To many of us, a motorcycle, especially the one we crave for, is a dream.
This article touches on the choices on the Indian motorcycle market and then uses the Australian market choice to illustrate on how a personal choice can be done.
For many the budget to spend is a constraint. With the choices of new motorcycles in the Indian market, some older models are available for less. Therefore, you would need to decide, realistically how much you would want to spend and also consider maintenance expenses over a period that you wish to own the motorcycle.
Hence your budget decides
Model
Make
Capacity of engine
Power
Fuel efficiency of the motorcycle as a major constraint for some.
The Big Bonus: In India there are no speed limits as of now!
In today’s India, a dream motorcycle/bike has now presented the buyer many choices with new products for Indian markets like UM, TNT, KTM and others presenting so many choices. The Indian motorcycle consumer is spoilt with choices like never before, like top notch switch gear on a 200cc motorcycle, which you would never see on a 200-250cc in Australia. So Indian consumers have choices if you have about$5000 or more, to spend.
I would broadly group 150cc as one category. New Pulsars 150cc, Honda 150, Yamaha 150 in India, are brilliant motorcycles, never offered here in Australia. Here there’s only Kymco and that is pathetic in comparison to Indian models, although Yamaha does offer 150cc now here.
200-230cc approx as another
250-300cc as another
400cc models may arrive soon
500cc and up, you need to know how to handle them
a 650cc/1000cc handles very differently on how the motorcycle is driven and skills do come in, e.g. Australian motorcycle champion Casey Stoner has top-notch riding skills, common bikers may not have that.
Then there are Sport, Cruiser, off-road, road+offroad types and then really large displacement ones for a motorcyle. A friend showed me last week, his 1100cc Honda roadbike, a few years old, really big if you are less than say, 5 feet 6 inches tall. However, if you prefer a cruiser type, 650cc onwards there are quite a few choices.
For an example, my budget drives my choices in Australia, where I live. I narrowed down to mostly Learner Approved in Australia 150cc to 650cc,
Budget is below$9000 for now.
Kawasaki 650(if budget allows)
Honda CB500F naked(single engine, intwin, not sure)
Hyosung 650 naked(older carb model, v-Twin)
Duke KTM 390
Suzuki S40(650cc single engine cruiser)
Honda 750cc cruiser used, around$5000 here
Very impressed with Yamaha V-Twin 1100cc Custom Cruiser
Others like BRAAP have some and so does Triumph offer some discounts but they are around 10 grand or the Rupees 5 lacs range(I have been away from India for long, not sure)
So you need to work on a choice and if you win the lotto, yes you could choose a Ducati or a Hayabusa. Else you need to do the math and come up with the closest that matches your "dream bike".
Of course, anyone would like to ride a Suzuki Hayabusa or a Kawasaki monster/Ducati 1190 but they cost a bit on maintenance. So a budget 650cc or a Honda 500 will do and 200 clicks on the highway, would be good occasionally. Now, only I could do that in India on a 650 Hyosung V Twin or a Honda 1100, that would be a dream bike!
So choosing depends on your personal likes, budget choices, with the kind of excellent choices in India now, prepare to be spoilt!
Good luck!