The almost production ready Royal Enfield Himalayan has been clicked on the company’s assembly line. The Himalayan is expected to be launched around November at a price of between Rs 1.65 – 1.85 lakh

The Royal Enfield Himalayan has finally been spotted on the production line of the Royal Enfield manufacturing unit in Chennai.

Recent images which have emerged on the Internet reveal that the new Royal Enfield Himalayan is nearing completion and as we reported earlier, a launch in November 2015 seems imminent.

Royal Enfield is expected to price the Himalayan at between Rs 1.65 – 1.85 lakh, and from the latest pictures, there appear to be several firsts for any Royal Enfield bike.

The Royal Enfield Himalayan is unlike any other Royal Enfield motorcycle on sale currently, and is a completely new bike, from the ground up.

The Himalayan sports adventure styling to the ‘t’ with a prominent ‘beak’ up front which seems to be the design norm for adventure bikes these days. Finished in matte black paint, the bike features high ground clearance, long suspension travel, high capacity fuel tank, upswept exhaust and windscreen, hinting clearly at its adventure touring pedigree.

The engine is an all-new unit too, a single-cylinder, four stroke 410cc engine which will make around 28PS of power and about 32Nm of torque. Instead of traditional push rods on Royal Enfield engines, the new engine on the Himalayan will have overhead cams and is expected to be a more refined unit than any existing Royal Enfield motor. The Himalayan’s engine is expected to freely rev up to 6500-7000rpm and will also be equipped with a counter balancer to reduce vibrations.

The engine is mounted on an all-new chassis designed by UK-based motorcycle chassis and components manufacturer Harris Performance. Earlier this year, Royal Enfield acquired Harris Performance, which was responsible for the chassis development of the Royal Enfield Continental GT as well. We expected a double cradle frame like the one on the Continental GT, but from the pictures it looks like Royal Enfield has instead opted for a single downtube chassis. There is crash protection around the front, and a reinforced subframe at the rear for better luggage carrying capacity.

According to an official close to the development team at Royal Enfield, the Himalayan will also come equipped with several first-in-class features, including an all-new instrument panel which will display two trip meters, compass and even altimeter readings. Once launched expect a range of add-on accessories like hard luggage, hand guards, crash protection bars and high windscreen. The Himalayan will also be the first Royal Enfield motorcycle to feature a monoshock rear suspension. 

Courtesy : Zigwheels

MV Agusta has imported the F3 800 suspersports motorcycle in India prior to its official launch in November. The MV Agusta F3 800 is expected to be priced around Rs 15 lakh

Italian motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta recently announced that it plans to enter the Indian two-wheeler market in November. The exotic two-wheeler manufacturer has joined hands with Chakan based Kinetic Engineering to assemble its motorcycles to bring them to our tarmac via the CKD route to keep costs low. MV Agusta just hinted that it will launch three new motorcycles in November and we had guessed that among the trio of new motorcycles could be the MV Agusta F3 800. Our speculation proved correct as import documents have revealed that a unit of the MV Agusta F3 800 has been imported to India prior to its official launch. The styling of the MV Agusta is based on its litre-class offering the F4 and beautiful is the only word that could do justice to this Italian work of art. The riding posture of the motorcycle is aggressive like in the case of any supersports with clip-on handle bars and rear-set footpegs. Powering the motorcycle is a 798cc displacement, three-cylinder motor churning out 150PS of power and 88Nm of peak torque.

The powerplant is mated to a 6-speed gearbox with slipper clutch and a quick shifter. The above numbers and its kerb weight of just 173kg means that the F3 800 can attain a top speed of around 270kmph which is great for middleweight supersports offering. The MV Agusta employs a tubular trellis frame crafted from steel and aluminium swingarm to keep weight under check. Talking about electronics, the bike features the MVICS (Motor & Vehicle Integrated Control System) platform combining fully electronic control of throttle and throttle body with traction control. It also gets Ride By Wire, multiple ride modes.

Courtesy : Zigwheels

The latest variant of the Tiger 800 range will have the same mechanicals and cycle parts as the Tiger 800 XCx, but come equipped with more standard equipment, including heated seats and LED fog lamps

Triumph Motorcycles India have added one more variant to its adventure range by launching the Tiger 800 XCA at an ex-showroom Delhi price of Rs 13.75 lakh.

The latest Tiger, the 800 XCA shares the mechanicals and cycle parts with the Tiger 800 XCx but comes equipped with more standard equipment.

The Triumph Tiger 800 XCA is now the top of the line variant in the Tiger 800 series, in addition to the 800 XR, 800 XRx and the 800 XCx.  Like its closest variant, the 800 XCx, the Tiger 800 XCA also comes equipped with traction control, switchable ABS, and ride-by-wire throttle with programmable rider modes.

The Tiger 800 XCA features additional standard equipment like heated rider and passenger seats, LED fog lamps and an uprated 650W alternator complete with 3 auxiliary sockets to power anything from heated clothing to GPS sytems.

The Tiger 800 XCA also features aluminium pannier rails making it ready to tour with optional Expedition luggage set. The Tiger 800 XCA will be powered by the same second generation liquid-cooled in-line three 800cc engine, which makes 95PS power. 

Courtesy : Zigwheels

Honda officials said that they plan to launch four new two-wheelers in the remaining four months of 2015

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter (HMSI) plans to launch four two-wheelers in the next four months as it aims to further consolidate its position in the country. "We plan to launch four models, including a mystery product in the rest of the year," HMSI Vice President sales and marketing Y S Guleria told PTI. The company, which is the leader in scooter segment, has already launched 110cc bike Livo and flagship model CBR 650 in the country.

The company also expects this year's festive season to be better than previous years. "We expect 4-5 per cent year-on-year growth this festive season as we are running full capacity," Guleria said. He added that the company expects motorcycle sales to get a push from rural areas during the festive season. When asked about the impact of strike on the company, Guleria said: "Our Manesar plant has been closed today due to strike call given by trade unions."

The company would look as to how to work out a way to overcome loss for the strike period, he added. The company's Manesar unit produces around 5,600 two- wheelers a day, translating to around 16 lakh units a year, he added. Normal life was today affected in various parts of the country as 10 central trade unions went on a day-long nationwide strike to protest against changes in labour laws and privatisation of PSUs.

Courtesy : Zigwheels