[sankarx2]

In the late eighties, when liberalisation is yet to bring fresh air into Indian economy, 4 Japanese JVs gave us the first taste of reliable machines. Honda, Suzuki (motorcycles as well as cars), Yamaha, and Kawasaki. I learnt how freedom and motorcycles mean the same thing, thanks to one of these machines. A CD100. 97cc, 7.5 bhp, 110kg that runs 800+ km in one 12l tankful of petrol. For a student this meant a lot of freedom. I could change oil, clean the air filter and the Mikuni carburettor myself. If it drowns in a Kolkata flood, I could just remove the spark plug and crank it a few times to get the water out of the cylinder and without fail it would start as if nothing happened.

And then life and motorcycles got more complex.

After 1,00,000 km of this CD100, I moved on to cars. And just so as to not miss my love of motorcycling, I kept on trying machines one after another. An Avenger, a Duke 250, a Monster 796, a Duke 390 and a Z900 later I realised, motorcycle makers are lost just like me. And if they remain lost, there would not be any Che Guevaras left going on adventures, only chhapris doing wheelies on western express highway and racing their orange machines late at night.

My experience with the z900 and the Monster convinced me how good specs alone doesn't make a great bike. Just great suspensions, or just a great engine doesnt make one either.

I loved 99% of both these machines, but that missing 1% convinced me that I would never do 1,00,000 km on any of these machines. For example the Monster would stall sometimes at the signal, and it just seemed impossible to fix. That made the sweetest sounding motorcycle on earth difficult to live with. The z900 has the most reliable and smooth engine, but its weight distribution makes it less fun in the city than its specs sheet claims to be.

So, if there are motorcycle designers out there listening to Team-BHP, what would we think to be a great motorcycle.

Motorcycles should come in three distinct varieties.

1. Track machines - insane power more than enough to kill the rider, chewing gum tyres that do not last more than 5k kms.
2. ADVs - Over-engineered machines people buy to go to moon and mars.
3. Simple motorcycles - motorcycles that are like the next door girl whom you can marry. You can take her to office, ride a pillion with, and even take a long road trip.

Why is it that they make great track machines, and fantastic ADVs but they can make a simple motorcycles.

Let me give a few tips to them.

1. Start with a CD100 and add stuff to it. Do not do it the other way round, starting with a v4 street-fighter and subtract from it.
2. Since 7.5 bhp is too modest, try and upscale the engine to 40 bhp. Just enough to keep pace with a mini cooper. This probably means the displacement would be somewhere between 375 to 450cc.
3. Now strengthen the chassis for good handling. Use modern metallurgy to make it light yet robust. Ensure the weldings/joints are done with a lot of love.
4. Then replace the front forks with a USD one. Add a monoshock in the rear. Tune them such that there is no need for adjustment.
5. Add assist and slipper clutch, so that we dont miss hydraulic assist. And please please ensure gears shift in a nice click every time and neutrals are not elusive. Tune the gearbox in such a way that 0-100 needs minimum gear shifts but the bike can reach 160 kph top speed.
6. Add fantastic brakes, both discs front and rear (over-engineering no problem here) and quality tubeless tyres that are good trade off between longevity and grip.
7. Add all the state of the art safety electronics - wheelie control, rain-gravel-mud-sand-road modes, cornering abs, gps tracking, immobiliser.
8. With all these stuff the weight will probably reach 180kgs. Now subtract, use carbon fibre, aluminium or whatever to shave off 20 kgs.
9. put this together with the best fasteners and parts, in a way that doesn't leave hollow spaces and yet it should be easy to change oil or find the battery leads etc.
10. Keep the on road price between INR 3 lakh to 4 lakh. And service intervals 10,000 km.

There you got the bike that you can do 1,00,000 km on.

Why I argue for such a bike.

Primarily for class and safety. In a world where responsibility and sustainability is a virtue such a bike will find a lot of love.

