2008 Suzuki Boulevard M109r on 2040-motos

Moto blog

New Delhi Auto Expo 2012 – Motorcycle Manufacturers Draw Battle Lines for World’s Second Largest Market

In past years, the biennial Auto Expo in India slipped under the radar while the industry was focused more on shows such as EICMA in Italy and Intermot in Germany. But with India’s middle class starting to flex its financial muscle while other markets continue to struggle, the New Delhi show is becoming much more prominent, with major OEMs positioning themselves to claim a piece of the India’s 13 million vehicles-a-year market. We’ve already looked at India-produced Royal Enfield’s new Thunderbird 500 and Hero Moto’s hybrid scooter concept which debuted at the Auto Expo, and today we’ll look at what the major international OEMs presented.

Teaser: 2012 Japanese Literbike Shootout – Video

The last time we assembled the superbike offerings from the Big Four Japanese manufacturers to determine the alpha male model was 2009. The CBR won that confrontation, but a lot’s changed since then. For 2012 Honda revamped the CBR1000RR, Yamaha added traction control to the R1, the GSX-R1000 lost a muffler and last year Kawasaki introduced an all-new ZX-10R.

Goodbye RM85 Suzuki

An old friend dropped in this weekend, on his way back from an arse-killing 4,500 mile ride to Estoril and back to watch the MotoGP race. He has only ever ridden Harley chops and old stuff with the exception of his vague nod at practicality and modernity - an ancient, very, very high mileage R1100GS BMW. I made him a brew and some pasta arrabiatta then made him ride my 2011 Fireblade.