Episode 367 : Who'll be the next in line?
There were so many expectations of the Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle ever since the first pics were leaked. It was like waiting for the release of a long-awaited album by a favourite artist, or a long-awaited book by a favourite author.
When I saw the prototype for the first time, I remarked that it looked like a jugaad made in the streets of Shivajinagar. It did not inspire me, and I wondered whether all that hype was worth it, and whether it would really be that motorcycle-successor to Garud.
When the price was announced, I was dumbfounded. Here is a bike that is well within the budget that I had set for myself. Here is a bike that had some journalists raving over how it was targetted well, and how it wasn't like its predecessors, in spite of loud whispers that the motorcycle has its usual share of loose nuts and that it could do with some more power.
To me it appears that this motorcycle is what the city of Bangalore needs, to traverse its broken roads and unpaved streets. But, will it do the kind of speeds that I want it to do? Will it be able to cruise comfortably at 100-110kmph with all my luggage for two people? Will it be able to attain a top speed of 130+kmph? See, I don’t have a lot of expectations.
So I decided to wait for another brand to launch its motorcycle- the TVS-BMW collaboration code-named G310R. Going by what TVS has done for the Apache, the G310R could be the bike that is reliable, is fast, and will take me on good roads or bad- not necessarily through forests and over boulders. I told myself to wait till TVS makes its announcement and then I could decide.
I know I could get answers to all my questions if I just walk up to the nearest Royal Enfield store and take the Himalayan out for a spin. But my biggest worry, nay fear, is that if the bike manages to do well, I might shell out the booking amount even before all automobile magazines and websites put up their reviews.
There is this overwhelming urge to visit the store on a weekend, just to window-shop. But I know what will really happen.
When I saw the prototype for the first time, I remarked that it looked like a jugaad made in the streets of Shivajinagar. It did not inspire me, and I wondered whether all that hype was worth it, and whether it would really be that motorcycle-successor to Garud.
When the price was announced, I was dumbfounded. Here is a bike that is well within the budget that I had set for myself. Here is a bike that had some journalists raving over how it was targetted well, and how it wasn't like its predecessors, in spite of loud whispers that the motorcycle has its usual share of loose nuts and that it could do with some more power.
To me it appears that this motorcycle is what the city of Bangalore needs, to traverse its broken roads and unpaved streets. But, will it do the kind of speeds that I want it to do? Will it be able to cruise comfortably at 100-110kmph with all my luggage for two people? Will it be able to attain a top speed of 130+kmph? See, I don’t have a lot of expectations.
So I decided to wait for another brand to launch its motorcycle- the TVS-BMW collaboration code-named G310R. Going by what TVS has done for the Apache, the G310R could be the bike that is reliable, is fast, and will take me on good roads or bad- not necessarily through forests and over boulders. I told myself to wait till TVS makes its announcement and then I could decide.
I know I could get answers to all my questions if I just walk up to the nearest Royal Enfield store and take the Himalayan out for a spin. But my biggest worry, nay fear, is that if the bike manages to do well, I might shell out the booking amount even before all automobile magazines and websites put up their reviews.
There is this overwhelming urge to visit the store on a weekend, just to window-shop. But I know what will really happen.
Aired at 3/25/2016 01:00:00 am
0 Comment(s):
Post a Comment
<< Back to the show