[swami.n]

Originally Posted by timuseravan

maybe for second place?
..

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Second place is quite interesting isn't it?

But the NTorq is a real surprise - seems to have surprised many people - and sales have been rising steadily too.

Probably the 3rd place is where the competition is. As I mentioned in my initial post, I did expect the 650 twins to win without any competition and the Jawa to come at a very distant 2nd and Ather in 3rd.
But it is very heartening to see the efforts of TVS getting so much recognition with the Ntorq fighting neck and neck with the Ather. That TVS is certainly a terrific product which most manufacturers except the Aprilia, did not even bother to venture into.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by swami.n

Probably the 3rd place is where the competition is.

Second place was a tie among the three contenders when I posted this yesterday, but Jawa seems to have pulled a massive lead on the Ather and NTorq afterwards.

If i were to guess - I'd say that GTO's mass PM to the community yesterday brought in many votes outside of those who were keenly following the motorcycle subforum. But even they have noticed the hype surrounding Jawa and hence the huge jump in votes afterwards.

I expect the Jawas to sell well, unless they mess up the quality.

[swami.n]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Second place was a tie among the three contenders when I posted this yesterday, but Jawa seems to have pulled a massive lead on the Ather and NTorq afterwards.

If i were to guess - I'd say that GTO's mass PM to the community yesterday brought in many votes outside of those who were keenly following the motorcycle subforum. But even they have noticed the hype surrounding Jawa and hence the huge jump in votes afterwards.

I expect the Jawas to sell well, unless they mess up the quality.

Yes, I too saw a sudden surge in votes in the last day or two. This would mean the RE and Jawas are going to further pull away from the rest and NTorq having a real chance to seal 3rd

Initial reports suggest that the Jawas do have the opportunity to sell in decent numbers. But they are quite some years away from seriously denting the Classic. One, the Jawa cult is very limited in size compared to the RE cult and two, Jawa has a lot of catching up to do in terms of service availability in remote areas, where RE has already penetrated. The advantage of being in continuous production.

The Jawa might actually kill the Dominar, with already poor sales, which tried to be the Classic killer. The Jawas are the real power cruisers, with better power and refinement than the thumpers and got the looks to match, which the Dominar pretended to be. Don't get me wrong, the Dominar is a real awesome VFM machine, but unfortunately instead of creating a new segment, took on the wrong bike and brand with spoof type ads and got stamped by the Haathi :-)

I am surprised why none of the so called Japanese giants are reluctant to compete in the Classic/Retro segment with a decent 250cc bike. They do have the capability and experience , but all they want to sell us is commuters

It is the Indian manufacturers like TVS, Bajaj, RE and Mahindra who are reinventing themselves.

[COMMUTER]

I have voted for the R15. Yamaha has managed to read the pulse of the Indian populace much more clearly and has given the ever elusive proportionate mix of frugality, ease of maintenance, reliabilty and performance at the price the common man can aspire for.

Yes the RE 650s are a fresh breeze but they have been way long in coming.They have stopped making the RE an aspiration of the common man and have hype priced it out of the reach of common enthusiast. Above all there is a possibility of the trepidation in the owners regarding the FE and the maintenance may not turn out to be unfounded in a couple of years.

[Vibhanshu0923]

Voted for the RE 650 twins hands down!

I have been on the fence between the haters and fanboys of RE for quite some time now. I love the retro look of the classic series but hate the mechanically-half-cooked nature of the bikes (barring the Himalayan, which i feel is quite a niche and practical product suited for touring on the terrain our country has to offer).

But the 650 twins have made me a RE fanboy just for the sheer brilliance of the whole package. Engine, brakes, gearbox, clutch, vibrations all have been sorted and are right there with the best. Add to that an impressive pricing strategy and RE have not 1 but 2 winners at hand. They have opened a new segment of affordable big bikes which are powerful on the highways and not a pain on the daily commute as well. Affordable, Practical performance. With other manufacturers having no option but to follow suit, good things are in store for Indian bikers.

[SS-Traveller]

The car/bike of the year, to my mind, should be the most ground-breaking vehicle, which does not have any reasonable alternative among other products in the market. Necessarily, it should also be futuristic.

The Ather twins therefore get my vote.

[RGK]

I voted for Jawa Twins. The same old look and the nostalgia brought by these bikes helped in my decision. Definitely, it is going to be a no-nonsense bike for the Indian riders.

[tharian]

Voted for the Royal Enfield.
Getting that much bike for that price did it for me.

[ashwinprakas]

Voted for the Hero Xtreme 200R.

This being the only made for Indian roads, Air Cooled, Carburetor fed motorcycle equipped with ABS available at a price that one simply can't resist considering what the competition offers.

[Surya-TJet]

Voted for the 650 Twins.

