[Rajeevraj]

Came across these numbers on Two Wheeler Exports from India on AutoPunditz. Found it pretty interesting.

Some Observations:

• Although the local market is ruled by Hero and Honda, the export market is ruled by Bajaj. 6 of the Top 10 exported vehicles are from the Bajaj Stable.
  
  
• Africa and South America are the key export markets for Bajaj. As per the report, the Boxer is the biggest selling motorcycle in Africa. Boxer is far ahead of all the others.
  
  
• Bajaj exports models like the 200NS-Which is no longer sold here and even the Duke 125 which was never launched here.
  
  
• Both Hero Motors and Honda have poor export records. Hero fairs slightly better with some numbers for both Splendor and Pleasure. Honda being a global player, probably serves all its markets through local manufacturing.
  
  
• One would have expected the Activa to the most exported scooter from Honda. But it is actually the Dio that takes the honor.
  
  
• For TVS, the Star City seems to be the most successful export model.
  
  
• Royal Enfield numbers not too high. One would have expected bigger numbers considering their global expansion.

[LoneRidder]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Came across these numbers on Two Wheeler Exports from India on

I cannot believe the Boxer numbers! That's quite a revelation. I always wondered why Bajaj still kept pushing Boxer in the domestic market with relatively low numbers.

There always has been talks of poor parts quality from Bajaj. I now started to think, is it just a perception. With poor quality of parts, you cannot be exporting in such strong numbers!

Hero and Honda numbers could be low because of certain agreements that were in place during their Joint Venture, which is opening up now.

[subhro1988]

The success of Boxer in the export market of Africa and South America is on account of bike taxis which operate there. The taxi fleet prefer the no frills Boxer which makes up for the strong numbers for Bajaj.

[Urban_Nomad]

Numbers for all KTMs have taken a dip, especially the 390 - A whopping 39%!! What gives? AFAIK, these are exported to US, UK and Europe as well .... at least the 390 is. People awaiting the refreshed 2017 model?

At the same time, the Street 750 has made a massive jump of 64%. I guess the firangs perceive a desi Harley better than us desis do. The recent changes they made to the 750 and 883 range could also have contributed to the spurt

[aniketi]

Originally Posted by LoneRidder

I cannot believe the Boxer numbers! That's quite a revelation. I always wondered why Bajaj still kept pushing Boxer in the domestic market with relatively low numbers.

There always has been talks of poor parts quality from Bajaj. I now started to think, is it just a perception. With poor quality of parts, you cannot be exporting in such strong numbers!

Hero and Honda numbers could be low because of certain agreements that were in place during their Joint Venture, which is opening up now.

Boxer number is a real surprise for me as wll, i was like

Not sure why people think Bajaj has poor quality. I used Caliber 110 for almost 10 years and clocked more than 1 Lac kms on it without any major issue. Maintenance was very cheap and spares were available easily. Now i am using Pulsar 180 for last 8 years. Clocked around 50 K kms and still no major issue. Just normal servicing, that's it. Nothing else, i mean it.

Bajaj has below major advantages over Hero & Honda -

1 No Starting trouble, i mean it. I have seen people struggling to start their Hero Honda bikes in cold morning. No issue for my Bajaj's.
2 Mileage is good and dont come down over period of time. Lots of my friends faced this issue with their bikes apart from Bajaj.
3 Easy on pocket - Servicing costs are really moderate and never spend big amounts on anything. Service & Spares are available on almost every corner here in Maharashtra for Bajaj bikes.

Below are the little bit of disadvantages -

1 Shock absorber can be better. Bajaj's are not very good in this particular area. Pulsar is better though.
2 Gears get stuck sometimes, need to be more precise.

Overall i am very happy Bajaj customer.

I guess above points are main reason for Bajaj to sell so many bikes in Africa region which is more price sensitive. I am sure Bajaj must have done nice setup there to cater so many customers. Glad that indian company doing good outside India as well

[LoneRidder]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Bajaj has below major advantages over Hero & Honda -

1 No Starting trouble, i mean it. I have seen people struggling to start their Hero Honda bikes in cold morning. No issue for my Bajaj's.
2 Mileage is good and dont come down over period of time. Lots of my friends faced this issue with their bikes apart from Bajaj.
3 Easy on pocket - Servicing costs are really moderate and never spend big amounts on anything. Service & Spares are available on almost every corner here in Maharashtra for Bajaj bikes.

