[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by sgmuser

It's going to be either RC390, Dominor 400 or this for me in a couple of months.

Three completely different bikes no? The RC390 is the most hard-edged of the three, the Dominar is more of a sporty cruiser aesthetic and comes no where near the 390 in terms of acceleration or top speed, the Akula is sort of like a soft sportbike. I would imagine if you're interested in the Akula, your other contenders would be bikes like the Ninja 300, R3, CBR250

[sgmuser]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Three completely different bikes no? The RC390 is the most hard-edged of the three, the Dominar is more of a sporty cruiser aesthetic and comes no where near the 390 in terms of acceleration or top speed, the Akula is sort of like a soft sportbike. I would imagine if you're interested in the Akula, your other contenders would be bikes like the Ninja 300, R3, CBR250

OT!

I knew. I am not going to be using it on regular basis. I shortlisted these on various factors. RC390 for the fun quotient, Dominor 400 for the design and Akula for BMW gene! Also if you notice I shortlisted the bikes around 400CC except for the Akula. The reason I mentioned above and was added recently!

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by sgmuser

I knew. I am not going to be using it on regular basis...

I understand that but I feel it is imperative that you know exactly what kind of ergonomics you want to take advantage of no matter how rarely you ride. Only then will you be able to extract the most out of every ride. You need to know which ergonomics you favour the most IMO before making a bike purchase.

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by Haroon

the TVS route may be better. Therefore, the bike can be sold at TVS prices and not premium BMW prices and more importantly, if you know BMW labor costs for service it has some points system thats fixed in the BMW dealer system worldwide for each task and that will work out to a ridiculous amount for the service of the bike. Ofcourse, BMW knows that better and may perhaps have a different system specific for the 310, but these are my thoughts. Lets see how it goes.

Haroon,

You have some very valid points there.

In fact I believe this was very thought process that was behind the Indo - Jap JVs that came about in the two wheeler world in India from the early 1980s, starting with Yamaha RD350 being marked under the brand of Rajdoot and like

That progressed on to Ind-Suzuki, Hero Honda & Kawsaki - Bajaj so on and so forth.

The bigger brand tested out the Indian waters hiding behind our desi brands and rest is history.

Though late the Europeans seem to have caught on to it and "Indian BMW" will have the same success

Best Regards & Ride Safe

Ram

[sgmuser]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

I understand that but I feel it is imperative that you know exactly what kind of ergonomics you want to take advantage of no matter how rarely you ride. Only then will you be able to extract the most out of every ride. You need to know which ergonomics you favor the most IMO before making a bike purchase.

I opted for RC as it is a bike with proper racing style. Duke looks more of commuter style and that's why I wanted to get the RC. Other than that both Duke and RC are same including price! I might change this! The other complaint I hear more often Duke's heat especially in city rides. Cowl and fairing in RC should help in someway in that scenario.

[swiftnfurious]

Off-Topic:

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

...In fact I believe this was very thought process that was behind the Indo - Jap JVs that came about in the two wheeler world in India from the early 1980s, starting with Yamaha RD350 being marked under the brand of Rajdoot and like

That progressed on to Ind-Suzuki, Hero Honda & Kawsaki - Bajaj so on and so forth.

The bigger brand tested out the Indian waters hiding behind our desi brands and rest is history...

Sorry, wrong info! In those days the foreign entities were not allowed to venture into India on their own. They had to tie up with some Indian firm, form a JV and then only sell their products. Maruti-Suzuki, Mahindra-Ford, Toyota-Kirloskar were all because of that.

This clause (on forming JVs) was removed/amended some years back after which new entrants can come in as their own and the JVs were allowed to split into individual entities too. This is why you see premium brands come in individually and (one of the) reasons for split between Hero-Honda etc.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by sgmuser

I opted for RC as it is a bike with proper racing style. Duke looks more of commuter style and that's why I wanted to get the RC. Other than that both Duke and RC are same including price!

Racing style? Commuter style? First of all all KTM products are extremely focused and dedicated performance machines in their respective segments. The Duke390 is the best looking streetnaked you will find and if you feel it looks like a commuter bike, then god knows what you think bikes like the FZ25 look like. Cruisers?

Originally Posted by sgmuser

I might change this! The other complaint I hear more often Duke's heat especially in city rides. Cowl and fairing in RC should help in someway in that scenario.

