Top 10 showstoppers at the 2016 Auto Expo

Top 10 showstoppers at the 2016 Auto Expo

Triumph Street Twin

Triumph’s new Bonnie range was on display at the at 2016 Auto Expo. However, the street twin managed to catch the most eyes. Triumph launched the all new bike at a mouth-watering price of  Rs 6.90 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai). The Street Twin is available with the stripped-back Scrambler kit, an aggressive city Brat Tracker kit and casual sporting Urban kit. The different versions vary largely in styling and can be customised even further with official accessories. We think the bike in its Scrambler kit iteration with the Vance and Hines exhaust will be the most popular.

The Street Twin makes use of Triumph’s new 899cc ‘high torque’ engine.  This 8-valve, parallel twin motor makes 80Nm of torque at a rider friendly 3200rpm, giving the Street Twin healthy low down grunt. It also boasts of thoroughly modern underpinnings including an advanced ride-by-wire throttle, fuel-injection, ABS and traction control. 

Honda Navi

Second on the list is the oddly appealing Honda Navi, this Grom inspired ‘motoscooter’ is built around a modified scooter chassis. It comes with the tried and tested 109cc four-stroke single-cylinder engine from Honda’s scooter line up. The funky looking 1039mm tall motorcycle is what Honda call the New Additional Value for India. 

The Navi will come in three exclusive variants like the Street, Adventure and the Off-road. Each variant will come in different forms, one with a huge windscreen to one with studded off-road tyres. It also comes in a range of different colour options and can be bought for an affordable Rs 39,500 (ex-showroom Mumbai). The motoscooter faces no real competition, but considering the pricing it can be put up against commuter motorcycles like the Bajaj CT100. 

TVS Akula 310

Walking towards the TVS stand, the sight of a fully-faired track ready carbon fibre motorcycle grabbed our attention. This concept has been built on the BMW G310 R platform, and we can hope to see it sometime in the future from TVS. 

It gets a liquid cooled 313cc single cylinder petrol mill mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. The BMW developed engine develops 34bhp of power and 28Nm of torque. The concept also gets adjustable suspension and a steering damper to stress on its track focus.

If the concept does it make it to production, it will be the first fully faired motorcycle to enter the TVS range.

Honda Africa Twin

Honda fans and adventure touring enthusiasts in India can rejoice because they can soon buy a modern interpretation of a four time Paris-Dakar rally winner. The CRF1000L is a 1000cc parallel-twin adventure motorcycle which will be produced by Honda in India.

The adventure bike market has been growing steadily, even as other segments recede. The BMW 1200GS, Ducati Multistrada and the Triumph Tiger Explorer are major segment sales holders. Year after year, the BMW R1200GS has been the best-selling adventure motorcycle worldwide. The one company that has been absent from the battle is Honda. The 2016 CRF1000L Africa Twin is Honda’s return to that market segment. Powering the Africa Twin is a 1000cc parallel-twin engine that puts out a modest 94bhp at 7,500rpm and 98Nm of torque at 6,000rpm through either a six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed dual clutch transmission.

Hero XF3R Concept 

The Hero XF3R is clearly special. The motorcycle designed with the help of EBR (Erik Buell Racing) is something extraordinary for a motorcycle from the Hero range. 

The Hero XF3R concept comes with sporty cast alloy wheels that complement the upside-down forks, single-sided swingarm and even rider modes. The red trellis frame adds a lot to its character. Moreover, the high-mount exhaust adds a good amount of design-weight to the rear of the motorcycle, giving the motorcycle a proportionate appearance. The rear monoshock is also one of the features Hero stresses out, alongside the edgy looks of the tank, headlight and side panels.

Benelli TRK502

The all new TRK 502 is an adventure touring motorcycle from Benelli, that looks largely versatile. The TRK 502 comes with typical adventure motorcycle styling and we feel that if the motorcycle is priced well, it will sell like hot cakes.

It is wrapped in a steel trellis frame in the all new twin-cylinder four- stroke liquid-cooled 500cc, developed by Benelli for its new models. It also comes with electronic injection, overhead double camshaft timing system and 4 valves per cylinder. The maximum power is 47bhp at 8500 rpm and the torque is of 45Nm at 4500 rpm. It will be mated to a six-speed gearbox.

UM Sport Renegade

Priced at Rs 1.49 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) the Renegade Sport S is UM’s most affordable offering for the Indian market. We think that with the Renegade Sport S, UM wants to attract a set of audience who wants to buy a premium cruiser bike, but at the same time, don’t want to spend a lot. 

Powering this bike is a 279cc single-cylinder water-cooled engine. This engine produces 25bhp at 8500rpm and peak torque of 21.8Nm at 7000rpm. This mill is mated to a six-speed gearbox that transfers power to the rear wheel via a chain drive. The front wheel has a telescopic suspension while the rear wheel has dual shock absorbers. With a fuel tank capacity of 18 litres, the Renegade Sport S could go for close to 500kms before heading to a petrol pump. The bike tips the scale at 172kg, which we think is pretty good. 

Aprilia SR 150

A scooter from an Italian superbike manufacturer does surely make a showstopping appearance. The Aprilia SR 150 looks to be biased towards the sportier side. The sharp body lines, sporty riding position, aggressive front end and the blacked-out 14-inch alloy wheels only show its sporty nature. The red and black colour combination also further enhance its sporty appearance.

In terms of performance, it will get the same engine as the Piaggio Vespa SXL with 150cc engine which makes 11.4bhp at 7000rpm and 11.5Nm of torque at 5500rpm. It will also be mated to the same CVT gearbox.

Suzuki Access 125

Suzuki’s stand felt a bit dull until the unveil of the all new Access 125, The scooter gets a new design that is biased towards the modern retro look, curved body panels and new instrument cluster. The scooter is now equipped with a larger seat which is better cushioned too. Mechanically, the Access has undergone major change. The 125cc engine churns out more power at 8.7bhp and 10Nm. Suzuki will launch the new Access in the next couple of months and when it comes, expect a price hike of Rs 2,000 – Rs 3,000 over the current model.

Yamaha MT-09

Ending this list is the MT-09 which is the most powerful motorcycle here.  Yamaha is entering the middleweight league in the superbike territory. It is a light and fast motorcycle, with a new wave three-cylinder engine.

The motorcycle is a naked street and a compact one at that. Unlike the other street-nakeds, the lack of fairing and plastics on the MT-09 adds to its nakedness. Powering the MT-09 is an 847cc three-cylinder engine that makes 115bhp at 10,000rpm and 87.5Nm of torque at 8900rpm. The engine is designed to ensure a surge of raw, linear torque which is available instantly throughout the rev range.

The MT-09 gets YCC-T (Yamaha Chip Controlled Throttle) and D-MODE electronic control systems. YCC-T actively controls the volume of intake air into an engine and the D-MODE electronic control system lets the rider choose between three different throttle-valve control maps, "STD" Mode, "A" Mode, and "B" Mode. The three different modes have different power-providing maps to use in different scenarios.

Yamaha has launched the motorcycle at Rs 10.2 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). It will take on the Triumph Speed Triple and the Kawasaki Z800 in India.