Hmm, somehow I did not have that good feeler from Bajaj. My wife had Bajaj Spirit and I was looking for the suspension kit and some additional parts, I roamed to all the Authorised Service Centres in Bangalore, around 6 years back, and to my surprise did not get it. They simply said no supply from company. To my fortunate, I had once noticed that Pondicherry was a city of Bajaj Spirit. I still don't know why, on an rough estimate, out of 10 two wheelers on road, 8 used to Spirit around 10 years back, and I always wondered some smuggling was happening , and I got the spares there in a local store (not in ASC). I have a Hero Honda Ambition that has run 70k. At one point, for more than 7 months, I had not used it. To my surprise with 1 kick start the engine fired up. I guess these experience different from product to product. Even after discontinuing the Ambition, I am able to get spares easily at ASC even today, not to mention, I have not changed any part except for the mud guard that was broken in a parking space.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Boxer number is a real surprise for me as wll, i was like

Not sure why people think Bajaj has poor quality. I used Caliber 110 for almost 10 years and clocked more than 1 Lac kms on it without any major issue. Maintenance was very cheap and spares were available easily. Now i am using Pulsar 180 for last 8 years. Clocked around 50 K kms and still no major issue. Just normal servicing, that's it. Nothing else, i mean it.

Bajaj has below major advantages over Hero & Honda -

1 No Starting trouble, i mean it. I have seen people struggling to start their Hero Honda bikes in cold morning. No issue for my Bajaj's.
2 Mileage is good and dont come down over period of time. Lots of my friends faced this issue with their bikes apart from Bajaj.
3 Easy on pocket - Servicing costs are really moderate and never spend big amounts on anything. Service & Spares are available on almost every corner here in Maharashtra for Bajaj bikes.

Below are the little bit of disadvantages -

1 Shock absorber can be better. Bajaj's are not very good in this particular area. Pulsar is better though.
2 Gears get stuck sometimes, need to be more precise.

Overall i am very happy Bajaj customer.

I guess above points are main reason for Bajaj to sell so many bikes in Africa region which is more price sensitive. I am sure Bajaj must have done nice setup there to cater so many customers. Glad that indian company doing good outside India as well

+1.
We owned the first gen Caliber and used for 30k kms in 4 years. Absolutely trouble-free and no nonsense bike. It used to return 50+ in the city and 60+ on the highway. Towards the end, the exhaust had started rusting, a common problem in earlier Bajaj bikes. Apart from that, we only changed the engine oil and got the chain tightened regularly.

We replaced the Caliber with a Caliber 115 (remember Hoodibaba?). Dad wanted to buy Wind because of the butter smooth engine. But the local Bajaj dealer who was our family friend, said that it will discontinued and exported only. Caliber was slightly less fuss-free but you can blame for it. I had learnt riding and was ruthless on this bike. It was light and extremely peppy in the city. It still does duty till date after it was given to one of dad's staffs. Must have covered 1L kms at least in 12 years.

I graduated to a Pulsar 150 DTSi(1st gen) and that was some bike. Extremely heavy built and felt indestructible. It returned 50+ kmpl in the city and 65+ (best figure is 68.8) on the highway. After using it for 6 years and 30k kms I found the tank rusting. Upon cleaning it, we found more than 1.5L of water and 2 fistfuls of sludge(rust and mud kind of) in the tank. Even the carb had this sludge. Strangely, there were no symptoms. The bike was free-revving and went up to 110kmph and returned the above mentioned FE.
After cleaning it, the bike covered another 20k kms before I sold it. It ran on stock clutch, stock chain sprockets and first replacement brake pads at 50k kms.

I upgraded to the Pulsar 180 and used it for 18k kms in 3 years. The bike returned 40-42 kmpl in the city and 45+ on the highways(highest being 54kmpl). The bike was all stock when my parents forced me to sell it.

After 4 Bajajs, I'm contemplating my next bike and it will be a Bajaj (200AS or the new 400). Heart still pines for the 180 and feel like getting one on a whim.

I have had a fair share of experience with Hero, Honda and TVS bikes (even LMLs too). While Hero and Honda feel too bland and slow to ME, TVS doesn't feel as refined and reliable (old Victor was good though).

Originally Posted by LoneRidder

Hmm, somehow I did not have that good feeler from Bajaj. My wife had Bajaj Spirit and I was looking for the suspension kit and some additional parts, I roamed to all the Authorised Service Centres in Bangalore, around 6 years back, and to my surprise did not get it. They simply said no supply from company. To my fortunate, I had once noticed that Pondicherry was a city of Bajaj Spirit. I still don't know why, on an rough estimate, out of 10 two wheelers on road, 8 used to Spirit around 10 years back, and I always wondered some smuggling was happening , and I got the spares there in a local store (not in ASC). I have a Hero Honda Ambition that has run 70k. At one point, for more than 7 months, I had not used it. To my surprise with 1 kick start the engine fired up. I guess these experience different from product to product. Even after discontinuing the Ambition, I am able to get spares easily at ASC even today, not to mention, I have not changed any part except for the mud guard that was broken in a parking space.

Spirit was a failed model for Bajaj. In fact, all its scooters failed badly. This is the reason for unavailability of parts. I had a Spirit for a few months (an old TD model) and I loved it a lot. It was much more comfortable than a Scooty. I had short TDs of the Saffire and the Wave. While the Saffire was just too smooth and yet super-silent, the Wave was a beast. The DTSi engine meant it pulled like crazy.