Simply because RE has made a huge change in their product portfolio which has ensured that everyone in the motorcycle world has been shaken.

Personally having owned a TBTS500 for 3.5 years and 39k kms; I can vouch for the improvements they have made. Also, this simplicity in design and integration should hopefully make the bike mod-friendly.

Looking forward to reliability reports from early adopters so that I can grab one before BS6 kicks in.

[NaXal]

Sad to see R15 V3 lose out to Enfield by such margin.

Two of the most influential product this year has been R15 and BMW G310.

G310 is by far the best tourer. I would rate it much higher than Enfield Twins. 390 watts alternator, perfect for any tourer who know the necessity of extra / auxiliary headlights. So it's suspension setup. Such a comfortable ride, out classes Enfield by miles. Power curve and gear ratio are just spot on for a touer. But the main issues are the pricing and dealship availability. It's a blunder to price this made in India bike at par with Kawasaki Z250. That too with such a low number of dealerships.

However R15 has no such pricing or dealership issue and what a bike it is. I feel the TeamBHP criteria of membership is the main cause for such a low number of votes. Most of the memeber are matured enough to overlook the wishbone of Gen M and their back strength. VVTi engineering, first in Made in India product at such price tag. A bike which shines in track and can be your daily commute without a single mod. A bike wants lower attention than Honda / Hero 100cc when it comes to maintaining or durability and offers out standing fuel economy at any road you throw at it. Butter smooth experience even at its redline with a killer look.

Though ZMA or CBZ introduced performance itch to us. Pulsars enabled us to purchase but undoubtedly it's the R15 which made us dream for a performance bike. A dream which was within reach of masses. Glad to see Yamaha taking the legacy forward with such style.

[pkulkarni.2106]

While we have TVS Radeon here, why not Suzuki Intruder?
Ain't nobody got time for that ?



No offense to whoever owns the bike, but I'd have loved to see TBHP's opinion on that bike.


Edit: Just saw that it was the Intruder FI that was launched in 2018. My bad!

[neil.jericho]

When it came to voting for the TBHP bike(s) of the year 2018, just like with the car of the year voting, I had to see which motorcycle(s) really threw down the gauntlet to its competition. With all due respect to the shortlisted motorcycles that made the list this year, there are only two motorcycles that really changed the game, not just in India but globally, and they are the Royal Enfield 650 twins. Well done, Royal Enfield!


Honorable mentions go to Suzuki for the
- Suzuki Burgman Street : After a long time, a manufacturer has tried something different in the scooter segment.
- Suzuki GSX S 750 : Late to the middle weight party but a lovely bike nonetheless.
- Suzuki V Strom : Cue the titanic music for the Versys 650!


Im waiting to see the Jawa bikes in person before jumping on the hype train, the pictures shared on the forum a few days ago were most disappointing.

Originally Posted by NaXal

However R15 has no such pricing or dealership issue and what a bike it is. I feel the TeamBHP criteria of membership is the main cause for such a low number of votes. Most of the memeber are matured enough to overlook the wishbone of Gen M and their back strength. VVTi engineering, first in Made in India product at such price tag. A bike which shines in track and can be your daily commute without a single mod.

There is also the matter of Yamaha having made some blunders with the launch of the R15 V3. One, there is no ABS which is a poor decision by Yamaha however you look at it. Two, overall quality is a step down from Yamaha standards - there are ugly weld spots, plastics are a disappointment and there are a lot of complaints about the tank flexing.

[NaXal]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

There is also the matter of Yamaha having made some blunders with the launch of the R15 V3. One, there is no ABS which is a poor decision by Yamaha however you look at it. Two, overall quality is a step down from Yamaha standards - there are ugly weld spots, plastics are a disappointment and there are a lot of complaints about the tank flexing.

First of all I have to agree on this. I have an wonderful ownership experience with R15 V1 first lot a decade ago. It is disappointing with present Yamaha products, the quality of any of their present line up doesn't give that solid feel like my first gen R15.

However this is a grudge I have with all most all manufacturers. Made in India products from Honda and Yamaha are losing that edge over domestic brands. Speaking of which, name any Made in India product up there in that poll, they all suffer from quality issue in some form or another.

It's just choosing between something in its class with less issues.

Very unfortunate, even after paying premium for quality over some other brand, we end up with some issue or another. On a broader aspect, I feel this is more of an issue of our legal or regulation system. Business get away without being pinalized for substandard products or services.

Thanks

[srh]

For me, it is undoubtedly the RE twins. This is the first time that the over priced and expensive to maintain foreign brands are being challenged by a seriously good product at a very competitive price. This is disruptive and will help in exponential growth in the 'non-commuter' segment of the market. While I though that Baja might be the player who would throw the gauntlet at the existing players, it turned out to be RE.