It is well to mention a New Zealand motorcycle racer’s name when it comes to speed. Herbert James 'Burt' Munro, the 'world's fastest Indian', was an insomniac as he use to work as a motorcycle salesman during the day and at night he would spend hours working on his 1920 Indian Scout, which then had a top speed of 110 kph. 

Burt travelled to Bonneville in the US after almost 20 years of hard work over it, determined to set world speed records. He created three speed records in his 10 visits to the salt flats, one of which still stands undefeated. He created a speed record in 1967 clocked 305.89 kph, the fastest-ever officially recorded speed on an Indian (Indian is America's oldest motorcycle brand and was once the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world). Burt in while creating this record was 68 years old and was riding 47-year-old bike!  

Two-wheeler companies are attempting a similar feat now after almost 50 years of time. The race now continues for the country’s fastest Indian title. Bajaj Auto, the country’s second largest two-wheeler maker by sales, had issued a press release before 2 weeks for the launch of its 2009 Pulsar 220 edition. The headline was “Bajaj Auto Launches the Fastest Indian”. Bajaj officials said that the new Pulsar is capable of a top whack of 144 kph and has become the fastest production bike in India. But dreams soon came to end. 

Just after three days of short time span, Yamaha Motor India launched the Daytona racing kit for its YZF-R15, which was the fastest production bike here before Bajaj’s 2009 Pulsar 220. Yamaha Engineering Corporation and Daytona in Japan have developed this kit which promised to push up the top whack of the 150cc R15 to 150 kph. A Yamaha official said with a wry smirk, “Bajaj’s claim lasted for only four days”. 

Moreover, all the companies tried to showcase their technology in the highly competitive domestic two-wheeler market. A week earlier to the launch of Pulsar, TVS Motor Company which is India’s third-largest two-wheeler manufacturer had also launched a bigger variant of its premium bike, the Apache RTR. 

There was a gap in the market for fast bikes. And the new Apache was meant to fill that gap, says HS Goindi, president of TVS Motor Company. The new Apache was meant to fill that gap. The new Apache got a capacity upgrade to 180cc compared to the earlier 160cc RTR as a result the new bike’s acceleration and top speed went up significantly. Goindi added “but more than top speed, in this country, acceleration is more meaningful to buyers. They can at least feel it”.

Related News:
Royal Enfield Bullet Classic C5 500cc to hit Indian roads by 2010
Bajaj Auto Domestic Motorcycle Sales Continue to Rise
Auto Industry’s expectation from the Union Budget
TVS Motor sales up 6% in June 2009

Related Books:
Veteran Motorcycles
Classic Motorcycles
The Mouse and the Motorcycle

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Posted by Naresh Koshti on 6 July, 2009 4:30:56 PM IST #