[Technocrat]

Yes Luna was indeed a hot seller, No way a flop

[n.devdath]

Anyone heard of Narmada 150 Prince?? I was told that Gujrat Fertilisers Ltd, the firm which began to assemble it, sourced most of the engine compoenents from Bajaj and intended to sell its 150 Prince cheaper than Chetak. I do not know how true it is but I know that the scooter was a huge flop.

[Technocrat]

Yep it looked very much like the Chetak with a few subtle changes, I see one parked near my office

[kreddy]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

Comet as a flopped bike is arguable.
But one thing is sure.
The RD350, Comet 250, Bajaj Endura were all launched at the wrong time.
If they were to be launched today, it would be an entirely different scene.
But then again, 2 strokers were forced to shut shop since Y2K in India.
There I contradicted myself.

Slightly OT, if 2 strokers are really banned how can Bajaj Auto still produce those killer 2 stroke autos

[Technocrat]

Not to mention the RX 135 was still available in 2003

[esteem_lover]

The RD was never meant to be for the mass. How could a twin cylinder 2 stroke with raw power expect to capture the imagination of the mileage king HH CD100 loving public ?

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by kreddy

Slightly OT, if 2 strokers are really banned how can Bajaj Auto still produce those killer 2 stroke autos

I have no idea.

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Not to mention the RX 135 was still available in 2003

I don't know if they had kept a good stock or something. But the GOI officially stopped 2 stroke prodcution from Y2K.

[shankar.balan]

correct - this is the name i couldnt remember
Gujarat National Fertilizer Company - GNFC - narmada 150 prince

the sad and bad old protected economy days - when madam gandhi used to frown upon any indian travelling abroad except for herself and her own cronies. and we were denied access to media, books, music etc - why else did the huge grey market thrive?
thanks be to god for Dr Manmohan Singh and liberalization - thanks also for dear old sleepy Narasimha Rao for having allowed it to "slip through" so to say!

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Anyone heard of Narmada 150 Prince?? I was told that Gujrat Fertilisers Ltd, the firm which began to assemble it, sourced most of the engine compoenents from Bajaj and intended to sell its 150 Prince cheaper than Chetak. I do not know how true it is but I know that the scooter was a huge flop.

[Technocrat]

I don't know if they had kept a good stock or something. But the GOI officially stopped 2 stroke prodcution from Y2K.

Nope no such band & no stock clearance, The bikes were very much available officially & I know as my cousin bought one in 2003 & I also remember now that one of my colleagues too had bought one in 2004.

There was a lot of news in 2000 that the 2 strokes wont be able to comply with the upcoming Pollution norms & would hence be stopped & hence the impression.

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

There was a lot of news in 2000 that the 2 strokes wont be able to comply with the upcoming Pollution norms & would hence be stopped & hence the impression.

oops, no arguing, but that means companies can still produce 2 stroke vehicles ?
The reason for the stopped production was related to pollution norms alright. That part is known. I think Yam had licenses valid till then I am assuming.
Some useful links:
India Automotive: 5/10/09 - 5/17/09
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...bruptly-2.html

[IQBAL VEERJI]

How come everyone forgot to mention ALLWYN PUSHPAK scooter. It was made at some place near Hyderabad and was copy of VIJAY deluxe scooter made by Scooters India in Uttar Pradesh, only difference was it had moving front mudguard like Bajaj vehicles,and a ugly looking alluminium strip with PVC moulding for side panels protection.
Similarly there was another scooter made by Punjab Scooters named KESARI this was also poor copy of Vijay dlx,all of them bombed heavily exept for Vijay dlx, which lasted slightly more longer since it was slightly
better then other copy cats.
I had purchased a Pushpak in eighties from Bombay Cycle And Motor Agency at Opera House for something like 8000/- and sold it in 1995 for 1000/- at Abu Road as a scrap after my site work in Abu Road in Rajasthan was over
the purchaser brought it because he had a Pushpak and wanted it a scooter for parts.

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

You mean Prowler from Bajaj?

AFAIK RD 350 flopped in its later years as there were too many accidents & newer bikes were cheaper & more fuel efficient.

I am not discounting what you are saying completely but let us accept the fact that the public/economy was not ready in the 80s and early 90s for a "performance" machine as RD 350.

The most prominent question I faced from public, as an RD owner from 1984, was that - What is the milage?

For the bike I bought new in 1985 for INR 22,467.00 I am now having offers up to INR 1,50,000.00 (not that I will ever sell my first love).

So I would say that we need to call it an "ahead of its time bike" rather than a flop.

Best Regards & Ride Safe

Ram

[Technocrat]

I believe there are many flop vehicles (cars/Bikes/vans) which flopped primarily becasue the market was not ready for them.

A flop vehicle need not be a bad vehicle.

[milindajp]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

You mean Prowler from Bajaj?

HH Achiever was/is a flop.

As for the RD350 Debate, I am not really sure but whats the criteria for flop?

As per me any bike is flop if people didnt buy it in expected numbers irrespective of its market performance world over or its technical Superiority.

BMW F 650 was a brilliant bike yet it was a flop.

AFAIK RD 350 flopped in its later years as there were too many accidents & newer bikes were cheaper & more fuel efficient.

With due respect to my fellow bhpian’s individual view regarding RD350 a “flop”, I want to put some points of mine.

1. In our country, motorcycling is a necessity rather than a passion. Very few people’s hobby is biking whereas most of the people do biking. So, fuel efficiency is the biggest factor here. If kilometer/liter is the scale to judge a bike then RD350 is a very big “Flop”. But then Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Porsche are all “Flop”.

2. In the question of accidents, lets go by statistics. Do you have any statistics to support your view or it is simply your assumption?
I am taking the case of Kolkata being a metro and having one of the largest bike users. In 1995 out of 470 vehicles responsible for fatal accidents only 9 was two-wheelers, in 1996 it was 7 out of 465, 1997 it was 10 out of 451, 1998 it was 6 out of 445, 1999 it was 4 out of 442. ( For more statistics - http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/Publicat...etin74_ch5.pdf )

So, I think that "RD 350 flopped in its later years as there were too many accidents” was a very wrong perception

More comments expected from respectable bhpians ….

[Technocrat]

@milindajp- you have dissected contents of my post & evaluated them individually & hence the reaction.

No I dont have Any statistics but what I have said is based on hearsay from some of the then owners of the bike. I am not sure if you have heard this but the RD was also often called "Yamdoot" NOt only becasue it was Yamaha + Rajdoot but also because of the risks involved in riding such a high speed bike.

Kmpl is not a criteria for judging a flop but sales numbers are, which may or may not be impacted by kmpl.

I am not sure why you say this "But then Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Porsche are all “Flop” ", if you had related them with BMW F650 I could have understood.

An RD was a regular production bike when higher CCs were quite a norm (Jawa/Bullet/RD/Rajdoot etc). What separated it from its peers was the mad power that it had.

Over a period people started giving more importance to mileage over power which lead to the declining sales of the RD & which incidentally is what we call as flop.

Nobody is doubting the legend of RD but we do have to accept that there came a time when people were not interested in buying them.