Underpowered motorcycles are a huge risk now. In the eighties cars would have 40-50 bhps. 7.5 bhp motorcycles would make sense then.

But excessive power in a two wheeled machine is big risk too. I could not find the stats but from the incidents that I have seen in my motorcycling groups, these machines are giving a bad name to motorcycling. No motorcycle really needs more than 70 bhps. For 70 bhps a 600-800cc 2 cylinder engine should be sufficient.

4 cylinders, 1000 ccs boxer engines, belt or shaft drives, desmo valves and 200 kgs plus machines are ridiculous, at least for India.

I would also lobby for electronic aids, all possible such aids. Including the ability of GPS to trace and track and a crash sensor built in that has the ability to call emergency services.

Some of you wont like the idea of all the electronics and some will scoff at the idea of more than 70 bhp too much. We will agree to disagree.

Which motorcycle maker do you think can deliver this?

[Draken]

You kinda described the Triumph Speed 400 here. The reliability of the new engine and service quality is an unknown factor but it does tick most boxes here.

[Nikhildrao]

Barring adding carbon fibre and ultra lightweight tech(you're being unreasonable for the price stated) you basically described the Duke 390 ( next gen incoming) the ninja 400 and probably the upcoming Aprilia 440 twins.

[jetsetgo08]

Please don't get me wrong. I don't think most can retain a bike or car till it lasts 1L kms, unless they are emotionally attached to the vehicle.

Unlike the yester years, I believe the manufacturing, marketing ecosystem these days is built in such a way that the customer will be lured to swap bike or car every 3-5 years due to FOMO, otherwise they wouldn't survive.

So, buy a bike that tugs your heartstrings.

[sankarx2]

Originally Posted by jetsetgo08

Please don't get me wrong. I don't think most can retain a bike or car till it lasts 1L kms, unless they are emotionally attached to the vehicle.

You are correct, these days nobody retains a bike for 1L kms. But bikes do last 1L km and more. And they should. With sustainability and ESG becoming important longer lasting machines make a lot of sense.

Personally, I learnt that minor improvements and new features are not enough rationale to change your machine. Most of us do change but in a few months start looking to upgrade again. I also learnt that a consumerist approach doesn't go well with motorcycling as a philosophy. Partly it takes the fun away. But that's just someone's point of view.

[sankarx2]

Originally Posted by Draken

You kinda described the Triumph Speed 400 here. The reliability of the new engine and service quality is an unknown factor but it does tick most boxes here.

Speed 400 is almost there.

But I am a bit disappointed how, not just Triumph but generally all motorcycle manufacturers, don't do enough for safety tech. Some new electric scooters are ahead of them.

Speed 400 + crash sensor + gps and navigation (not just apple CarPlay) + little more braking power = something very close too my ideal bike.

[pratik_terni]

@sankarx2 I completely agree with you on the "simple motorcycle" part.
The first bike that came to my mind after reading your post was the Honda CB400 Super four with ABS.
It has a timeless design, comfortable seating, relaxed riding posture, a beautiful sounding inline four, enough power for our Indian roads and proven Honda reliability over the years.
The only issue, if it ever made its way officially to India would be the absurd pricing that Honda would launch it with.

I am sure that it can easily be ridden around for 1L kms.

[doga]

A very interesting thread. Like someone else said above, you seem to describe a duke 390. I know many gen1 BS3 examples nearing 60-70k on the odo, albeit with some engine work, but pretty sure the newer gen bikes should last 100k.
I said duke 390 as you limited the price to 4 lacs.
However, my dream 'small' bike would be a 90s era RVF 400 or a CBR400RR even. Bullet proof motorcycles(gear driven cams) and would give today's bikes a run for their money. No electronic safety net however. They have racked tremendous miles in the west. I admit racking higher mileages there with their clean high quality fuel and buttery roads is much easier than here but I feel 150k is very realistic in an Indian environment if taken good care for.