking risks. We are like a herd; we move with the majority; the more bikes on the road means, the make is proven, it would be a safe bet then, forgetting what we demanded and stood for in the first place.
I’d hate to be a manufacturer in India.
But I am not too happy to be a buyer either, thanks to the majority of the bike buying public’s attitude – we get swayed by fancy stuff so easily rather than rewarding true performance and motorcycling purity which we speak about at rides, meets, blogs, and even on a web forum.
No wonder manufacturers refuse to take risks, and we end up saddled with duds, which we have been living with what seems like eternity, and will probably continue to do so... well, at least till the Expo, we will.

World's fastest Indian

I am not one who loves to keep abreast with the latest movies, especially in the first day, first show sort of a way. But I love movies, and love consuming them at my own leisure, with a chilled glass of barely water, and some of my favourite, artery clogging oil soaked crispies.
So please bare with me on this one, cause I understand talking about Anthony Hopkin’s The World’s Fastest Indian, two years after its international release, is ummm… late.
I had just had to watch this one, everyone I knew raved about the film, particularly my motorcycle buddies. That it wasn’t so much about riding, but transsexuals, Kiwi accents, and large hearted Americans, is something they forget to mention. Knowing them well, it’s more a case of not noticing, rather then mentioning.
Overall, I’d rate the movie as watch-able, but nothing exceptional at all. It’s also more for viewers who love to see a man emerge triumph against all possible odds than for a biking enthusiast.
But the beauty of the film is; how the odds just seem to sort themselves out mainly on account of Mr …. age! It’s unbelievable. No, no, not in the positive, exclamationsort of a way, but literally.
I mean, come on, first the shipment holding the bike gets damaged, but there’s barely a scratch on the Indian. Then Mr …. loses a wheel on his trolley carrying the Indian, resulting in the latter rolling around a bit, but behold! the bike still manages to survive without worrisome damage.
Mr kiwi finds himself a log, substitutes it for a wheel and carries on, is something I can digest, as he won’t be trying to break the 200mph record with this four wheel junk.
But the odds disappearing in thin air, or salt flats as it were, for Mr Kiwi continues right till the end of the almost two hour long flick.
Now, he hasn’t registered for the run, which the director conveys is an absolute, absolute must. Thanks a lot, to a lot of large hearted Americans then, for they convince the initially stuck up organizers to give the determined old man from down under the chance of a life time, even though his Indian doesn’t even meet the basic safety requirements for such a run.
There’s more of it, but I am beginning to get bored, and I am sure you are too. Now, I don’t want to sound cynical towards the movie, cause at the end of the day, this one’s based on a true story. And I am sure all of these odds pretty much existed, and were overcome too.
But so effortlessly? I seriously have my doubts. It’s the director’s cut then, that’s not really toothsome.

30minutes or free!

I love pizzas; particularly the cheese burst kind from dominos. But I am not to sure about the pizza house’s 30 min or free sales pitch. What ever little I know about gourmet, it would take at least 10 minutes to get the Italian dish ready, add to it the traffic during Diwali, or any other day for that matter, and it seems pretty tight delivering the pizza in 30 minutes after having placed an order.
But these guys, astride CT 100s manage to do that! Okay, my order was exactly two minutes late, but it’s still quite an achievement. Especially, if you factor in the fact that the CT 100 isn’t exactly a capable bike; her acceleration is probably a tad better than a tortoise, and her drum brakes, well, you’d be lucky if she stopped at all! But these delivery guys manage it, and manage it with a smile on their faces, not the fear of death in their eyes as you’d expect after a guy has had probably a million death situations along the way!
And how they do it, is almost certainly known too you all; slicing though traffic, dangerously at that; not giving too hoots about others’ safety; and riding like their life depended on it; which my guess is, it does, mostly if the bill goes straight out of their pockets, or three late orders later, they are fired!
Maybe the pizza chain should refrain from such antics. After all, a few minutes here or there isn’t exactly going to leave the customer starving to death. But mainly, it’s the quality and taste of the stuff one sells that should be the differentiating factor, rather than lightning quick delivery; I mean who’d prefer consuming cow dung served to you in a minute instead of raas malai, which takes a ten extra minutes to arrive at your table! Above all, I don’t think you’d exactly enjoy your pizza, if the delivery boy might have knocked off one of your family members on the way, in order to make that 30 minutes or free, delivery efficiency.
As for the boys themselves, I wonder if Dominos has a high risk insurance cover for them, or any insurance whatsoever; they do risk their lives every other second you know…

