Yamaha sets out to wow Indian enthusiasts

Yamaha sets out to wow Indian enthusiasts with a slew of superbikes

go!!!!!!!!!!!! Rossi

Valentino Rossi (born February 16, 1979 in Urbino) is an Italian professional motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP World Champion. He is one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with 7 Grand Prix World Championships to his name. In 2006, he narrowly missed an 8th title by scoring a second place in the Championship, and with three races to go in the 2007 season, he lost out again, this time to Australian Casey Stoner. According to Sports Illustrated, Rossi is the 7th highest earning sports personality in the world (2nd outside the United States), earning an estimated $30 million a year.[1]

Following his father, Graziano Rossi, Rossi started racing in Grand Prix in 1996 for Aprilia in the 125cc category and won his first World Championship the following year. From there, he moved up to the 250 cc category, again with Aprilia, and won the World Championship in 1999. He won the 500 cc World Championship with Honda in 2001, the MotoGP World Championships (also with Honda) in 2002 and 2003, and continued his streak of back-to-back championships by winning the 2004 and 2005 MotoGP World Championship after leaving Honda to join Yamaha.


Valentino Rossi= legend. Too bad his bike (2007 yamaha m1) is so waek ,but still maneges to beat stoner in the connering . Go Vale.


nice video with awesome beats
go!!!!!! rosssiiiiii

Suzuki's power-mad bikes

Suzuki announces two new power-mad motorcycles for 2008

From the word go, the Suzuki Hayabusa sparked off cults and controversy. Its looks were never what a doting mother would call pretty, and even its performance was always borderline anti-social. Suzuki have been content to let it run amuck in original form except for two major changes along the way – restricting the poor 'Busa to 296 kph after the top speed related uproar, and the whole bunch of paintjob upgrades along the way. All that has changed with the scary-fast Kawasaki ZZR1400.

Now, Suzuki has announced the 2008 Hayabusa. It does not have an inline-six from the Stratosphere, but instead, it gets a 1340cc inline-four which it shares with the equally pupil-dilating B-King. Rumoured to make 200 bhp (or very close to that figure), the new Hayabusa is expected to top the ZZR1400 in performance. If it can do that without losing its easy-to-use personality, the new Hayabusa will go down as one of the truly great all-time motorcycle upgrades of all time.

So what have Suzuki done? The 1340cc motor is all-new, with a 16-valve DOHC format that brings 11 per cent more performance and greater smoothness. An evolution of the dual throttle valve system also makes an appearance, as does the three-way mode switch from the GSX-R1000 (to select low, intermediate and full power modes for riding in different conditions). The motor also sports titanium valves, new pistons, a super-high 12.5:1 compression ratio, and special cylinder coating. As is considered normal now, a heavier 4-2-1-2 exhaust system is employed with a large catalyser, dual triangular canisters to meet Euro 3 and Tier 2 regs.

The chassis is new as well under the new fairing, which still screams Hayabusa but is subtly different. Forks are new as is the new braced aluminium alloy swingarm with a new shape. Radial brakes are here, as are new wheels and tyres. Suzuki have further lowered the rear subframe for greater pillion comfort and lowered the tank as well so a topspeed-crazy rider can tuck deeper into the fairing. The headlight design is new as well. It also features four analog meters (speedo, tacho, fuel gauge and water temp) and includes a mode indicator, gear position indicator and an adjustable shift light as well.

As you can see, this is a pretty serious upgrade to the venerable Hayabusa. Now we cannot wait for two things, first the direct head- to-heads with the ZZR1400, and the probable launch come March 2008. Yes, Suzuki have gone on record saying the Hayabusa and the GSX-R1000 are being considered for direct import launches in India and the programme could bear fruit as early as March 2008. The Hayabusa is already a popular motorcycle icon in India and we expect the launch price to hover around the Rs 11 lakh mark. Start collecting.

