After a rather quiet year from Indian bike makers, it seems they are all set to start the New Year with their own personal celebrations. Hero MotoCorp has announced the launch of three new products in January. Meanwhile Bajaj Auto has also revealed the launch of two new offering in the same month. This news was made official when S Ravikumar, President of Business Development for Bajaj Auto, addressed the media in a press conference recently.
Although there is no official confirmation as yet, our hunch is one of the motorcycles to be launched will be the RS400. First unveiled at the 2014 Auto Expo, this motorcycle will be based on the SS400 concept. The market for affordable performance motorcycles is growing rapidly but there is still a lot of scope for expansion in the segment. In essence, the RS400 will be plonked with the same engine that the company uses in the Dominar 400 – which, by the way, is derived from the KTM 390 Dukemotor. The 373cc single-cylinder unit churns out 34.5bhp and 35Nm. This engine comes mated to a 6-speed transmission.
The second motorcycle to be launched by Bajaj is rumoured to be an updated version of the Avenger. Bajaj introduced the refreshed Avenger range along with the new Avenger Street 150 towards the end of 2015. Since then the only change that the motorcycle has received is are the ones they needed to do to meet the BS IV mandate and the inclusion of the Auto Headlamp On (AHO) feature. The Avenger to be launched may not be very different than the one already on sale currently – expect minor cosmetic and feature updates.
Meanwhile, there are also rumours of the addition of another motorcycle in the V line-up. While there is no confirmation from the Chakan-based bike maker as yet, we can only wait for Bajaj to spill the beans soon.