Your weekly dose of bike updates: KTM 390 Adventure unveiled, Husqvarna 250cc twins revealed and more!

New two-wheeler launches and unveilings make a week profoundly interesting and the previous one had all of it in abundance. That can be majorly attributed to the India Bike Week held in Goa on 6 and 7 December, which witnessed debut of various interesting products. Let’s recall such important two-wheeler stories from the last week. 

KTM 390 Adventure unveiled in India

KTM hosted a grand unveiling of its long-awaited motorcycle, the 390 Adventure, at the 2019 India Bike Week. The motorcycle will be officially launched in India in January 2020, however, select dealers have already started accepting unofficial bookings for Rs 10,000.  The 390 Adventure shares the 373cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled motor with its naked sibling, the 390 Duke. However, KTM has bestowed the bike with different hardware to make it more adventure-friendly. In terms of pricing, the 390 ADV will demand a considerable premium over the 390 Duke and is likely to be pegged between Rs 3-3.2 lakhs (ex-showroom).

Husqvarna Vitpilen 250 and Svartpilen 250 unveiled

Besides the unveiling of the 390 Adventure, the India Bike Week also saw Husqvarna, KTM’s partner company, reveal the Svartpilen 250 and the Vitpilen 250 which are largely developed for the Indian market. While the former is a scrambler-styled motorcycle, the latter is a café-racer. Both bikes share most of their hardware, along with the engine, with the KTM 250 Duke. Both bikes will be sold through KTM’s outlets in India and will be positioned as more premium products than their Duke cousin. Husqvarna will launch these bikes in India in February 2020. 

New Triumph Rocket 3 R launched

Triumph Motorcycles launched its all-new power cruiser, the Rocket 3 R, in India. The motorcycle has been majorly updated in all aspects over its predecessor which was earlier sold in India. It boasts of a quintessential power cruiser styling with an aggressive appeal while the feature list is also a comprehensive one with a host of electronics aids. However, the main talking point of the bike is its 2500cc, inline three-cylinder engine which is the largest powerplant ever employed on a production bike. This unit churns out 165bhp of power and a staggering 221Nm of torque. As for its pricing, Triumph’s new hooligan costs Rs 18 lakhs (ex-showroom, Pan India).

2020 Triumph Tiger 900 unveiled

Apart from the India launch of the Rocket 3 R, Triumph Motorcycles also globally unveiled the new Tiger 900 adventure motorcycle. It will replace the existing Tiger 800 range and is a major departure over its predecessor in all aspects.  The Tiger 900 gets a new, more minimalistic styling while it is also lighter by 5kgs now, thanks to the new chassis. Also new is the 888cc triple cylinder motor of the bike. At 95bhp, while the power is the same as the Tiger 800, peak torque is 10 per cent higher at 87Nm. Triumph has revealed the new Tiger 900 in six variants and it will be launched in India sometime next year.

BS6 Hero Glamour spied

BS6 version of Hero’s 125cc commuter, the Glamour, was spotted testing in India. Although the motorcycle was camouflaged, the images did reveal that it sports a refreshed styling. It is also likely to also get a fully-digital instrument to compete with its closes rival, the Honda SP 125. More importantly, the motorcycle will get a revised 125cc, fuel-injected engine which will make it comply with the upcoming BS6 emission norms. Similar to the already-launched BS6 motorcycles, expect the new Glamour to demand a 10-15 per cent premium over its BS4 counterpart which retails at Rs 69,950.

(All prices are ex-showroom)