Bigger bikes from Honda, Bajaj on the anvil

From left: The Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade and the CB1000R are likely to be launched in India by March/April this year, priced at around Rs 9.5-10.5 lakh

In keeping with the current trend in the Indian two-wheeler market, Honda and Bajaj are two companies that are looking at launching new sportsbikes in the country over the next few months.

In recent years, it’s been the Pune-based Kinetic which first took the lead with launching a sportsbike in the Indian market – the company did a limited launch of the 250cc, v-twin-powered Hyosung Comet in India back in 2005. Then it was Yamaha, which launched the R1 sportsbike and the MT-01 cruiser in India in 2007. And finally, Suzuki joined the party in late-2008, with the Hayabusa superbike and the Intruder cruiser.

Honda now intends to provide some competition to the R1 and the Hayabusa by launching the CBR1000RR Fireblade in the Indian market, sometime in the first quarter of this year. And for those who would rather have a naked muscle bike rather than a fully-faired racer-replica, Honda also intends to launch the CB1000R in India. Both bikes are expected to be priced at around Rs 9.5-10.5 lakh, making them marginally less expensive than the R1 and the Hayabusa.

From left: The Kawasaki-Bajaj Ninja 250R will be launched in India within the next 3-4 months, followed by the KTM 690 Duke. These bikes will be relatively more affordable for bike enthusiasts in India

Bajaj sportsbikes, on the other hand, will be coming in at a much lower price-point. The Pune-based company will first launch the Kawasaki Ninja 250R, which is likely to be priced at around Rs 1.75-2.0 lakh. Powered by a liquid-cooled, 250cc parallel twin, the baby Ninja certainly won’t performance in the same league as the R1 or Fireblade, but will at least be affordable for a much larger section of motorcycle enthusiasts in India.

After the Ninja 250, Bajaj is also expected to launch some bikes from the KTM range – perhaps the 690 Duke, which may be assembled at Bajaj’s plant at Chakan. Powered by a high-tech single-cylinder engine, the 690 Duke is a versatile, lightweight sportsbike, which might be priced at around Rs 3.5-4.0 lakh in the Indian market. Later, Bajaj may also bring in the RC8, which is KTM’s top-of-the-line superbike, and which can easily rival the likes of the R1 and Fireblade. Of course, the RC8, will be imported into India as a CBU, will not cost less than Rs 10-12 lakh.

Of course, Bajaj will also continue to refine and evolve its homegrown sportsbike – the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi. Expect styling changes, engine tweaks, perhaps monoshock rear suspension, better brakes and revamped instrumentation. The Pulsar series will remain the sportbikes of choice for those can’t afford the Kawasaki-Bajaj Ninja 250. Yamaha will also stake its claim in this segment with the YZF-R15 and other similar machines.

So, even as the worldwide economic recession shows no signs of abating, it seems like motorcycle enthusiasts – at least the rich ones – in India still have a lot to look forward to in 2009.