Superbikes check in

About five years back, before Bollywood blockbuster Dhoom had hit the screen, businessman Mohit Chabra, decided to buy a super bike (those above 500-cc engine capacity). He scouted around and came across some interesting observations.

Now, since India is not a superbike market-Royal Enfield is the only 250cc + bike manufacturer-the only way to get them would be contacting a dealer who would import them. Chabra found that most importers used dubious ways to source bikes, which included buying them as scrap, using resident transfer route of expatriates or consulate employees, or importing them in knocked down condition and then re-assembling them. Since most had graduated to importing and dealing of super bikes from their earlier stint of servicing and modifying them, they knew the anatomy of these bikes well enough to do a decent job in assembly.

A lack of authorised service centre by the manufacturers meant buyers had to approach the same mechanics for servicing and repairs and they were much trusted. Chabra also found that documents of most of these bikes were either fake or the bike continued to remain in the name of the original owner.

Imported bikes enjoy a cult status among Indian bike aficionados and these bikes would typically pass multiple hands in shorter period of time. “And the resale value of superbikes is also very good, with little capital depreciation over time,” said Chabra, who was offered a decade old 400-cc Honda for Rs 1.3 lakh.

Chabra didn’t bite the bullet, since he doubted the genuineness of the documents and the engine quality, which had already done close to a lakh kilometre. Available of genuine spare parts was also an issue since his importer would need to fly down every six months or so to Thailand or Singapore to pick up spare parts and accessories in bulk.

But the situation has greatly changed now. With increase awareness and disposable income, the market is set to increase manifold over the next few years. The superbike market is very small in India, with the market size being around 500 bikes being sold every year.

But superbikes are now clearly in the horizon, with almost all auto majors lining up launches. Although it would continue to remain the domain of cash-rich and style-savvy Indian youth, at least these road scorchers would now be available through official channels and offer reliable after-sale service.

While big daddy Harley Davidson hasn’t yet firmed up its plan, the latest to ink a deal is Italian bike maker Ducati. On Thursday, Ducati Motor Holding said it would launch its high-end motorcycles priced in the range of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. It has tied up with Precision Motor, which would import these bikes. Ducati will bring its flagship models like the Monster, Multistrada and 1098 superbike to India. “India is no longer an emerging country. It is a reality worldwide. We feel it is the right time to enter the Indian market,” said the company’s CEO, Gabriele Del Torchio.  It plans to sell 50 units in the first year through its dealerships in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.
 
Earlier this year at Auto Expo, India’s biggest automotive trade show, Bajaj Auto announced plans to launch Kawasaki Motor Corp’s and Austrian sportbike manufacturer KTM’s bikes in India. Bajaj and Kawasaki have signed a deal to sell their products under a mutual exchange policy in which Bajaj will sell top superbikes of Kawasaki in India’s exclusive probiking showrooms from mid this year, while Kawasaki will promote Bajaj products overseas.

To begin with, four models of Kawasaki ‘Ninja 250’, sports roadster ‘ER-6n’, super sports bike ‘Ninja ZX6R’ and ‘Vulcan Cruiser Z1000’ will be available in all the 10 exclusive Bajaj Auto’s Probiking showrooms in India. Bajaj will also launch KTM’s bikes ‘1190 RC 8’ and ‘690 Duke’ by the middle of this year. To save on duty, Bajaj will import the bikes in knocked down form, which will later be assembled at its Chakan plant in India. Suzuki Motorcycles India, which hasn’t had much success in the domestic motorcycle market, is looking to capture the niche superbike segment with plans of launching its popular Hayabusa and GSX range of superbikes in India.

Fellow Japanese motorcycle maker Yamaha India has already got its service and dealership position in place and likely to import the first set of its superbikes by November. It would most likely bring R1 and R6 to India. Yamaha plans to sell as many as 25 models of both R1 and MT01 in a year. Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India is said to looking at launching CBR 1000 and GLX 1800.