www.bikeindia.in

EDITOR Aspi BhathenaASSISTANT EDITOR Sarmad KadiriCOPY EDITOR Deepak UpadhyeEDITOR AT LARGE Navroze ContractorMOTOGP EDITOR Mat OxleyINTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTORSRoland Brown, Glynn KerrSENIOR CORRESPONDENT Adhish AlawaniCORRESPONDENT Ravi ChandnaniSENIOR STAFF WRITER Saeed AkhtarSTAFF WRITERS Sridhar Chari,Rommel Albuquerque, Piyush Sonsale, Gasha Aeri AlawaniART DIRECTOR Ramnath ChodankarSENIOR DESIGNER Ravi ParmarDESIGNERS Varun Kulkarni,Santosh Wadhai, Shajib ShamimSENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Sanjay RaikarCONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS DPPIPRODUCTION EXECUTIVE Dinesh BhajnikADMIN. EXECUTIVE Roshni BulsaraCREATIVE DIRECTOR & HEAD PRODUCTIONAtul Bandekar

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARDHoshang S Billimoria, Aspi Bhathena,Navroze Contractor

PUBLISHER Marzban Jasoomani

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Printed by Marzban JasoomaniNext Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, C-Wing, 2nd Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel(W), Mumbai 400013.Published by Marzban JasoomaniNext Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, C-Wing, 2nd Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel(W), Mumbai 400013.Printed at Kala Jyothi Process Pvt. Ltd,1-1-60/5 RTCX Roads, Hyderabad - 20.Published at Next Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, C-Wing, 2nd Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel(W), Mumbai 400013.

EDITOR Aspi Bhathena

Member

BIKE India Magazine, 401B, Gandhi Empire,5th Floor, 2 Serene Estate, Kondhwa Road,Pune 411 040. INDIATel: +91-20-32930291 / 2 Fax: +91-20-26830465Email us at: bikeindia@nextgenpublishing.net

ASPI BHATHENAEDITOR

THE

RIGHT L

INE

Bajaj Auto launched the Kawasaki Ninja 650R last year and it was an instant hit. It was not only priced well, it was also one of the most accomplished motorcycles I have ridden. The first consignment of 200 CKD kits was sold out even before the bikes reached the showrooms. The new, sharper 2012 Ninja 650 was re-launched last month with an increase of Rs 40,000 in its price.

This month we are happy to present to you a complete road test of the Ninja 650 and a peep into the 60-year history of Suzuki motorcycles.

THIS MONTH WE ARE HAPPY TO PRESENT TO YOU A COMPLETE ROAD TEST OF THE KAWASAKI

NINJA 650 AND A PEEP INTO THE 60-YEAR HISTORY OF

SUZUKI MOTORCYCLES

The MotoGP silly season is coming to an end as things are falling into place with Valentino Rossi set to join Yamaha for the next two years. This move to Yamaha is very significant for The Doctor as he has to prove to the world that he still has what it takes to win races and the MotoGP crown once more before he hangs up his boots for good. The Repsol Honda team is going to struggle next year as Casey Stoner retires and Dani Pedrosa is not capable of running at the front with Lorenzo and Stoner this year and it will not be easy for Marc Marquez to be on the pace from the word go.

CONTENTS

SEPTEMBER 2012

www.bikeindia.in12 Bike India // September 2012

20EXCLUSIVE: Kawasaki 2013 Ninja 250R revealed

Piaggo India have a new scooter in mind

M S Dhoni unveils TVS StaR City special edition

Official KTM accessories available in India now

Polaris invest USD 13 million in Brammo

Yamaha open bookings for the Ray scooter

Spidi looking for Indian partners

BMW unveil radical new 2013 HP4

Harley-Davidson launch 110th anniversary celebration with great verve. And it’s global!

IGNITION

8 YOU! 14 MAILBOX 18 TECHNO MAIL 32 YOUR STUNTS & RIDES 44 COLUMN46 MOTOWARE

REGULARS

BACK END 100 MADOX 102 MOTOGP USA 106 WSBK110 INDIAN MOTOR SPORT114 BI BUY-BOOK

AN ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER

A tribute to Willie G Davidson,

the man who introduced us to

the world of glorious cruisers,

V-twins and chrome; in short, the

creator of the great American

dream of Harley-Davidsons

70A A

AA

www.bikeindia.in 13September 2012 // Bike India

8248Design: Ramnath ChodankarPhotography: Sanjay Raikar

FEATURES

34

K

VOLUME 8 ISSUE 002 SEPTEMBER 2012

WWW.BIKEINDIA.IN

PUBLISHING

` 80

FEATURE: SIXTY YEARS OF SUZUKI HOW TO GO RACING

MV AGUSTA BRUTALE 675 & KAWASAKI NINJA 650MIGHTY

MIDDLEWEIGHTS

Casey Stoner Willie G Davidson

SEEING THEM OFF:

8/17/20

GAME-CHANGERS

Guru Glynn takes a

look at some of the

masterpieces that

laid the foundation of

two-wheeler designs

today and were

nothing like the world

had seen before

AN ABLE

ALL-ROUNDER

BECOMES EVEN

BETTER

After a year of its launch,

the 2012 variant of the

Kawasaki Ninja 650 is

here and promises to be

even better

THE MV AGUSTA

FOR EVERYONE

Roland throws his

leg over the new MV

Agusta Brutale 675

and brings back the

impressions for all

middleweight lovers

KICK-START YOUR

CAREER IN CIRCUIT

RACING

It’s time to bring those

leather suits out, polish the

helmets and gear up to start

your dream career as a

circuit racer

BICYCLE-INSPIRED

BIKE MARQUE

As Suzuki celebrate their

60th anniversary, Roland

Brown dips into its hoary

history and tells us about

bikes that took this marque

to the top of the ladder, one

step at a time

9454THT

FOFO

RR

75 K K

CC

RR

GONE FISHING...

