Sexy bikes to lust after!
Text and photographs: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com
Bikes from Indian Motorcycle, the all-American bike maker who has been around since the Royal Enfield era of 1901s, were launched in India by Polaris Industries, the world leader in all-terrain vehicles in 2011.
The only two-wheeler pavilion which did not use hot models (male/female ) to attract visitors to their stall depended completely on their these bikes' oomph quotient. And rightly so because the Indian Motorcycle Pavilon was swarming with visitors all the time.
These big, erm, these huge dream machines were ogled at more than the hot models at Auto Expo.
What made this pavilion most interesting were the Indian Scout and the Indian Chief Dark Horse, placed interestingly in an upward angle, which left the visitors speechless and vying for selfies.
The 1130 cc Indian Scout which gives out a whopping 98.7 bhp is available in Mumbai for an ex-showroom price of Rs 13,41,986 onwards while the Indian Chief Dark Horse costs a whopping Rs 22,99,000 onwards!
At the pavilion, attracting all the attention was the newly launched 2016 Blue Diamond Indian Roadmaster.
The Roadmaster which was officially revealed in 2014 as a luxury touring motorcycle has very evidently recieved cosmetic and luxury upgrades.
Quite different from other models it rivals only the Harley Davidson Electra Glide.
Price... well... it costs more than most some luxury cars... Rs 38,14,250 ex-showroom in Mumbai, to be precise.
The other bike unveiled at the Auto Expo was the Indian Chief Classic.
The new Roadmaster and the Chief Classic share the same 1811cc Thunderstroke 111 engine and the same power output.
The instrument cluster on both the bikes though are very different. The Chief Classic's instrument panel is simple and clean and the bike comes at an ex-showroom price of Rs 27,16,999 in Mumbai. While the Roadster boasts of everything it has on its instrument console.
Equally impressive were the other bikes showcased at the Indian Motorcycle Pavilion. The Indian Chief Vintage with its trademark willow green and ivory shades seemed ready to grab a lot of eyeballs and bike enthusiasts made all the efforts to get the feel of the bike.
Who would not when a bike costing Rs 30,30,499 (ex-showroom, Mumbai) would be almost out of reach for many of us!
The visitors simply ignored the messages on all the displays. For them 'Do Not Touch' meant 'Do Not See' the message.
The Indian Chieftain, the iconic soft bagger motorcycle from Indian Motorcycle which has a 1940s styling and also one of the more expensive bikes from the Indian stable at Rs 30,30,499 (ex-showroom, Mumbai) was the first bike which ushered the visitors to the Pavilion.
