Motorcycles and scooters coming to India in 2014- Part III

2014 is going to be a fantastic year for motorcyclists. 2013 saw the focus beginning to shift from the commuters to larger motorcycles and this year is going to be the year the trend gains strength and momentum.

In the first of this three part series, Shumi talked about the Bajaj Pulsar 200SS, the Pulsar 375, a more powerful Hero Impulse, new Karizma, ZMR, EBR's 250 and the 1190 RX, and the much anticipated RC series from the KTM.

In Part II, he talked about bikes that the TVS, Mahindra, Hyosung, Yamaha and Honda are bringing to India in 2014.

In this part, Shumi speaks about the big motorcycles from the likes of Harley-Davidson, Indian motorcycles, Triumph, Ducati, Victory and Suzuki.

Harley-Davidson

The Harley Davidson Street 500. Based on the same platform, the Harley is expected to launch at the Auto Expo 2014

The big news here is that the all-new Harley-Davidson Street 750 will be coming to India. The production model will be showcased at the 2014 Auto Expo. We expect H-D to announce its price and open bookings at the expo itself. Deliveries can be expected around June.

At a price of under Rs 5 lakh, this is going to be an exciting new bike by Harley-Davidson. Read more here.

Triumph

Triumph doesn't feel quite as long or large once you are in the saddle

Triumph Motorcycles recently launched a range of 10 motorcycles in India. Expect the lineup to increase to 13-14 by 2014 end. We have ridden the base model of the range – the– and loved it. If the entry level motorcycle is so good, we are sure it is going to be an amazing range by Triumph. However, the lower end pricing is a little bit on the higher side.

Ducati

It has been a difficult time for Ducati in India. But Ducati has announced that it will come to India as a wholly owned subsidiary in 2014. Whether it chooses to share backend with Volkswagen or not remains to be seen. Ducati will be in a position to ensure that customers are confident of buying its products.

Indian Motorcycles

In 2013, we broke the story that Indian Motorcycles is coming to India. We can confirm that on January 22, Indian will start the sales of the Indian Chief here. Indian currently has three motorcycles – the Classic, the Vintage and the Chieftain. Shumi was the first Indian to ride the Indian Chieftain and you can read all about that here. Fantastic motorcycle with lots of features. We are expecting it to be priced around Rs 25 lakh.

Victory

Along with Indian, Polaris is also expected to bring Victory to India. It is likely to be a co-branded network where Victory will take one part of the showroom and the Indian will take the other. We expect Victory to come to India by the end of the year.

Suzuki

Suzuki had told us at the 2012 auto expo that it will be bring the enthusiast bikes to India in 2014. They have kept that promise and will be launching their first CKD product in India  ? the Inazuma GW250  ? ahead of the 2014 Auto Expo. This parallel-twin is highly regarded as a motorcycle. Read more about the Inazuma here.

Royal Enfield

Royal Enfield Continental GT in Candy yellow colour

Royal Enfield just launched the Continental GT in India. A yellow version of the Continental GT is expected to come out by March. We are expecting a couple of more launches by the motorcycle manufacturer. But we are not sure what. Maybe upgrades to the chassis and engines based on what they have done with the Royal Enfield Continental GT. 

Vespa

The Italian scooter manufacturer is likely to launch more products in India. The Primavera, which we saw in Milan auto show, is likely to replace the current LX 125. We believe that Vespa will do well to expand its range in India.