Here we go. Goodbye 2006.
Roll on 2007.
Hope it all goes your way next year.
Until then...
Design Of The Year
Sorry, none of our bikes deserve this award.
The CBZ X-Treme, is the most exciting motorcycle to ride launched this year. I do wish it had more to offer - more power, a lot more style and I would have loved a 156cc engine upgrade (15 bhp!). Still, it rocks and is the best motorcycle this year.
Worst Bike of the YearWins this award for its all round excellence [sic]. The great looking motorcycle [sic] blew everyone at this blog away (me) with its superb attention to detail [sic], brand new technology [resonator, sic]. It also impressed [sic] by selling in single digits right from its launch onwards. Brilliant.
Kinetic scores a double from the far touchline! The Blaze appears to have a engine that actually rotates around the suspension, a plethora of a unmatched [as in not fitting, as opposed to unequalled] panels, produces a bagful of screws when you undo them, requires at least four types of spanners to change the rear wheel (only three included in tool kit). Plus the new disc brake version appears to have been hacksawed to make a hole for the master cylinder. For Stryker refer WBOTY.
Here is a name that straddles the erotic, homo-erotic and the simplistic in one, optimistic, far-reaching lunge. Sorry for any sexual innuendo in there, it's all unintended. Just like the scooter's name.
Labelled all-new, the Hero Honda bike 'tackled friction' issues to produce that latest in a string of all-new products from the Haryana-based manufacturer. Plus new details.
The near-demise of LML was mourned by one and all. And a few of us even missed the manufacturer a little. Unfortunately, the scooter to motorcycle manufacturer transition did not go well for the Kanpur-based manufacturer, which is really sad. The CRD100 and the Freedom both promised likeable, if funny looking, motorcycles to come. Not.
Still to be launched in India, the game console has already generated serious buzz in the international markets with the long queues, much speculation, few games and the Blu-Ray versus HD-DVD war. But the cool black one won us over. Now, when I can get one for this gratuitous plug?
What an exciting and close contest? At rearset's blog we were all astounded by how close my voting went. The sheer poke in the eye goitre-bikini on the CBZ versus the sheer pedestrian rustic-slap look of the Heat. Ultimately rearset gave the CBZ X-Treme 9.9 out of ten for ugliness and then, suprise, gave 9.9 on ten for ugliness to the Suzuki Heat as well!
This is how you nearly kill the most exciting bike of the year. Delay the launch. And again. And then some more. And a little more after that. And then some more for good measure. Why not a little more while we're at it. And finally, you do launch it. All 22 of them. At a superb (no, really) price. In one showroom in the country.... Aaargh.
The dull, uninspiring Suzuki's were the easy winners of this hotly contested category. Of all the launches we did not notice in the country, the two russian girls ensured that the two forgettable motorcycles had the most memorable of the least memorable launches in the country.
NB: We'd have given the award to Yo Bikes, but we didn't notice the launch at all...
What have they done? Well, since the launch, they've fixed the tail piece. They've got new stickers. They've got electric start too. Great job. Honda is also likely to win next year's award, when they introduce alloy wheels. Wow!
I decided to give this award to two bikes, instead of one (fits in with my everyone gets one guarantee, and is cool). The Hero Honda Glamour wins for having garish stickers EVERYWHERE (except handlebar grips, over the meter faces, footpegs, wheel rims and tyres). The TVS Apache wins for not having any.
If the bike were a beauty queen, the GLX would be guilty/proud of polishing off the entire range of Shahnaz's herbal goos. And don't it look smashing now?
150, 180, 200, 220. It's got it all. Rumours are floating about of a new BYP (Build Your Pulsar) program where you can order yourself a Pulsar built to your own custom displacement (166.81cc for me, please). Guaranteed to look exactly like any of the others.
Not launching an upgraded Apache in time
Not launching anything significant this year at all
Suddenly, at the cusp of the new year, I seem to find a whole bunch of people selling riding kit in India. So I thought I'd post a link set. I will update this post with kit reviews as and when I manage to get my hands of some of their kit.
This is the logo awarded to the underachievers of the year. The trophy, should you choose to construct it, will look exactly like the winner's beer mug trophy, but will be solid, so you will not be able to pour celebratory beer into it.
Moral: Try harder, bubba
This is the logo awarded to the achievers of the year. The trophy, should you choose to construct it, will look exactly like the loser's beer mug trophy, but will be hollow, so you will be able to pour celebratory beer into it.
Moral: Good job bubba!
This is the full press release of the launch of the new Hero Honda CD-Deluxe. Sorry for posting it so late.
Ceat just launched a New Year's Eve/Night safety campaign. I thought I'd pitch in by posting the full release here
As a self-respecting motorcycle 'publication,' I am now mulling over whether or not I should be having an annual awards thing at the end of year.
Isn't that just the coolest thing on Earth? Er... no it isn't. But it does sound great. Meet the X-51, US's latest weapon in development. Billed as the successor to the super-successful and ultra-accurate Tomahawk, the X-51 will be much, much faster. 5 mach. 3600 mph. The Popular Mechanics/Gizmodo posts suggest that the missle won't actually need any explosive content, since crashing into anything at 3600 mph is a guaranteed result. Lovely.
