MotoGP 2019 Rider Contracts- The horse trade and the outcome
After loads of speculations and alleged rumors, the MotoGP riders horse trade for all factory teams come to a conclusion and we now have a clear picture of 2019. The latest news being Joan Mir signing a contract with Suzuki factory for 2019 and 2020. All the satellite teams have already signed at least one rider for upcoming seasons except for Aspar Ducati. Here's an overview of the horse trade that was involved in the signing of various riders to the respective teams.
Bajaj Dominar is such a bike which can impress even a premium bike owner. It's not just the ABS and the triple spark engine, but how all of it comes together in just under Rs 2 lakh. With its versatile nature, super affordable price tag and consumer-friendly build, one can easily live with the Dominar 400.
From Bajaj to TVS, almost every performance motorcycle manufacturer has had his share of experience in the world of stunt riding. Regardless of the manufacturer competing in these events, they all seem to use specially designed stunt bikes which have different equipment from their everyday counterpart. In this article, we are going to dissect all those components and learn what makes a good stunt bike.
The bike launched by Bajaj in 2012 was way ahead of its time. So much so that the company decided to stop its production and relaunch it in 2017. I am talking about the Pulsar 200 NS. It is the most successful concept to have ever come out of Bajaj’s R&D. The bike sits on a perimeter platform which has extensively been used in Pulsar RS 200, AS 200, NS 160, AS 150 (NS = Naked sport, AS = Adventure sport, RS = Race sport) and Dominar 400. Despite branching off to so many genres, the NS 200 still remains the most preferred bike in the sports series of Bajaj motorcycles and rightly so, Let me explain why.
Stunting is really close to my heart. Although I have never been able to perform stunts myself, I have worked closely with several stunters over the years in helping them build a good stunt bike. While the topic of building such a bike is another article in itself, today I wanna talk about top 5 used motorcycles which can be used as a practice stunt bike. There are many advantages of using an old-bike for stunting like cost-effectiveness, easy serviceability and a large number of available generic parts. A used bike is obviously cost effective in many ways; it has been in the market for a long time, its service can easily be done by mechanics outside dealership. So without wasting any time let’s take a look at the bikes.
It’s the battle of the Naked motorcycles. Pulsar 200 NS has been in our market, almost unchanged since 2012. It is only challenged by its foreign sibling the KTM Duke 200. On the side of the Japanese, the FZ-25 represents the collective stride of Yamaha’s R&D which has given us a specially designed bike for India. So without wasting any time, let’s compare these two and settle the score.
Royal Enfield is a brand known for making low powered cruisers which double up as everyday commuters. The company sells around 70,000 units each month because these motorcycles look retro and have a classic bike charm to them. Moreover, these bikes project themselves as big and tough but they ride slower than a 125 cc TVS Victor. That’s exactly what makes them sell so much, Royal Enfields are those bikes which are easy and safe to ride and they give you the appearance of a seasoned rider by overshadowing your riding speed with it’s classic and retro look.
One would think that the coming of such an invention must spell an end-point for the old naked style motorcycles, but that was never the case. In fact, naked bikes now are more popular than ever. So let’s take a look at the current motorcycle trend which is fueling the birth of new Naked counterparts of famous faired motorcycles.
From Honda to Bajaj, Colour update or as the Motorcycle Industry likes to call it “Graphical Update” has been the Ultimate tool for Manufacturers to justify releasing a “new” model of the same bike. It has become nothing short of a half-baked attempt to lure in more customer, in order to hand over them the same old product. We think its about time that this whole “process” must update itself, as no longer a simple colour update supports the definition of a revised Motorcycle.
There is no other 125 cc bike which can match the looks and ferocity of Duke 125. It is probably the best looking 125 cc in the market and it deserves to be called so. The radical design of the motorcycle is carried over from the Super Duke 1290 and it speaks volume about the nature of the bike. Among all things which Duke 125 is, its availability in India is not one of them. It is available in Bangladesh due to some reason. Anyways, let’s take a look at this bike in detail and see how much of a “firestarter” it actually is.
