Honda hints towards hardcore 250cc machine with it's "Light Weight Super Sports" Concept

We do have lovely touring motorcycle from Honda which can munch thousands of highway miles without any problem but when things gets little hyper at cornering CBR 250R starts to appear  bouncy and it's single cylinder motor shows lack of performance in the segment where bikes from Yamaha, KTM and Kawasaki's are setting fire.

The above leak image of Honda's "Light Weight Super Sport" concept , which will debut at the Tokyo Motor show, the Honda is surly going to get some special attention with concept which appearing to be Honda CBR 250RR.

The Honda emphasized "Light Weight Super Sport" concept by following statement

Designed with the key phrase “strong presence”, this next-generation super sport concept model features a look possessing a sense of speed derived from its long nose and low crouching position. The combination of surfaces – creating a sense of hardness and solidity – and sharp edges, emphasize the aggressive look. Moreover, the exterior featuring matte-black-based low-contrast graphics underlines its beauty and eye-catching form.  

The statement and image hinting towards different machine than existing CBR 250R or even CBR 300R , look at the different chassis, the preciously zooming reveals further details about parallel twin power plant for high revving performance just like Ninja 300 and YZF R3.

Heat in Indian motorcycling is getting high and with every newer launch it's getting tough for CBR250R to survive, So hopefully Honda will take responsibility to take this quarter litter 250RR  in India when machine make it's final way for assembly line.   

 

    

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Mahindra Mojo: General analysis and latest spyshots !

 We all know the fact that the flame for performance or modern sportbike started silently from rumors of Mahindra Mojo.

 Now Mahindra itself getting late in launch party of their performance oriented machine ! which arises question , is Mahindra the SUV specialized company afraid to launch their first sportbike in market where there's lot's of competition from Bajaj to KTM and from Kawasaki to Yamaha ?

Engine cover branding in newer Mule seems final version

  We think that's little bit valid because lack of R&D experience in field or dedicated facility forced Mahindra to put Mojo in lot's of testing years. In testing phase itself Mojo got lot's of mule revisions that shows Mahindra's pin point precision towards their product.

Interestingly at very beginning when Mahindra started their Mojo project there was no real competition for this bike, Mahindra really had great chance at those time period but they might haven't taken motorcycle's project seriously, or what so ever and now there's intense battleground in 300 CC segment.

We have Kawasaki Ninja 300, KTM  RC 390 the very tack focus machine, Yamaha YZF R3 an all round performer. and even 250 cc bikes are no hold backs , So what kind of response Mahindra Mojo can expect ?

Newer branding scheme on tank is evident

Well for starter there was lots of fanfare in Mahindra Mojo at beginning, some keep faith on product while most of them gone with other interesting choices and it's not their fault. Mahindra have to established Mojo in segment which is already crowded with good contenders, The thing Mahindra can do is aggressive pricing.

When specific product or bike for that matter comes in lower price segment it automatically gets default option for buyer at-least for considerations. We believe in India 1.5 to 1.6 lakh onroad is fair price for Mojo

The after sales service: Mahindra as SUV manufacturer, potential buyers may skeptical about their after sales bike servicing , So Mahindra have to somehow convince their buyers about quality servicing assurance.

The design of Mojo: Sure the Mojo was head turner when it was spied many years ago, but at the present Mojo is no more sporty as compare to others in visual department, The front duel circular headlamps seems unattractive and adds to weight factor , Thanks to eyebrows lead strip which set's it apart from others.
If you see Mahindra Mojo from side profile in detail, The overall profile matches very much with Bajaj's 400 cruiser sports (the concept).

The handling may not be class apart but it should be allround performer. The upside down forks at front appears to have very less travel , suggesting towards tuned for sporty rides.
The duel exhaust cans are just for visual appearance rather than performance factor, Mahindra could have made these exhaust little bit compact for over all weight management. still it'll be interesting to hear what kind of sound comes from engine which have single cyclinder and duel exhaust cans.


Images source :- Motoroids



 

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KTM's smaller street fighter, Duke 200 to get minor update.

KTM have updated it's 2015 model's of 390 twins , that's Duke 390 and RC 390 and now finally they're updating Duke 200 as for now  it's 4th year of this baby Duke from it's launching year of 2012. Therefor update is necessary for various reason such as staying competitive in segment or staying fresh in public's mind what ever it is, Update helps to keep selling figure consistency and that's what important for brand.
So here is what update you'll get in Duke 200,
1) first of all bike getting new sealed bearings to prevent oil leak,
2)new radiator design for better heat dissipation as with older model almost any having complaint to          heavy heat at legs during stop and go traffic.
3)Redesign front and rear fender with better quality material.
4)New sealed indicators for prevention of electrical damage from water.
5)Dust proof cover for shock.
6)Newer design collar sprocket.
7) RC 200's wider tire mud cover.
8) Better design belly pan.
9)longer service intervals.
and some other nit pic updates. there is no plan for mechanical update and thus motor is same 199.5 cc cracking out 25 bhp with 19.2 Nm of torque driven through 6 speed gearbox. We can expect official update announcement in following weeks.

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KTM's 390 twin's to get slipperclutch feature In India

KTM's flagship streetfighter the duke 390 and track focus RC 390 is going to get slipper clutch for Indian market, for those who don't know what is slipper clutch , It's a clutch that doesn't get's engaged while aggressive downshift like when you approach at corner while riding bike, at the point where you downshift your gear from higher one , the rear end section or more specifically rear tire of bike tends to lose traction if you're going from high speed due to engine braking. Where bike equipped with slipper clutch doesn't loses its traction cause clutch engages when match engine rpm is meet with actual running sprocket's speed ratio due to which rear end stay's planted.

Duke 390

Getting slipper clutch to RC 390 and Duke 390 not only going to help ride these bike at fast peace but also making Duke 390 cheapest bike with slipper clutch (previously ninja 300). Both of these bike's are getting slipper clutch for no extra cost ! but bad news is existing users won't able to upgrade their existing setup of their 390's.

RC 390

Other things are carried same like 373.2 cc single cylinder liquid cooled motor, fuel injection mapping, upside down forks, Bosch 9M anti lock braking system (abs).  having said that these KTM's twin 390's are value for money products, adding slipper clutch to its feature list will sure attractive thing for buyers.

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KTM Is Working On Small Capacity Twin Cylinder Engine

According to  sources KTM is working on small capacity twin cylinder bike specially for Asian customers. This new twin engine is expected to built in Bajaj's plant at Chakan ,Maharashtra. And the Out comes from this result is said to be extremely aggressive on its price tag Just as they did with Duke and RC series. This quarter liter machine could be well probably come under price tag of 2 to 2.2 lakh  on road, Will make them cheapest twin cylinder quarter liter bike manufactures.
Result of KTM twins will take shape in 2016 and probably we could catch some early glimpses from spyshots of test mules, Twins will also make their presence from numerous expo's such as EICMA and Intermot. It will interesting to see what's next strategy of KTM , will it translete its single cylinder Duke's and RC's in new twin platform ? or create complete new lineup with those quarter liter twins? Time will tell full story.

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