It’s December
and its Vagator, so it has got to be very hot and humid. It’s noisy with EDM music taking over the
airwaves fighting with the noise of motorcycles revving up insistently.
Now this is the India
Bike Week and this scene is being played over a vast area of land. On a
landscape transformed by temporary tracks, pop up shops and dj terminals, it
makes for a very crazy but interesting affair. Martin Da Costa CEO, Seventy
Event Media Group said he expected around 20,000 bikers to be present over two
days and this would certainly make it the largest bike show in Asia. At the
time of speaking to the press, around 6000 riders had registered and it was
usually for another 10,000 to 14,000 to ride in. There were riders coming in
from places as different as Kerala and the guide who helped him in Bhutan who
would be coming over on his Royal Enfield. Every year he said the bike event
was getting bigger and this year would be no different. He expected a large
number of women bikers to participate this year.
Speaking about the
primary attractions this year, he said there were the Super Six events, where
participants can take part in racing, learn from experiences of leading bikers,
groove to pulsating music and shop for a range of biking accessories.
IBW 2019 Track Days
will have an exclusive Harley-Davidson flat track race where the winner can
pocket a cool 50k. Bikers finishing second and third will get 30k and 20k,
respectively. Other track events include IBW Hill Climb, Enduro Track, and Moto
Mob. One will also be able to interact with Giovanni Sala (six-time world
Enduro champion), Rok Bagoros (international celebrity stunter), and FMX 4 Ever
(international freestyle Motocross team). Participants will be able to hear
from leading Indian biking professionals such as Aishwarya Pissay (first Indian
to win a world title), Rajini Krishnan (first Indian winner of Asian Road
Racing Championship), Simran King (National Champion – JK tyre 1000 cc
category) and Ashish Raorane (first Indian to complete 2019 FIM BAJA World
Championship).
Speaking to young
enthusiasts at the venue, most were excited by the fact that there would be
several launches at the bike week. One of the most anticipated launches for
nearly half a decade, the KTM 390 Adventure will finally make its way to India at
IBW 2019. It is not the out-and-out adventure bike every thought it would be,
but a comfortable tourer instead. Although not showcased at EICMA 2019, KTM
silently introduced the 250 Adventure as well for Asian markets and the new
offering is also expected to be introduced at India Bike Week 2019. The baby
orange ADV will use the same underpinnings as the 390, albeit with lesser
equipment and a smaller engine on offer.
The Swedes will have
a bike on Indian roads with the launch of Husqvarna. The manufacturer was
bought by the KTM Group in 2013 and its first motorcycles for India will be the
Vitpilen 401 and the Svartpilen 401 that share the underpinnings with the KTM
390 Duke.
Nipoon Sinha GM sales
and service of Indian Motorcycle smiled and said he was aware the market was
depressed but the sales numbers generated by him were ok by his company. He
said “Biking is all about the road, it is all about the passion and one should
never forget that”. Riding these vehicles which were very sophisticated made for
a real experience and was a joy of life another man said. The India Bike Week
serves all kinds of purposes.
The
all-new Triumph Rocket III that gets a complete overhaul in terms of design and
powertrain. There are two new variants – R and GT – with the former sporting a
more aggressive riding stance while the GT is more touring friendly and finally
with a growing demand for electric motorcycles, Orxa Energies, the
Bengaluru-based company will unveil the Mantis electric motorcycle in Goa.