The Off-beat approach – Yummy Yamaha

Now, Yamaha with its proposed 160-165cc motorcycle intends achieving the same. Breaking the clutter (the 150cc clutter in this case) with a slight increase in capacity does have its benefits – it gives the bike maker something to talk about. And if you pack in class shattering, unexpected performance, the coffee gets that much more agreeable. Moreover, a move like this - ‘performance now for the masses’ – will go down brilliantly well with Yamaha’s image in India; courtesy the RD and the RX.
TVS has already tried breaking the mould with the RTR, and with reasonable success at that. Yamaha though can do better, especially if the Japanese company can pack in stuff like, liquid cooling, fully faired styling, and performance which will embarrass even the likes of the P220 and the Karizma. It can do that by having a light weight bike like it sells in Indonesia – the Viper or V-Ixion, but instead of 14bhp give it something like 17 or 18bhp.
We are waiting with bated breath, Yamaha.

The Off-beat approach - Blaze effect

Suzuki though isn’t the only manufacturer trying to find a foothold for itself by getting into virgin territory. Kinetic did the same with the Nova 135, but the scooter didn’t exactly succeed. It has now got a good break with the Blaze nonetheless, with the so called ‘maxi scooter’ catching the fancy of the young and show off sort. Here again, the numbers are of little significance; particularly if you see what she, the Blaze, has done for the Kinetic brand. Suddenly, Kinetic is back on every body’s antenna, and buyers are now awaiting more of the gorgeous looking scooters from the Italjet brand.I must mention here though, that even though the Blaze looks great and has more than adequate performance, she continues to be plagued with quality issues – then be it regarding the fit and finish, build quality, or even the mechanicals.

The Off-beat approach - Suzuki way

Little surprise, that Suzuki, after making a dismal foray into Indian biking with average products like the Zeus and Heat, in a category which saw a flurry of launches from every manufacturer in the country at the same time, showboating better styling, ergonomics, performance and features, has now decided to look at scooters. And it’s not your regular 100cc gearless scooter either, but the Access with her 125cc engine, is trying to carve a niche in a segment which hitherto is untouched.
But will the Access get the numbers Suzuki so desperately needs? Not quite. But there’s more to the two-wheeler bike making circus then just numbers. There’s the question of getting noticed, there are dealers who need to be pacified, and there needs to be a good product mix to retain walk-ins.
Suzuki feels the Access will help the company on all these counts. And what ever numbers she does manage to sell; it will only help the company’s cause further.
Looking at the 125cc gearless scooter segment, in the meantime, there’s no real competition. Yes, Kinetic has also just introduced the SYM Flyte, but its demeanour is more of an entry level, light, girly scooterette than a full fledged scooter. The Access on the contrary, with her large dimensions, not to mention a larger heart, fits the latter quite well.
Will soon have a ride report on the scooter, and how she compares with the rest of the creed…

Off-beat vs herd mentality

We hear, read and witness a new launch every other day now. While some introduce completely new, exciting offerings (if not breathtaking); some choose to launch rehatched versions of their sometimes best selling, and sometimes slow moving models. But what goes on behind launching each of these offerings; what’s the thought process; what’s the game plan? Though, it’s impossible to get it entirely spot on, unless of course I were a company insider, here’s an attempt to make sense of some product strategies.
There are largely two ways of going about deciding a new product– a) Let’s call this one herd mentality - dive into a segment which has been witnessing great growth in the recent past – double digit, triple digit growth rates and the like – backed up of course with million page market research report indicating (actually shouting) that the concerned product category has immense potential, and will continue to grow for… well, ever.
And b) The ‘off-beat’ approach - enter virgin territory; create a new niche; spawn a new segment; etc etc…
But both approaches have their set of problems.
‘a’ for instance is a crowded place (remember ‘herd’); the competition here is intense; under cutting the only mantra; better value-for–money proposition, a prerequisite. So, if you are Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto or even TVS, it’s okay to take this approach. After all, the three have had reasonably good numbers by their sides, as well as success, at some level or the other. As a result are better equipped both mentally and financially to take a hammering if their products were to fail.
We have seen the three at it as well, and pretty often. Bajaj tried to knock off Hero Honda in the 100c segment, Hero Honda on the other hand tried the same on the former in the 150cc plus segment. As for TVS, it tried to outdo both in both these categories. The outcome though is been more or less the same on both counts – HH continues uninterrupted in the 100s while Bajaj and TVS have had to make do with relatively smaller, but sumptuous helpings. While in the 150cc plus, Bajaj is still king, with TVS and HH managing just about okay sales.

