Last month’s R15 vs Karizma comparability bought me considering. The R15 had been a beloved and completely dependable first bike, however I wished extra efficiency and needed to transfer on. I’d have liked to remain throughout the model however Yamaha had nothing extra to supply on the time. And thus started a 10-year affair with some very orange bikes.

With the 390 Duke, the efficiency by no means bought boring, however I finally wasn’t prepared to place up with the cramped ergos or the price range brakes and suspension. But what subsequent? The Kawasaki 650s have been too boring and the bikes that truly appealed have been too costly. Then, out of the blue, got here a tremendous low cost on the final 20-odd items of the BS4 790 Duke and the chance was too good to withstand. Sadly, the remainder of the nation isn’t as lucky as these ultimate 790 Duke house owners.

Today, we’ve bought some very good choices within the sub-Rs 4 lakh, 30-45hp house and also you’re spoiled for alternative between journey bikes, roadsters, retros and sport bikes, and also you even have the selection of some beautiful 650 parallel twins. But when lovers outgrow these bikes, they discover themselves staring right into a fairly miserable void.

Even the Kawasaki Z900, which was the go-to inexpensive multi-cylinder bike, now prices Rs 11 lakh on street, and for the common 300-400cc rider, that’s too massive a soar to make. The identical might be mentioned for bikes just like the Versys 650 and V-Strom 650 and particularly the brand new Transalp 750, which all price about thrice the worth of the common 400cc bike, if no more.

Living with my first massive bike has not solely been thrilling, but in addition an amazing studying expertise. Because they’re offered in such small numbers, common bills related to an imported CKD or CBU bike (tyres, service and insurance coverage) are vastly greater than what you’d anticipate with a regionally made machine. Mainly although, elements might be shockingly costly and there’s all the time an underlying sense of tension within the hope that nothing goes fallacious together with your bike. What we’d like now are interesting bikes that fill the Rs 4 lakh-7 lakh value level and the one means to try this is to have them regionally manufactured. That will remedy many of the issues round big-bike possession prices.

To be truthful, the producers will level out that the numbers don’t justify the trouble and funding, and so they’d be proper. But it is a lengthy sport. The premium motorbike market in India has large alternatives for progress and that can solely come when now we have a wealthy number of  interesting merchandise which can be constructed with our surroundings and value appetites in thoughts. Until that maturity arrives out there, why not additionally use India as an export hub for these bikes?

Thankfully, issues are slowly altering. Yamaha is about to launch its 300cc bikes and even a few 700s in India. However, they’ll all be imports, and subsequently priced out of attain for many individuals. Ultimately, it will seem that KTM is forging the way in which forward as soon as once more as CEO Stefan Pierer revealed earlier this yr {that a} extra inexpensive bike based mostly on the 790 platform will probably be made in India. Hopefully, that would be the begin of extra thrilling issues within the years to return.