Garware Motors, the local partner of Hyosung motorcycles in India has indicated that the now well known GT 650 and the ST7 Cruiser will be launched officially on the 20th of this month. Some websites are also reporting that the prices have been decided with the single colour GT 650 sports bike retailing around Rs. 5.05 lakhs and going to near Rs 5.40 lakhs for the double coloured variants and a whopping price of Rs. 5.95 lakhs for the ST7 Cruiser.
Yearly Archives: 2011
Wheelsunplugged.com has put out a very interesting story about India Yamaha Motors. Saying that the company was unable to sell enough vehicles in the mass segment of 100cc and 125cc the company is looking for a local partner who can provide inexpensive technology and manufacturing processes to take on the might of Hero Honda, Bajaj, TVS and Honda India. The report even says that India Yamaha Motors is willing to divest a part of its share to the local partner who has this ability. Apparently this proposal was put in front of some banks which claim to have suggested some names already and that Yamaha will revert back to them in a couple of weeks. If this report is true, then it is strange, unless of course, Yamaha is sending signals to any of the biggies that it is open for collaboration. Hero has ended its joint venture with Honda and will get Honda’s support for only three more years. Could Yamaha be looking at Hero? Or is it looking at Bajaj which is known for its frugal engineering practices? Well the last two questions are our imagination running “riot” but could be somehow true, especially since Hero has no R&D of its own but knows the Indian market rather well.
The new Hyundai Verna and its coming to India have become old hat already. Most of the car magazines and some websites have put up driving impressions of the car after they had driven a left hand drive version in Dubai on invitation from Hyundai Motor India. The car is scheduled to be launched officially in May (towards the second week) and since enquiries at the dealers have been quite prolific, the company and the dealers are reportedly taking bookings by collecting an amount of Rs. 50,000. The car is expected to retail in the Rs. 7 to Rs. 9 lakh price range and like the upcoming Fiesta is aimed squarely at the Honda City and the Volkswagen Vento. It is anticipated that the car will come with four engine options, two diesel and and two petrol.
The Technical Director of Williams F1 Team, Sam Michael has shown character in taking the blame on to himself for the dismal performances of the team in the three races held so far. Michael has said that all the procedures and methodologies going into the creation of the Williams F1 car will be thoroughly reviewed and the most appropriate action taken to rectify the problems. He took responsibility for the bad showing of the team saying that as Technical Director he put people in different roles and if there was problem the buck stops at his doorstep. Michael even showed a willingness to change his own position in the team or leave the team altogether if that was going to be for the good of the team. This spirit is worth applauding. Bravo Sam Michael, we hope that a solution can be found without your having to quit.
Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner has said that the team was trying to find a solution for its mercurial and temperamental KERS problems. This he said should ideally be done by the next Grand Prix at Istanbul, the Turkish GP in two weeks time. The extra time he believed could be used for intensively looking at the problem and finding a solution to it. He also defended the two stop strategy that was used for Sebastian Vettel at the Chinese GP in Shanghai yesterday, saying that for their team it was the most appropriate. In the post race interviews Vettel had hinted that the two stop strategy may have not been ideal and that he should also have stopped three times like race winner Lewis Hamilton.
Luca DI Montezemolo, the high profile boss of Ferrari has told his team and its engineers that what they have today as a racing car was unacceptable since it was not producing wins from its drivers. He therefore has instructed everyone concerned that a quick fix to things was to be applied and the company returned to glory. Sensible isn’t it? Instead of saying things like Ferrari are always winners come what may and all those kind of stupid things. Meanwhile Massa cannot stop gloating since he has beaten Alonso fair and square on the track. Someone ought to remind Massa that while he may have beaten Alonso he has looked like everything except a race winner.
Hub center steering, as alien as it may look, has been around for a long time. There have been numerous attempts at building a hub steered motorcycle by manufacturers and custom motorcycle builders alike.
Bimota Tesi 3D, Yamaha GTS 1000
Tier Motosports, based out of Sunnyvale, California, plans to sell front swing arm-suspension kits for Yamaha off roaders. These kits utilize hub steering in tandem with Tier’s patented four bar steering mechanism. One huge drawback of hub steering, is that the steering angle is relatively less compared to a front telescopic fork setup. The four bar steering mechanism comes to the rescue by giving a much smaller turning radius for the same steering angle.
Tier Motorsport’s founder, Jean-Michel Thiers has worked as a senior engineer at Yamaha. They have been in the news for their hub steered, single side front swingarm Yamaha R1 concept. Riot Engine has been following their progress since, and we have to say, their off road kits are very interesting.
You can follow the development of the offroad kits at www.hiters.com They use Pro-E to create renderings. They have also put up some well made analysis videos comparing the hub steered setup to conventional front forks, which should excite the enthusiast.
There are such interesting bike builders in India, who abhor building fibre glass kits for Pulsars and Apaches and instead prefer building supercharger kits and alternative suspension for motorcycles. Riot Engine will be featuring them in the coming months.
Image Courtesy:
Pashnit Forums – Bob’s Yamaha GTS 1000
Bimota America – Tesi 3D
Subaru has released a teaser image of the Subaru XV Concept, to be launched at the Shanghai Motor Show. Subaru has for most of its product launches in the recent years been releasing teasers, that are images that have more black in them than any other colour! You would have to pick out the design lines from the black abyss. This time though, you can easily distinguish the raked tail lamps, head lamps that we are guessing have daytime running lights and alloys that seem to go well with the rest of the car.
Subaru, in its press release
The SUBARU XV CONCEPT is a design concept car that defines a new generation of crossover vehicle, blending exceptional SUV practicality with a fashionable form. It was specifically designed for customers who are looking for a vehicle offering looks, benefits and a packaging that stretch beyond those from the populated crowd of existing crossover models. At its heart is the core theme of “Enjoyment and Peace of mind”, and a promise to deliver, in line with Subaru’s new brand statement, “Confidence in Motion”. With truly innovative styling, this new generation design concept car combines Subaru’s Crossover-like driving excitement with a revolutionary inspiring feel, playful nature, the proven comfort and reliability of the renowned Subaru’s Symmetrical AWD (All-Wheel Drive) system.
The World Superbike Championship is proving to be good for ageing MotoGP refugees. After being thwarted by Jonathan Rea in the first race, the grand old men of two wheeled racing, Carlos Checa on the Althea Ducati and Massimiliano Biaggi on the Alitalia April finished race2 in first and second positions relegating Rea on the Castrol Honda to a third place finish. Marco Melandri could not complete the race and it was left to Eugene Laverty another GP refugee to fly the flag for Yamaha in P6 while Leon Camier and Leon Haslam finished in 4th and 5th places for BMW and Aprilia respectively. Kawasaki’s misery continued Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz finishing in 11th and 12th positions while Chris Vermeulen faded out in race1 and did not start in race2. Kawasaki is threatening to once again clinch the wooden spoon after all the hype and hoopla at the beginning of the season.
Chaz Davies astride a Yamaha R6 clinched victory in the World Supersport race at Assen today. The race was disrupted by serious accidents for Lowes and then for Alexander Lundh. Lowes high sided and knocked himself unconscious bringing out the red flag for the first time. Lowes was later shifted to hospital for treatment of concussion to his head. The second red flag was brought out by when Lundh was brought down by Marko Jerman and when he was stricken on the circuit Lundh was hit by another rider. Ultimately when the race restarted and the checkered flag fell it was Chaz Davies who took victory and is now within a shout of the leaders in the championship.