[CrAzY dRiVeR]

While it took less than a second for me to vote for COTY this year (Thar!), the two wheeler space proved to be a tough one with three heavy weights in the ring - The KTM 390 Adventure, Royal Enfield Meteor 350 and Honda H'ness CB350.

IMHO- The KTM is far from the perfection it appears on paper! Their adventure claims have been questioned recently and the Duke presents a good VFM proposition below it. Honda's 350 was the biggest surprise this year, but it does look like they wanted to make a better Enfield and not much more. Moreover - it looks more commuter than classic to my eyes (But the speculated Scrambler render looks delicious)! RE on the other hand has made massive improvements to the Thunderbird formula with the new Meteor 350 - but I'm not sure it would be enough for our modern highways.

Guess this will finally come down to individual preferences - but if I'd have to put my money down on one of these motorcycles - looks like the KTM 390 Adventure is still the best bet for my needs of a fast highway tourer that can take the offbeat path once in a while. And hence my vote.

Originally Posted by ebonho

No Gixxer SF 250 ?

Gixxer SF 250 was originally launched on 21st May, 2019 with only the BS6 upgrade this year. Hence not included in the poll.

[ast.ggn]

My vote goes to H'ness CB350. Bike has a premium feel to it, quality is top notch and definitely a step above RE/ Jawa offerings. It is a Honda, reliability comes complimentary. People are travelling from as far as 400 kms to take deliveries of the bike, speaks a lot about Honda's brand image. With company fitted alloy wheels, you do not need to worry about being stranded due to punctures. Only drawback is lack of service centers but people based in Metros can live with it and as per reports Honda is working on it as well.

I would have chosen Adv 390 if KTM had not been so lazy about engine, transmission and ergonomics.

[a4anurag]

My vote is for the Royal Enfield Meteor 350.

Great bike with enough grunt for city as well as highway cruising having the smoothness maintained along the usable revv-range makes a great bike for daily usage. When I had done the TD two days back which lasted almost 10 kms, I was smiling all the time that I was astride it.

[akash_v12]

Voted for the Tiger 900.

It's made for going off the road, long-distance touring & makes for a very good overall ADV. It has some high mod-potential and Triumph's service is pretty reliable from what I heard.

[Akash.D]

Voted for the RE Meteor 350.

Honda CB 350 is no doubt a great offering from Honda and is equally eligible to be the bike of the year. Clearly RE needs to up their game and they have already done it with the Meteor which is a big leap for RE after the 650 twins. While Honda is always associated with refined engines, RE has been using the same engine technology since decades. With the Meteor, RE has finally tried to catch up with modern times by using overhead cams in place of push-rods (albeit SOHC for cost cutting) twin cradle frame in place of single, new instrument cluster, et al. When RE will introduce a pricier model with 4 valves per cylinder, DOHC and liquid cooling, it would further improve the power figures of the bike. Credit must therefore be given where it is due and for me it is the Meteor 350 which is the Indian bike of the year.

[surjaonwheelz]

RE Meteor 350 - RE has to continue the legacy of the UCE350 with this J1350 engine. They had only themselves to compete with, 3-4 years earlier! Better late then never. But they could have easily raised the benchmark even now (25-30bhp). RE is RE, slow and steady, may be a Super Meteor is in store!

KTM 390 Adv - KTM took so long in changing the clothes of Duke 390 to an Adventure avatar, that inflation has hit them hard. I'll reserve my comments on ergonomics and gearing stuff as I've not ridden it yet! But KTM, upgrade those adjustable suspension from the global range here in India also.

Honda CB350 - Again a mediocre effort from the great Honda!! But atleast they didn't aim volumes at first, which is a good move, service and spares will be better managed.

Triumph - Tiger 900, you've to give it to Triumph in the big bike category, latest and greatest bikes in its category with ample production, unlike Honda which sells limited Africa Twins without test rides! May be the Triumph Trident will be the next big Bike of the year, if priced aggressively.

My vote to Meteor 350, specially for the engine, this the RE engine we all wanted! RE rode the UCE wave too long, too high.

Honda if you had launched a CB400, you were the winner, it need not have the 'thump'! Give us the performance, don't mimic sounds.

/surjaonwheelz

[Sebring]

Honda CB350 H'Ness; I voted with my wallet as well. It's been over a month, and till date I cant believe my luck for having landed such a refined product from Honda. It has covered every aspect, be it price, performance, styling or mileage. And truly deserves to be Bike Of The Year

[srini1785]

My Vote Bajaj Electric Chetak. Not the best in class but a vote for the future.

