Just like what I the rumors suggested, Suzuki has finally launched 2 of its newest high end motorbikes – the Hayabusa and Intruder. Both the bikes have been priced at Rs.12.5 lakhs at showroom.
The Hayabusa is a popular one which is a sports and performance oriented bike with attractive styling and great performance capable of crossing the 300 kmph mark. The Intruder is a cruiser type of motorbike for the highway travel enthusiast.
All this has been similar to Yamaha’s strategy to launch the higher end ones first to gain brand hype and then use that hype to launch the mainstream ones at a premium and get a better market share and sales numbers. I think Suzuki is in a similar situation to Yamaha when it was before the R1 and MT o1 were launched. And being similar to Yamaha’s high end offerings, these ones should compete very well with them. Now that Yamaha has turned successful with its mainstream bikes, hope Suzuki too joins the party soon.
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I recently had a chance to test drive the new launched motorbike YZ-16 that was launched by Yamaha.
My friend wanted to buy the bike because of its masculine looks and so I went along with him to the showroom to see the bike in flesh. The showroom guys were as usual not interested in making any sales and we had to pester them to know the details about the bike.
Unfortunately we were allowed to test drive only in the showroom parking lot which was only a meters. But still I test drove it in the lower RPM range and found it to be a torquey engine which loves to be reved up. The gear shifts were precise and the engine was smooth. I loved the exhaust note of the engine when reved up. I couldn’t test the handling as I couldn’t go fast in that tiny space. But it should be good as it had mono suspension, very wide rear tyres and great chassis. The seating position was comfortable and doesn’t require the biker to lean down as I thought to be.
The styling was very attractive as well. But I didn’t like the headlights at certain angles and the instrument cluster also. It also felt very short in length and height.
On the negative side, when sat on, the bike didn’t give that big bike feel. It felt small and short. I felt the similar way with TVS Apache as well. It may be due to the fact that I use Hero Honda Hunk and Karizma which are way bigger and taller as well. The fuel efficiency was expected to be around 40 kmpl. It was also expensive than other 150 cc bikes.
Overall I felt the bike was great street bike with good handling and excellent performance combined with good comfort as well. But definitely not for those who care about fuel costs and want a big bike feeling as I felt.
Suzuki motorcycles India has launched its 150 variant of motorcycle in India. This is supposed to revive the sales numbers and the brand factor for Suzuki. The so far launched Heat and Seus has received only luke warm response.
The trump card that Suzuki is hoping that will click is the new 6-speed gear box for the first time in the segment. It should provide a better cruising experience and better fuel economy in the higher speeds. The 149 cc engine produces 13.8 bhp of power at 8500rpm.
The looks factor is the most disappointing fact. It’s a shameless copy of all the current bikes in production in India. The headlights look like they have been taken from Pulsar styled lights. The tank scoop has been literally taken from the Hunk. The tail lights are similar to that of the CBZ-Xtreme. And overall it’s a mix and match style of the various other 150 cc bikes available.
Priced at 59k ex-showroom, Suzuki is hoping that this will provide the much needed sales margin for its motorcycles division in India.