However, if you were a new entrant to the market, or have been battling miniscule sales, much like Suzuki and Yamaha respectively, and obviously Kinetic, it’s best to take the ‘off-beat’ approach.
Here’s how it helps. Creating a new segment, or a sub segment, first, takes the competition away. It also helps the maker get noticed, as it gives the company something new and different to harp about. All the manufacturer has to do then, is to convince buyers, the new product category actually makes sense for him. We have seen a few examples of this ‘Off beat’ approach, and I’ll list them for you in the subsequent posts.

Brands: why bike makers need to build them, and break them… Part II

Let’s take a look at Hero Honda (HH) now…

The company is the number one motorcycle maker in the world, and that, I must clarify, is in terms of bikes sold, and not for the variety of product mix, or cutting edge technology or the like. But it’s still a huge achievement, nonetheless.
However, the successes behind this success story aren’t very many.
There’s been the Splendor-Passion combo, the success of which I need not elaborate on at all. The CD too has been a hugely successful brand for HH. But beyond these, there’s little that HH can tom tom about.
But before we get on further, just for a moment imagine, the enormity of the triumph these brands have had, to single handedly be responsible for the company’s accomplishment. Unbelievable!

Equally unbelievable are the number of flops the company has had to live with.
HH tried to do something different in the middle ages so to speak with its entry level platform. It introduced a restyled CD 100 as the Joy. The bike of course bombed. HH then tried the same with the Dawn nameplate, she too failed.
Finally, some sense prevailed and HH re-introduced (yet again), the CD/ Splendor platform as the CD Dawn and CD Deluxe. The two met with better fortunes than the earlier two. Was it the CD brand then? I can’t think of anything else, really, cause the bikes, and their styling weren’t too different in the first place.
Hero Honda must be of the same opinion as well, otherwise how to do you explain the range of Splendors – there’s the regular Splendor+, then came along the 125cc Super Splendor, and now the Splendor NXG has chugged in promising a Splendorful life.

However, excluding the entry-level and what we largely term as the executive segment, HH has had little success. The CBZ eventually failed, so did the Ambition, the Achiever, and so on and so forth.
The company finally brought back the CBZ nameplate with the X-treme, and it was a good move, no doubt, given that the name still kindles the right flame in a biking enthusiast’s heart.
But, I have two questions here. First, why couldn’t Hero Honda, such a heavily marketing driven company, introduce the CBZ brand earlier? And second, when it did, why couldn’t they do a better job on the styling front, especially when the complete Indian motorcycle dynamics had moved towards better styled machines?
The answer to the first question, I believe, is that it was a huge goof up on the company’s part. Instead of understanding the brand and the value it commanded, HH set about breaking it with new launches like the Achiever, when that was the last thing it needed.
As for the second, we all know Hero Honda banks on Honda for the products they get. Maybe it’s a case of Honda and Hero Honda being on different wavelengths, and with the former calling the shots, HH’s understanding of the market needs - styling, features, performance etc etc, in Honda’s view, can be ignored (put politely, of course). Or maybe HH has little clue about what is actually needed.
I personally believe it’s the former.

Getting back to the CBZ, since the X-treme’s launch the bike has done pretty well, selling around 12,000-15,000 every month. It’s a fabulous achievement considering the bike’s styling isn’t very, how should I put it, palatable. The thought process at Hero Honda would then have been, “What if the bike were actually a great looker, imagine the numbers we’d manage then!”
Enter the Hunk. Employing the same mechanicals as the X, from the engine to the cycle parts, she boasts of tastier, more contemporary and racy styling.
But why Hunk? Why not something like CBZ 150 R or better still, the new CBZ X-treme. Picture the recall the bike would have had, if she too had the CBZ nameplate. Maybe HH understands the consumers better, and feels it will sell more bikes by having two different brands, I don’t know.
What I do know - in the long term, a company does need to build successful brands. Otherwise, it will have to start everything from a scratch - from defining the brand’s values, to its target audience, to its deliverables. The end result - a lot more money will be spent every time a new bike is launched.

Something HH has become used to, I guess.

