2015 has been one crazy ride on two wheels. As the year ends, we look back at the motorcycles that we loved riding. Some are scary fast, some are way too cool and some simply raised the bar in performance biking. From Kawasakis to KTMs and Triumphs to Ducatis, here’s your dose of adrenaline to bring in the new year. Happy new year!
Benelli TNT R
TNT R though as it comes from a time when bikes did not have safety nets, a time when bikes had to be really good for the rider to extract maximum performance. When rider skill mattered as much as the bike’s ability. Bikes had to be engineered with exacting precision so a capable rider could exploit its limits without killing himself. The TNT-R is just that. No traction control, no ABS, it’s just you and the bike’s abilities.
Read our full review HERE
Ducati Diavel Carbon
It is a motorcycle I would want to take to a drag strip and make jaws drop as I blow past supersport machines. The Diavel is, indeed a devil. One I could imagine smoking a superbike or a sportscar at a traffic light. It’s the next best Ducati to buy if you don’t want a supersport or a naked. It is lustworthy in its own way, and at approximately Rs. 17.5 lakh ex-showroom the Carbon doesn’t exactly cost the moon. The base (if you can call it that!) will cost about Rs. 14 lakh. The best things in life don’t come cheap, but there are exceptions. Always.
Ducati Monster 821
I stuck to sport mode for the rest of the day, as touring mode offers the full 110bhp too, but in a softer manner. This new Monster doesn’t grumble at low speeds as much as the 796 did and felt comfortable even at a crawl though there is a bit of judder below 3000rpm, typical of a V-twin. On the highway I could open the throttle wide, where the second generation Testastretta 11° motor, offered the wealth of its mid-range. To the uninitiated, Testastretta is the name of the family of engines and 11 degrees refers to the valve overlap in the combustion cycle, at which point the inlet and outlet valves are both open to maximise performance by reducing the time gap between the cycles.
Read our full review HERE
Ducati Scrambler Icon
The Scrambler is not a Ducati. It is so much more. It is the honest joy of swinging your leg over the saddle; it invokes your most basic sense of motorcycling. It brings back the best of possibly every bike you’ve ever ridden and then gently lays it on your lap to pick and choose at leisure. It is a lifestyle motorcycle yet not a fashion accessory (although it could effortlessly pass as one, if you happen to be so inclined). In a time of big numbers and road bikes so fast they are almost unusable on the street, the Scrambler is a fresh breath of air. It is an honest machine designed purely for unadulterated motorcycling happiness. It is one of a kind.
Read our full review HERE
Kawasaki Ninja H2
The H2 isn’t really a track machine like the ZX10R, the handle bars are set to make you comfortable even when the roads get slightly worse for the wear. Nor is it much of a hyper-sport as the ZX14R – do you really think you can slap on a set of panniers and go touring across Africa? It most certainly isn’t your average sports bike either; it’s way too aggressive and exotic for any sort of tomfoolery. What it possibly is, is the ultimate road-going motorcycle. A McLaren F1 on two wheels, engineered beyond imagination. Something that will leave its mark on history.
Read our full review HERE
KTM Duke 390
Such is the RD’s manic performance that every time I have tried to drag with an RD350 on a production motorcycle in the past, I have only found myself gasping in the cloud of smoke from its twin exhausts. Oh, two-strokes! The actual acceleration numbers of the RD350 are lost somewhere deep in the mysteries of motorcycling, but in my earnest knowledge I have heard a few. I am told that a primed and proper RD350 will hit the ton in less than seven seconds, going on to register over 160kmph. Gulp. The Duke is the only machine that till date seems to get close with near matching figures – it hits the ton in about six seconds and goes up to 160kmph. A true match for the RD? I think so.
Read our full review HERE
MV Agusta Brutale 800
The 798cc, in-line triple is a powerhouse with 123bhp and 81Nm of torque enclosed in a compact package. That translates to a power-to-weight ratio of 736bhp per tonne! Compare that to the Veyron SS’s piddling 627bhp per tonne. Hah! At low revs the Brutale is deceptively docile and linear. There is a hint of grumble at low revs which smoothes out as the revs rise.Once past 4000rpm, no matter how progressively you wind the throttle, the front wheel just aims for the sky. In fact, it accelerates with such ferocity that your mind goes into survival mode, instinctively signalling the right wrist to back off, yet hold on and past 11,500rpm you are rewarded with another almighty shove that injects adrenaline straight into your cranium.
Read our full review HERE
Triumph Speed Triple
A simple motorcycle it is, without too many electronic packages spoiling the party. All the Speed gets in the name of electronics is an ABS unit that can be switched off when in the mood for stoppies. The bike was meant to be raw and to wheelie at will, which is why there’s no traction control either. But that also means you are out there on your own – the liquid-cooled inline triple displacing 1050cc produces 125bhp and 105Nm of torque, more than enough to have the front wheel pawing high up in the air or coax you into powering out of a corner sideways. It is by far one of the easiest 1000cc machines to wheelie.
Read our full review HERE
Triumph Tiger XRx
The piece de resistance for the Tiger is Triumph’s second-generation 800cc in-line triple engine, which is mated to a gearbox with a large number of components from the Daytona 675R. The power delivery is just so linear and smooth that I could think of no further use of their complicated electronics. That’s the thing about the Triumph: it’s so well tied together, nothing seems in excess or shorthanded.
Read our full review HERE
Yamaha R3
You feel the surge coming in and that keeps increasing all the way to 9000rpm and shows no signs of abating even as high as 11,000rpm. The Yamaha R3 isn’t as frantic as the KTM RC 390 but is addictive nevertheless. In fact you could cover the entire length of the Buddh circuit in fifth gear or shift down a couple of cogs and enjoy the creamy power delivery. Refinement is of the highest order and you can happily ride it with the engine sitting on the top of its powerband all day.
Read our full review HERE.