That's the first sensible thing I've read you say, which is precisely why I spoke about ergonomics. If you are willing to consider how much heat deflection a fairing allows for, why not also consider the better engine refinement, lesser fatigue on wrists and neck at lower speeds in traffic with the Duke 390? You really need to peg down what ergonomics are best suited to you buddy or else biking will be a very short love affair for you.

[sgmuser]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

That's the first sensible thing I've read you say

This may be the first "sensible thing I said" in my life!

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

why not also consider the better engine refinement, lesser fatigue on wrists and neck at lower speeds in traffic with the Duke 390? You really need to peg down what ergonomics are best suited to you buddy or else biking will be a very short love affair for you.

Did I understand you correctly? You said there is difference in refinement between Duke and RC? Is it so? I did not compare both yet by riding back to back. I will do that for sure. But, the commuter style somehow does not excite me! But refinement is of seriously critical to me!

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by sgmuser

Did I understand you correctly? You said there is difference in refinement between Duke and RC? Is it so? I did not compare both yet by riding back to back. I will do that for sure. But, the commuter style somehow does not excite me! But refinement is of seriously critical to me!

Well yes the Duke comes with an updated motor which is more refined, smoother in its power delivery, less prone to heating etc.

[AtheK]

Seems expected date of release is August/September now. Guess it will geet pushed to next year before it hits the showrooms.

http://auto.ndtv.com/news/tvs-apache...vealed-1692647

[Haroon]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Seems expected date of release is August/September now. Guess it will geet pushed to next year before it hits the showrooms.

http://auto.ndtv.com/news/tvs-apache...vealed-1692647

The link talks of the fully-faired sport bike and as we were guessing, India gets the TVS bike, not the BMW. No complaints there if its just a different badge but shares the heart and all other components of the BMW bike.

However, no mention of the much anticipated naked equivalent of the BMW G310R. I am presuming the concept of 'entry level sport-bike' is going to be the USP from TVS, and depending on how well this model does in India (ie., pricing, performance, quality etc), they may then probably decide on the naked version. If thats the case, then the GS equivalent adventure version seems to be a distant dream unless the similar bikes from Honda etc, competing in the RE Himalayan segment, start selling in larger numbers.

Hoping for the best.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by Haroon

The link talks of the fully-faired sport bike and as we were guessing, India gets the TVS bike, not the BMW. No complaints there if its just a different badge but shares the heart and all other components of the BMW bike.

However, no mention of the much anticipated naked equivalent of the BMW G310R. I am presuming the concept of 'entry level sport-bike' is going to be the USP from TVS, and depending on how well this model does in India (ie., pricing, performance, quality etc), they may then probably decide on the naked version. If thats the case, then the GS equivalent adventure version seems to be a distant dream unless the similar bikes from Honda etc, competing in the RE Himalayan segment, start selling in larger numbers.

Hoping for the best.

This was always the tvs bike, bmw will launch its own bike as well, but as reported and discussed in its own thread, expect it early next year.

Was hoping this will launch by July, well couple of months won't be a huge problem. Let's hope they launch a niggles free bike, even if they have to launch it by end of year for that.

[adityasiera]

During my weekend ride to Munnar i caught up with 2 Akula 310 Prototypes on NH-7. I was lucky enough to have my camera on at the right moment. the three videos below summarize everything.

Tyres - Michelin Pilot Street
Body - FRP
Acceleration - better than Dominar 400

Close up Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxuXT3mRaU0

[praful]

You said it man, its like the old days from more than a decade back where we were feuding over P150 vs. A150

Thinking about it with on paper specs I'm not very surprised by the results actually. The Bhp figures for both bikes are almost identical, but the Dominar has weight and aerodynamics going against it.

Strangely, I remember the same engine on the BMW G310 siblings seemed to be cutting off around 145 ish.

[SVK Rider]

Originally Posted by praful

You said it man, its like the old days from more than a decade back where we were feuding over P150 vs. A150

Thinking about it with on paper specs I'm not very surprised by the results actually. The Bhp figures for both bikes are almost identical, but the Dominar has weight and aerodynamics going against it.

Strangely, I remember the same engine on the BMW G310 siblings seemed to be cutting off around 145 ish.

May be they have altered the gear ratio and aerodynamics will be there always.

Now lets hope it launches soon.