The Hayabusa's close and fairly frightening looking cousin, the B-King has also gone on sale in some markets worldwide. Featuring the same 1340cc inline-four as the '08 Busa (some would say the B-King loaned its motor to the Busa), the B-King, in production form, comes with no tuning for the midrange sort of nonsense. The engine spec is close to the Busa (read above) and even the ride mode selector is there. The B-King does get its own chassis though and first ride reports suggest an unmistakable riding experience that does play havoc with the senses. The B-King is not on Suzuki's India list. Yet.

Source:BS Motoring.

XCD's AD

another good ad by bajaj

What's ailing the Japanese in India..??

What's ailing the Japanese in India..?? [Part I: Yamaha India]

A look at what's wrong with the Japanese Companies in India.. Part I: Yamaha India



The above graphic shows how Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki don't even together account for 10% of the Indian two wheeler market.So what's wrong for these Japanese companies who once taught Bajaj and TVS the trade of making two wheelers. What's ailing these Japanese Two wheeler maker..??



Part I: What's ailing Yamaha India
The mere mention of the brand name "Yamaha" evokes a feeling among bike lovers which is diffcult to describe. The legend of its yesteryear superstars namely the RD350 and the RX100 still manages to overshadow the fact that Yamaha India has made straight losses since 2001.

There are many bikers around in the country who still venerate the Yamaha brand. It wouldn’t be surprising if many of them have never owned a Yamaha Before. Such is the equity of brand Yamaha in India.

Yamaha happens to be the World number two in terms of two wheeler sales after Honda. But in spite of having its presence in India since the mid eighties, Yamaha at present has a market share of just around 3 %.

Needless to say that so far Yamaha has performed below expectations in India.

Lets try to find what has gone wrong for Yamaha India..??


Product LineupLets first look at the Yamaha Products in India.. We have the

100 C.C (economizers)

Crux
Libero G5
Alba (recently launched)
125 C.C

Gladiator (with its “Type J.A” variant)

And….??Nothing else.. at least till now..!!

Ask any Tom Dick and Harry on any Indian street to associate the first word that comes across his mind with "Yamaha". I can safely bet my money that the answer will invariably be “Speed, Power, Performace”.

After the RX100 and the RD350, by no means can Yamaha make us believe that its 100 cc and 125 cc bikes are the best that it can do in India.

Administrative Problems.

In 2001, Yamaha India bought majority stake in Escorts, its erstwhile JV partner and started on its own as fully owned Japanese subsidiary. But it did not mean that Yamaha India got a fresh start in 2001. Yamaha India had to carry along the Escorts legacy in the form of its workers who previously used to work under Escorts. This is a problem that Yamaha India hasn’t been able to sort out even today.

If you don’t understand how that can be a problem, just try to teach computers to your grandpa and you will understand what I mean. Times had changed since Escorts-Yamaha used to churn out the RX100. Changing times means a different approach to work which requires a change in the mindset of the workers at Yamaha’s plant. And this is one aspect which the new Japanese Bosses at Yamaha India haven’t been able to address so far.


Inefficient and Archaic Dealerships:

Compared to the new and swanky showrooms of its competitors, majority of the dealers and showrooms of Yamaha India looks like it still belongs to the “Licence Raj” days. These dealerships have been in operational since Escorts-Yamaha days. With concepts like “Pro-Biking” showrooms of Bajaj which have been designed to provide a rich experience to the biker, Yamaha India still has a lot to pick up.

Marketing Disaster:

Similar to the how (according to me) the Honda Unicron, has been a marketing failure in India, virtually every product from Yamaha can be a case study for failed Marketing effort.After marketing research the next steps of marketing can be summed up as

Segmentation
Targeting and
Positioning


First of all Marketing Dept. of Yamaha picked up the wrong Segment (100 cc segment) to play in, targeted the wrong customers (actually it beats me to decipher who is Yamaha’s 100 cc target customer) and doesn’t have a strong and clear Positing statement for its products.

