If anyone has seen the Yamaha Motorcycles website recently, they have decided to bring in to India the first really large capacity motorcycles. The largest capacity motorcycle in India is the 500cc Royal Enfield motorcycles. There was the BMW F650; but that was a big flop mainly because back then no one would have liked to pay Rs. 500000 for a 2 wheeler.
So what does Yamaha have lined up for the Indian market. They are bringing in 2 big capacity (by Indian standards) motorcycles in to India. This is after the government removed restriction on the import of motorcycles of more than 800cc.
This is a 1000cc, liquid cooled, 4 cylinder machine. Dual disks in front and single at the rear. The site claims to offer a top speed of 285 kmph. Wow! Thats faster than any car currently running on Indian roads right? Well, you can visit the site for the intricate details.
The MT01 has been around for some time now. Apart from looking really cool, it packs a mean torque punch. Torque like a Hammer is the tagline. Abundant use of technology and alternate materials make this motorcycle really striking. However, as I was checking out the European MT01, there is 1 major visible difference. The rear suspension. In the Indian model, the rear suspension is a monoshock kind of thing, but in the European model, the rear suspension is really cool.
The MT01 has titanium exhaust pipes with a cooling fan under the rear seat to keep the muffler cool. The engine is a 1670cc block with 150.3Nm of torque. Max speed is only about 210 kmph. That’s still faster than Indian cars.
Both these motorcycles will be priced around Rs. 10,00,000. Considering how the Indian economy is doing today, I really don’t know if people will be willing to spend this much again for a 2 wheeler.
So check out the motorcycles and lets see how they do!
Abhilash is a part time blogger and blogs about photography, technology and travel. When not blogging Abhilash is either selling outsourcing solutions to companies or indulging in marathon episodes of various science fiction shows and movies.
