RISHAD COOPER

There’s still a surprising lack of progress in the Indian light adventure bike arena

No bike today available in India delivers what an adventure bike worth its salt should

THERE’S NO OTHER SEGMENT OF THE Indian two-wheeler market that makes as much sense as adventure bikes, given our rugged road conditions. Yes, some milestones have gone by over the past two decades, with many ADV bikes today available here, but there’s still one yawning vacuum in this market.

There are plenty of options buyers can pick from when considering over 500cc ADV bikes. Numerous multi-cylinder rivals include Honda’s big Africa Twin, Triumph’s Tigers, Ducati’s Multistradas, Kawasaki’s Versys, Suzuki’s V Stroms and even BMW’s top of the line GS series bikes, amongst others. Most of which make really comfy long distance companions. They don’t however fit the bill for short distance commuting, apart from being expensive and often much too heavy to carve through traffic.

Bikes that will be really apt for Indian roads and undoubtedly best suited to our trying conditions are light, single-cylinder advs, which we still don’t have, at all! So, is that to say we’ve overlooked so many affordable ADV singles already being sold in India — the Royal Enfield Himalayan, Hero XPulse 200 4V, Suzuki V-Storm SX, Honda CB 200X, BMW G 310 GS, Yezdi Adventure, KTM’s 390 and 250 ADVs and what have you? Yes, all of these are certainly affordable ADVs, and most of them are also competently priced and single-cylinder, but here’s the big catch. Barring Hero’s brilliant but underpowered Impulse, the segment pioneer that rode in a decade ago, none of the bikes available in India actually deliver everything that an adventure bike worth its salt should. Because, almost all of these are essentially road going bikes, running modified chassis with taller suspension. And this unfortunately, kills the feel, handling and capability of a ‘pukka’ adventure bike, instead providing at best, merely a ‘pseudo adventure bike experience’.

The Hero Xpulse and Royal Enfield Himalayan come closest to being the real deal, in that order. However, the Xpulse 200 4V is plagued by shortcomings including too many reliability issues, while the Himalayan is just too heavy handling. This brings ADV bike enthusiasts back to square one, waiting for the manufacturers to earnestly dive into this key segment, that’s so apt. At one point, tall seat height was a deterrent on ADV bikes, with the average Indian height being quite modest. That’s long since been addressed though, with narrower seat profiles on top and padding that’s generously scooped to bring down saddle height. All of which only adds to the disappointment of ADV bike enthusiasts, who thanks to the Hero Impulse find themselves stuck in no man’s land, having dipped their toes in the water and then being left waiting for more.

The grapevine has had it for some time now that Honda has patented the name in India and is poised to bring in their XRE 300, a proper ADV that’s tried and tested, a single that’s light as well, but that’s still to happen. Which is more disappointing given everyone’s really high expectations of Honda, who have all the tech muscle they can easily flex to bring in a really potent bike.

Elsewhere in this issue, my affable colleague and talented motoring journalist Karan Ramgopal has tested the TVS Ronin. After riding which, we discussed how the new bike struggles to fit into a segment. That’s really a refreshing approach from TVS, who are usually conservative with new products. Which brings us straight back to the point. That, it would be fantastic to see an Indian maker as competent as TVS deliver a proper, light ADV bike. More so, given the factory’s off-road motorsports prowess and they are today even making BMW’s baby GS at their state-of-the-art Hosur plant.

A 30 plus bhp, sub 150kg proper and light ADV is now long overdue for India. And to silence critics who argue this sort of a bike doesn’t make sense, because too few actually ride them off-road, let’s go a step further and plead for a Motard, running road going tyres with similar specifications. Now wouldn’t that be a really fun bike to ride daily in India? ⌧