Lets try to figure out “What is the positioning statement of Yamaha India’s motorcycles..” From the wheelie popping Gladiator 125 cc ads featuring , John Abraham and the latest ad of the 100 cc Alba here a Girl gets the tattoo of the 100 cc Yamaha Alba on her back, we can say that Yamaha India’s bike are positioned as fast and with sexy designs.

Sexy looks for a 100 cc commuter..?? Wheelies from a 125 cc executive commuter..?? Yeah, that's what we need. Probably you have the answer now.


What can we expect from the future..??

No matter how miserably Yamaha’s offerings’ have performed in India so far, Indians still have and probably will always have respect for any products from any Japanese Bike maker.

The day Yamaha India launches a proper performance bike, “desi” bike enthusiasts will sit up and take notice. There is no reason to believe that the World’s Second largest Two Wheeler maker can’t pull it off in India. According to me its just the matter of application and letting go of the past.

What is required is to think and start afresh. Let’s see for how long can Yamaha India keep us waiting.Inputs from: Business World

DISCOVER DISCONTINUED

Bajaj Auto to discontinue the Discover 112 and the Discover DTSi 125:Following with the launch of the XCD comes the news that Bajaj Auto is ceasing the production of the Discover 112 and the Discover DTSi 125. The Discover hadn’t been selling that well. As admitted by Mr. Rajiv Bajaj himself, Bajaj Auto was selling less than 5,000 Discover 112 per month (read about it here..). This leaves only the Discover DTSi 135 as the production model holding the Discover brand name. Read about it here..With the decision to discontinue the 112 and 125 cc models of the Discover, Bajaj Auto has made it clear that it will target the entry level 125 cc segment with its XCD, priced attractively at Rs. 41-42K (Ex-Showroom Pune) which is close to the price tag of the 100 cc Hero Honda Splendor.The Discover DTS-i 135 must have been successful for Bajaj since they are planning to continue with this particular model. At least in Bangalore City I have witnessed quite a few Discover DTS-I 135 cc models pottering around.

Honda to launch new bikes from Hero Honda, HMSI stables

The $93-billion Honda Motor Company (HMC) will launch an array of products through its two subsidiaries —Hero Honda and Honda Motorcycle & Scooters India (HMSI) — to retain its combined 60% market share in the two-wheeler market. This is in response to rivals Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors’ new bikes on the twin-spark plug technology platform.

Honda Motor Company’s Southeast Asia head and the CEO of Honda SIEL Cars India Masahiro Takedagawa told ET on the sidelines of the 10th anniversary of Honda cars in India, “We are not sitting idle. We have our own strategy and will soon come out with a range of new bikes for the Indian market. I cannot disclose the products right now but these will be extensions of our new two-wheeler technology, which will be launched in the Indian market soon.”

Sources said HMC is contemplating to launch two-three new bikes through Hero Honda and HMSI in the festive month of October when sales spurt due to auspicious buying during Dussehra and Diwali. Hero Honda is likely to introduce new bikes between 130 cc and 150 cc.
(a higher engine displacement than Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors’ newly-launched bikes). A Hero Honda spokesperson refused to confirm the launch and said, “The company would not like to comment on future product launches.”

To counter threats by Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors, which aim to upgrade 100-cc customers to their 125-cc bikes, HMSI is likely to launch new bikes in the 100-cc segment based on new technology offerings, higher fuel efficiency and power. “We are planning to further increase out portfolio in the two-wheeler market and both companies (Hero Honda and HMSI) will complement each other in different two-wheeler segments. The new products will cater to different kinds of demands in the market,” Mr Takedagawa said.

HMC is keeping a wait and watch policy on the recent launches of Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors, which are targeted at gaining volumes in the market. Bajaj Auto launched the 125-cc bike 'XCD 125' on its patented DTSi technology on Sunday at Rs 41,000, about Rs 3,000 lower than the cheapest brand of Hero Honda. TVS Motors had also rolled out a new 125-cc bike Flame on the similar twin spark-based (CC-VTi) technology from its Hosur manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, which will be launched commercially in October.
Via: The Economic Times