THE COMPANY:
Kinetic is now Mahindra. Kinetic Engineering produced great Hyosung based motorcycles, lack of awareness in India about Hyosung’s IMPROVED QUALITY NOW
THE PRODUCTS:
The GF Series, Comet, Aquila
THE DOWNSIDE FOR KINETIC-MAHINDRA:
Poor marketing/advertising.hence gone the Jawa and Rajdoot, good quality but less advertising.
INDIAN MINDSET
Indians believe in proven quality. e.g. Hero Honda 100/125cc still sells. So does Yamaha RX100/135 2str. There is the backing of truth that these products stood out when they were launched and are still reliable - but look at what Kinetic offers IN THE GF170.
*WHY DO BIG BRANDS SELL and NOT SO MUCH KINETIC-PRODUCTS?
The lack of media promotion makes Kinetic look not so reliable or a good buy. The second is that if the 100/125cc models do not sell well; then the larger cc bike must be exceptional or must have USP like Bullet Enfield to sell very well.
The bigger brands sell because of image created largely by TV(say more than 50%) and the ability of that brand to reach local newspapers(reachability quotient) ie another 20 to 30% and word-of-mouth. These vary, what I give is ball park estimates of how motocycle brands sell and how the average buyer buys, how the educated buyer chooses and how the$ buyer demands it.
and of course quality, but truth is:
IN INDIA SELLING POWER BIKES ALONE IS A LOSER’S DEAL
Kinetic is not a HH or Bajaj where they create HOOO-HAAA like Mr Dilip Bam of indiabike says. These HOOO-HAAA companies have the$ they earned from the volumes sales of their smaller 100cc bikes, scooters and pump that money to create more HOOO-HAAA to keep up that image for the large bikes. The large motorcycles do not create much money, but lots of hype.
THE DOMINO EFFECT OF BRAND BUILDING
The average motorcycle buyer with NOT MUCH KNOWLEDGE ON motorcycles may look at a motorcycle like Pulsar
MANUFACTURERS FOCUS ON PROFITS, ANYWAYS, VOLUME OR OTHERWISE
BCOZ the motorcycle manufacturers are a business and need to survive financially(like we need a job or run our business to keep our cashflow).
Hero Honda and Bajaj are great here. They make more money on volume sales; create a strong image and quality of course; to back it up. The money and financial base built up are used to research to build larger motorcycles and invest comfortable in research for say 150 and above capacity motorcycles. e.g. HERO HONDA - CBZ, KARIZMA ETC late launch of large cc motorcycles, done after 100cc helped it establish financially to thepoint they could play around with choices and test drive the 150cc market segment for the large consumer class in India.
The larger motorcycles are not volume sellers. They are profit+ image for the overall company and brand building that contributes for the smaller cc bikes such as 100/125.
*Hence these manufacturers are interested in volume sales in India which is the proven way to profits at least since the 1980s. So the individual biker is ot a consideration, like you and me, are OF NO REAL VALUE TO THEM. The larger bikes are also-rans. These manufacturers do take interests, but in the shareholders and boardrooms, $ and profit takes priority.
This is because of CAPTIALISTIC spreadsheet habits.(all businessmen and goras want only money from india they will do anthing to suck the$ out of India consumers and leave indian economy dry).
WHAT TO DO:
Complete a test run of the motorcycle and its engine, parts; Stick to the truth. If Kinetic or any other bike-maker makes better products than foreign company such as Honda or any other such; go for it!
As recommended by SRI Dilip Bam and his classy, humorous and truthful evaluation of motorcycles. I know he recommends TVS m-bikes, but check out what he says; WORD-BY-WORD; you’ll find that the man speaks the truth.I wish he would evaluate 500cc+ bikes and crusiers! I would easily buy what he recommends since these sales are interested only in selling - not the best interests of the motorcycle enthusiast.
VERDICT:
GF170 great bike. Mileage is substantial for its engine displacment. Now that newer motorcyles have come in - this still holds it own.the technology is HYOSUNG AND classy!