[neil.jericho]

2020 wasnt the best of years for motorcycle launches in India. Nothing really stood out for me when I looked at the list and given the Covid situation, I havent really been able to check out most of these in the showroom or through a test ride. Few thoughts on some of the bikes

- Bajaj Chetak Electric : Bookings were discontinued sometime this year. From what I could find out, Bajaj sold a measly 1,000 units in all of 2020.
- TVS iQube Electric : Dispatches for the year added up to a grand total of 133 units. Sales of both electric scooters have been far from ahem, electric.
- Husqvarna 250 : Ive said it from day 1, KTM should have launched the Husky 390 and Adv 250 to expand its portfolio. Instead, it launched the Adv 390 and Husky 250s, though they did something right in pricing the Huskies quite well. Maybe there is some hope for the Husky 390s in 2021.
- Honda CB350 : Im a big fan of Honda's Big Wing strategy but I feel that with the CB350, they should have done so much more. They just improved upon Royal Enfield's old 350 formula but they underestimated RE's ability to push the envelope ahead.
- KTM 390 Adventure : Probably the most polarizing bike on the forum! Im not a big fan of KTM's quality management and agree with ast.ggn's points.
- BMW F900R / XR : Great bikes on paper, but the reality is that they will hardly sell in India.
- Triumph Tiger 900 : Flawed brilliance.
- Royal Enfield Meteor 350 : While their past is undeniable, RE's engineering capabilities do shine through with the Meteor 350. I saw a few reviews that rated the Meteor's engine better than that of the CB350 and that speaks volumes for far RE has come. Next year, the Classic 350 will get the same engine and that should just improve its sales figures going forward.

Ultimately, I voted for the Meteor 350, not only have they got the pricing spot on, but Royal Enfield also has multiple variants that you can customize to suit your different needs.

Hopefully 2021 has more a lot more bikes for us to choose from in the annual Team BHP poll.

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

Triumph - Tiger 900, you've to give it to Triumph in the big bike category, latest and greatest bikes in its category with ample production, unlike Honda which sells limited Africa Twins without test rides! May be the Triumph Trident will be the next big Bike of the year, if priced aggressively.

Apparently, it is sold out for now and sales of the Tiger 900 will resume only in February 2021.

[GTO]

I voted for the Chetak . Reasons:

- Resurrecting an iconic nameplate.

- Looks really, really cool.

- Bajaj is again showing commitment to the scooter business.

- Powered by the fuel of the future.

[AtheK]

I will go against the tide and vote for BMW F900XR, the bike is loaded with electronics, has a beautiful engine and apt for our roads. Yes the admission cost is high and yes the service is unknown, but as a product it is amazing.

You can pretty much take it everywhere, and comes close to an all rounder bike in the garage.

[ninjatalli]

Honestly I don't see a clear cut winner, unlike the Thar in the 4-wheeler section.

A main cause of it being the pandemic - there isn't much of market sales data to consider what is a win.

But I'd vote for Honda Highness - primarily for the reason that they did what Mahindra(JAWA) failed to do - give a good contender to the Royal Enfield Bikes.

More competition === better for the end customer (us).

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

It's time to look back at the year and cast your vote for the 2-wheeler of this year

Sorry, but did we have one for last year? Tried searching but didn't get anything.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Sorry, but did we have one for last year? Tried searching but didn't get anything.

Good point. If not, then last year's launches would get rolled into this poll and I'm pretty certain the brilliant Gixxer SF 250 would run away with the title then.

In the right hands it sticlks with the KTM's in the twisty stuff, and that's very high in my book personally. And it costs the same as the two top contenders this year.

Cheers, Doc

[RSR]

It's the Royal Enfield Meteor 350 for me!

Royal Enfield are the only ones who've been churning out "easy riding" classics and modern classics since time immemorial, and they've been very good at it, so good in fact that every other manufacturer wants to grab a share of the RE pie.

All others are merely Johnny-come-latelys to the scene. The Meteor 350 is Royal Enfield's perfect response to these Johnny-come-latelys!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Sorry, but did we have one for last year? Tried searching but didn't get anything.

For the two wheeler section - we have only had one pilot run in 2018. It should be regular this year onwards.

Originally Posted by ebonho

If not, then last year's launches would get rolled into this poll.

That makes it too complicated. Let's have it running with the regular guidelines this year onwards.