World Champion Casey

Stoner hangs up his boots

and leathers and reaches

out for his fishing rod.

Mat Oxley talks to the

Aussie as he prepares to

leave the world of speed,

passion, perfection and,

of course, mishaps

COVERSTORY

COVERSTORY

only an editor with such extensive knowledge and experience as Mr Aspi Bhathena could have pulled it off without an error or mishap. However, it was a surprise for me to see the Honda CBR 150R beating the Yamaha R15 squarely in both acceleration and braking. I was equally surprised to see the Bajaj Pulsar 200NS faring so well in the tests. No doubt this is a testimony to how far Bajaj Auto have progressed in terms of R&D and technology.

The article on motorcycle lighting systems was well written and I never expected it would be so pleasurable to read about things as ordinary as headlight bulbs and their evolution.

As usual, your motor sport coverage remains par excellence. It is heartening to see that Bike India accords as much importance to Indian motor sport as to international sport such as MotoGP and WSBK.

Keep up the good work! We expect more and more outstanding stories from you in the coming year.Shubham Alhat, Pune

Dear Shubham,Thank you very much!

>> IS ABS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL?I have often read your reviews telling us how much safer sudden braking gets for bikes with ABS. However, for someone like me, who wants to stick strictly to his budget and has no extra money to spend on such additional features, would it be took much of a compromise with my safety if I buy a bike without ABS? Or should I buy a bike from a smaller segment but with ABS?Amitansh Rao, Hyderabad

Hello, Amitansh,Since you have not mentioned the motorcycle

answer your question in its entirety. However, ABS is always quite helpful in wet conditions.

>> IMPRESSED BYANNIVERSARY ISSUEThe recent August 2012 issue (seventh anniversary of Bike India) was highly impressive. As for myself, the more superbikes you feature,

bikes have a soul which most cars lack. Superbikes and supercars have now become

a common sight on our streets. These vehicles usually have high compression engines and I assume the owners use only high-octane petrol. I shall be happy to know about the octane number of the fuel we, the ordinary people, use. It will be interesting for people like us who want to get the best out of our sporty performance bikes like the Honda CBR 250R, KTM 200 Duke, Yamaha R15 and Bajaj Pulsar

>> INDIAN BIKERS’ BIBLEBike India is my favourite automotive magazine. I try to follow the philosophical dictum that books are a man’s best friend. Despite my fondness for reading all sorts of books, novels and magazines ranging from the

text-books. It is after a hard day dealing with such heavy material that I turn towards the pages of your remarkable magazine for solace and comfort. This might sound a little strange, but browsing through the reviews and news of the variegated two-wheelers in the country gives me immense relief. As for the exotic motorcycles, I drool at the mere thought of getting to test them and then push them to their limit.

Keep up the good work and thanks again for spreading the knowledge of biking throughout the country. I can safely say that Bike Indiawill always remain the Bible for Indian bikers. Anurag Harish, via e-mail

Hello, Anurag,Thank you for your compliments. It has always been our endeavour to keep our readers abreast of the latest developments in the world of two-wheelers. It is with this in view that, apart from the reviews and detailed road tests, the news section (‘Ignition’) in each issue seeks to bring our readers up to date in respect of various two-wheelers.

>> SUPERLATIVEANNIVERSARY ISSUECongratulations on the recent superlative anniversary issue! You chaps have really excelled yourselves and I just couldn’t keep

to cover is just one sitting.The exclusive superbike shootout at the Isle

of Man made for an exhilarating read and the accompanying pictures did justice to Roland Brown’s incisive reportage. Then came the 0-100-0 test, which, to my knowledge, no other magazine has ever attempted before. I am sure

200NS, etc, I would also like to know what kind of additives we should use for our bikes.Dr Billick, Aizawl, Mizoram

Dear Dr Billick,97 octane is the recommended fuel for all high-performance cars and bikes, but they are also perfectly capable of running on our 91 octane fuel, provided it is not adulterated in any manner.

>> WELCOME ADDITION TOTECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE

I have been a regular reader of Bike India for

passing year and each issue there has been a welcome addition to my technical knowledge thanks to the dedicated team who work hard to bring the best material for us bikers to read, learn and share throughout the country.

you and I am happy to send you a photograph of myself and my best friend, who has recently joined the biking fraternity. I shall be very happy to see this published in the forthcoming issue of Bike India.

On another note, it is really inspiring to see girls and women taking to motorcycling with passion, for it boosts the morale of the entire biking fraternity. I’d like to thank the entire Bike India team for their effort.

I look forward with great anticipation to the next issue.Shekhar Singh, via e-mail

Dear Shekhar,Thank you for your compliments. We are happy to be instrumental in enhancing your technical knowledge of different aspects of motorcycling. Rest assured about incremental addition to it with each issue of the magazine. Wish you and your friends happy and safe riding. Please follow all the

BIke In

dia BIKE In

dia,

MAIL

BOX

Fax +

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ail b

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www.bikeindia.in14 Bike India // September 2012

KAWASAKI 2013 NINJA 250R REVEALED

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER!

IGNIT

ION

WE BRIN

G YOU T

HESE W

ORLD EXCLU

SIVE PIC

TURES OF T

HE LEAN

AND GREEN, M

EAN MACHIN

E - THE 201

3 KAW

ASAKI NIN

JA 250R,

ONE OF T

HE THE BEST

250CC MOTORCYCLE IN

THE W

ORLD!

www.bikeindia.in20 Bike India // September 2012