Brands: why bike makers need to build them, and break them…

Building brands isn’t as easy and straightforward as it might read. There’s lots that goes behind building a brand, and then breaking it.
My take is, a company continues to build a brand till it’s successful, and breaks it, if it’s a failure. Let’s take Bajaj Auto as an example -

The Pulsar, you’d agree is probably a case study on how one needs to build a brand, and than, take it to a new plane.
The P150 (and the P180) started it all, driving the CBZ into oblivion, much to the horror of both Hero Honda and the bike enthusiast. And how Bajaj managed it, is a well know fact now – cheaper pricing, better styling, but mostly, better fuel efficiency. Indians we were (and are); and our fetish for fuel efficiency is almost murderous, to put it lightly.
Not surprising, we embraced the Pulsar like I would a million dollar lottery!
Bajaj also rewrote a few rules. It upgraded the Pulsars sooner than a testosterone pumped man would grow stubble. More importantly, it stayed away from introducing the bike under a different brand, and it only used subtle monikers to show the upgrade.
Introducing DTS-i in its bikes was a beginning, and now with the P200 and the P220, Bajaj is propelling the Pulsar brand further.
However, there’s a counter argument to building the Pulsar brand.
The bikes look almost identical, then be it the P150, 180, 200, or even the 220. Yes, the styling is a tad different, but it’s very minor indeed. It therefore, leaves Bajaj very little leeway to sell these bikes under separate nameplates.
Adding to this is the fact, that the company hasn’t followed the same philosophy in other segments, particularly, the entry level. It had the Boxer, then the CT 100, and finally the Platina. So if Bajaj was so conscious about brands why didn’t it follow the same here?

Cause it all boils down to success, and this where breaking a brand helps. Bajaj, as is well known, has failed to break Hero Honda’s stranglehold in the entry level. It, as a result tried giving more – more features, better styling etc, all the things that made Pulsar a success – for less. And it tried doing it with a new brand each time; so that consumers would appreciate that an all new motorcycle had come their way, even though the truth was far from it. Take the Platina – she had the CT 100 under pinnings, and the Wind’s clothing. We, of course, continued to lap up Hero Hondas.
As a result, now the XCD sees the light of day, and with her, Bajaj is playing a completely new game. But, not without a safety net. Rajiv Bajaj quite categorically stated at the engine’s unveiling that the new DTS-Si platform can be both upgraded (read 150cc) or downgraded (read 100cc) depending on the need.
So it will begin building the XCD as its entry level brand which will have bikes ranging from 100cc to 125cc, and maybe even a 135cc variant.
Where does this leave the Discover then? The Discover will move up the ladder as well, and she will do so with revised, more kickass styling. She will sport 135cc and 150cc powerplants, displacing the Pulsar 150 in the bargain.
The Pulsars then, will only be a performance brand with P200s, 220s, 250s, 300s etc etc, while the XCD will be the bastion of fuel efficiency, and Discover, well, if the XCD takes off, maybe Bajaj will kill the Disco. Otherwise, it will break the XCD, introduce yet another brand, and also rework the Discover, all over again.

Casey Stoner: the next big thing?

I believe Valentino Rossi is phenomenal rider. The best there is both as a racer and as a character. Not that I know him personally, but I did meet the guy last year at the Donington MotoGp. He was more or less at the top of his game at the time, but given his stature and fan following, he still came across as a humble guy.
Today, he is struggling. To cope with an average machine, and less than average tyres. Or so we are made to believe.
Maybe the truth is: he has finally met his match in the young Aussie Casey Stoner. And Rossi’s fun and games off track have done little to psyche this particular bloke. Casey, of course, doesn’t come close to the Italian for being someone you’d want to watch after the chequered flag has been brought down – he doesn’t entertain with his bowling (the 10-pin sort), or with his on-track surgery among a host of fans dressed in doctor coats, or play out the snow white and the seven dwarfs fairy tale on his victory lap. No sir, Stoner wins, waves to his fans, and then hugs all and sundry in the pit lane.
But during the race, he is certainly worth a watch and more. You won’t obviously find me power sliding out of corners like Hayden, or hanging off and sliding into rider under braking like Elias, or even brushing his elbows on the tarmac like Hopkins, but Casey, much like Rossi is deceptively fast. Clean, devoid of drama, but very fast indeed. But what really makes him a brilliant watch, is his ability to absorb pressure and deliver without a hitch come what may.
The 2007 MotoGp season is a testimony to the same – watching Rossi slide, running wide, and making mistakes has been a common sight this season. But I can’t remember many occasions when Stoner slipped.
Sure, he had a faster bike, but the Ducati isn’t as great a handler as the Yamaha. And at the end of the day, you need someone talented - gifted would be the right word here – to ride the stead home.
Stoner is just that guy.
Look at Capirossi, Casey’s teammate for comparison; the Italian has been nowhere near the Aussie this season, and he is talented too.
There is also the argument about tyres, highlighted by the Rossi camp no doubt, that Bridgestones were a better bet than Michelins, and Rossi’s move to ride on the former in 2008 just stamps that, doesn’t it.
You can’t really argue about that, but my point is, Rossi has seen worse, and he has managed to come up triumph in the past. So what’s different this time? Stoner. Period.
I saw Casey ride on the Honda last year, and boy was he good. But watching him this year, I believe Stoner is probably as gifted as the charming Italian. And maybe, he might replace Rossi as the best MotoGp rider ever, in the coming years.
The 2008 season should reveal all…

