Triumph Motorcycles is gearing up to reveal something interesting on October 28, and has started teasing its upcoming motorcycle on social media. The British motorcycle manufacturer has put up a video on their Facebook page, with a tagline that says, ‘What makes something iconic?.’ This repeats in the video, along with ‘What is real character?,’ and ‘What does it mean to be an original?’ further adding to the suspense.

The video shows quick shots of various parts of previous iterations of classic Triumph motorcycles, including iconic motorcycles from Dick Shepherd’s collection, and the Steve McQueen and Beckham models. This is followed by an image of three silhouetted bikes.

Stay tuned to Autocar India as we will bring you all the details around the set date, as to what Triumph has lined up for India, straight after their recent launches here of two new Tigers.

Courtest : Autocar

Royal Enfield has opened two new exclusive stores in France and Spain; also showcased its Despatch Riders-inspired riding apparel.

Classic motorcycle manufacturer Royal Enfield has opened its first exclusive store in continental Europe, in the cities of Madrid and Paris. Much like its strategicentry into Indonesia, RE is looking to expand in Spain and France, markets which have a large potential for classic motorcycles.

Speaking about this expansion move by Royal Enfield, Arun Gopal, the international business head, said that the two countries are important because Royal Enfield has witnessed large growth in both, and has a loyal customer base there. It is not only looking to expand its exclusive-stores network in Europe, but also setting up a strong aftermarket network and infrastructure to provide service support.

The French store is located at 98 Rue Baudin, 92300 Levallois-Perret, Paris and the Spanish one at 29, Calle de Agustin de Foxa, Madrid. Alongside the launch of these stores, Royal Enfield unveiled its riding gear collection and also displayed its limited-edition motorcycle range, which is inspired by Despatch Riders.

Royal Enfield has also been working on the Himalayan, which has been caught testing several times across India, and should be launched sometime close to the end of this year.

Courtesy : Autocar

The special edition Star City+ gets a new paint shade and added features.

The Star City+ gets a new white and gold paint scheme with a base coat of white with gold graphics, badges and wheels, colour-contrast beige trim on the side cowls, red stitching on the seats and red shock absorbers. The Star City+ Gold edition also gets additional features such as tubeless tyres and an under-seat USB charger.

“We have launched the Special Gold edition TVS Star City+ to commemorate the completion of one year of the extremely successful TVS Star City+. This variant builds on the superiority of TVS Star City+, with gold theme styling along with exciting new features like tubeless tyres and USB charger. It endorses our commitment to introduce exciting products for our customers through continuous product innovations. We are confident that this special gold edition TVS Star City+ will also be a huge success with our customers.” said K N Radhakrishnan, president and CEO, TVS Motor Company.

The special edition motorcycle continues to be powered by the 109.7cc, 8.18bhp, single-cylinder, air-cooled engine as the standard motorcycle.

Courtesy : Autocar

Hero MotoCorp has launched the updated version of the Splendor Pro commuter motorcycle in our market. The new Splendor Pro has been priced at Rs 46,850 (ex-showroom Delhi)

Powering the Hero Splendor Pro is the tried and tested air-cooled, single Cylinder APDV engine that delivers maximum power of 8.36 Ps at 8,000 rpm and peak torque of 8Nm at 5,000 rpm. The powerplant is mated to a four speed gear-box while Hero has provided adjustable rear suspension and 18-inch wheels for comfortable ride quality. The new Hero Splendor Pro gets a restyled instrument console with side stand indicator and redesigned graphics. The new motorcycle has undergone cosmetic changes too with a new headlamp cluster, restyled fuel tank, alloy grab handle and revised exhaust muffler. 

The bike is available in eight colours – Black Purple, Heavy Grey, Cloud Silver, Candy Blazing Red, Palace Maroon, Black Monotone and two new colours – Shield Gold and Black Red. The Splendor Pro is available in four variants to provide customers more options to choose from and it comes with the 5 year warranty. 

Courtesy : Zigwheels

The upgrades on the 2016 model year Honda CBR500R include new design and minor mechanical upgrades as well

Honda will unveil the 2016 Honda CBR500R on October 15 at the American International Motorcycle Expo in Florida.

With some design upgrades, including a slightly modified bodywork as well as new dual LED headlight, the 2016 CBR500R is also likely to get minor mechanical upgrades.

According to Honda, the upgraded CBR500R will get a complete new look based on a design theme of “Aggressive Speed Shape” with sharp and edgy character lines and a sleek look that will give an appearance of speed and purpose.

There are several rider focussed upgrades as well, including front suspension with adjustable pre-load, larger fuel tank with new hinged fuel cap, adjustable brake levers and “wave” style ignition key.

The Honda CB500 twins have been quite popular in Western markets, particularly in Europe, because of their low cost, reliability and good handling, since the time they were first introduced in 1993. A completely new family of 500cc twin engine motorcycles was announced as replacement in 2013, initially comprising three variants – CBR500R, CB500F and the CB500X.

And it’s got impressive performance as well. The 471cc in-line twin with a 180-degree crank and balancer shaft in the current CBR500R makes 47PS of peak power and has an indicated top speed of about 170kmph.

It’s not clear whether Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India have any plans of introducing the CBR500R in India. But if there are any such plans, it will need to have significant parts localisation to come with an attractive sticker price.  We sure hope there are such plans; a 500cc parallel twin with smooth, responsive acceleration and decent performance seems to be just what the Indian motorcycle market needs, provided it’s priced right.

Courtesy : Zigwheels