125s: the saga continues…

Back in 2003 there was a spurt of 125s that hit the Indian market. There was the LML Freedom Prima, Yamaha Fazer, TVS Victor 125, Bajaj Discover etc etc.
The logic of bike makers behind the same, I guess, would have been – that’s how it works the world over – 100s, then the 125s, then the 150s and so on and so forth - and the same should hold true for India as well. But what they over estimated was our need to upgrade.
“If I want a fast bike (in relative terms of course), I’d buy a 150. And if its fuel efficiency I want, I’d rather stick with the 100s.”
The end result – the 125s never took off. Fast forward to 2007-08 and bike makers are taking keen interest in the 125cc segment all over again. The difference this time round is – unlike in 2003, the 100s are witnessing a slow down in sales, while the 125cc plus segment is growing at double digits. That the difference in the sheer volumes of the two is mammoth, is something bike makers aren’t really talking about. Particularly Bajaj.
Bajaj has just launched the XCD, a bike it hopes will make the 125 the new entry level. And it seems to have played the cards right too – giving the bike brilliant fuel efficiency, and at a price that is anything but expensive. Then there is the features list which should have the style conscious, cash strapped individuals swooning over her.
But not every bike maker thinks on similar lines. Here we have Honda, which will in early 2008 showcase its take on the 125s – a stylish, youth oriented, and most likely better performing motorcycle than the Shine will hit showrooms. The new Honda 125, I am sure will not redefine the entry level, and Honda would not be hoping to do the same either.
Then we have the Flame. TVS’ 125 which should be out before the end of this year. She is a stylish looking motorcycle, and brags of some innovative features as well. And unlike the XCD promises both good low end and top end performance. And with the new CCVT blah blah tech, which uses a three valve head for better swirl at low engine rpm and better filling of the cylinder at high rpm, she should not be very poor on the efficiency front either.
The point of all this? We have two very different lines of thought here. As an enthusiast, I’d like Honda and TVS to succeed. Imagine the two companies packing in 150cc rivaling performance in smaller, less expensive bikes? Won’t that be brilliant. For little else, but the fact, that segments above it will move up on the performance scale too!
I don’t mind Bajaj succeeding either, cause knowing with the Discover 135, it is already trying to do the same. And with a new Discover in the wings, which might also come in 150cc guise, hence replacing the Pulsar 150, enthusiasts have little to worry about.

Hero Honda Hunk: will she show the way?

Hero Honda, synonymous with awfully fuel efficient motorcycles, has failed time and again to cut mustard with anything remotely performance oriented. Sure, the company started the 150cc revolution with the CBZ, but look where it is now – struggling to establish itself as a player of significance in the face of Bajaj Pulsars and TVS Apaches.
It’s not like it hasn’t tried, after all Hero Honda unofficially has the coveted title for most number of models in a particular segment.
In the 150, it began with the CBZ, followed by the Achiever, the X-treme and now we have the Hunk – another terrible name among the list of appalling monikers. On the other hand, Bajaj has stuck with the Pulsar, and to its credit has timely upgraded the bike, though it would have done well to upgrade the quality as well, and so has TVS, having dumped its Suzuki baggage replacing the Fiero nameplate with the Apache. That the bikes deep down are identical is of course another story.
So can the Hunk muscle her way through the hustle bustle of the 150cc segment, all the way to the top?
I won’t personally place my bets on it. You see, the Indian buyer, that’s you and me and another 50,000 of us joining the fold every month in this particular segment, are of the ‘me too’ sort. Give them a potent machine which has astounding handling prowess, performance which raises the bar significantly higher, and ergonomics that have you singing pagans for the bike, but take away those silly things like the LED tail, split grabs and orangey digital displays, and we feel short changed.
So even though the Hunk looks good, and has the right cycle parts - mostly borrowed from the X-treme in addition to gas-charged dampers at the rear – she might not exactly break the 20,000 units a month mark. And I don’t mean in the coming months, but ever.
I would like to be proved wrong of course, because it will prove that we, the Indian biker, are maturing as a creed.