Triumph Motorcycles, makers of bikes such as the Bonneville, Street Triple, Rocket III and Daytona, will launch their motorcycles in the Indian market in the last week of November 2013. The company is working on emerging market specific motorcycles which was recently spotted on test. The spied Triumph is likely to bear a 250cc single-cylinder engine (25-30 BHP of power) and the company is certain to manufacture it in India. The British motorcycle manufacturer is setting up a production plant on the outskirts of Bangalore which will become operational in 2015.
The upcoming Triumph bike will be constructed on a basic steel tube frame, which will be connected to a simple, box-section swingarm and will clench the liquid-cooled engine. The similarity of the design language with the Street Triple can be noticed in the bug-eye headlamps and the large exhaust canister. It has a rotund fuel tank, large one-piece seat unit and a plastic radiator shroud. A single disc brake and two-piston, slider calliper is held by RWU forks (no upside-down forks here). Hardware on the bike is quite basic.
Triumph is not the only big motorcycle manufacturer to look at smaller bikes for an emerging market push. KTM has successfully done it while BMW is working on a similar plan. The platform which this mass market Triumph machine is using could be used by many new upcoming vehicles, some as large as 350cc and could be the key for Triumph’s efforts to expand its global sales volume to 2,50,000 units annually by 2016. The 250cc Triumph motorcycle will rival the Kawasaki Ninja 300, Honda CBR300R and KTM Duke 390.
Triumph will initially start sales by bringing in bikes via the CKD route, assembling them in India at its plant in Manesar. The company will compete with the likes of Harley-Davidson, which also sells locally assembled models in the Indian market. Triumph’s strategy is to have classics, cruisers, super sports, adventure and tourers so that it can cater to all types of bikers. The quarter-litre bike is crucial for Triumph Motorcycles in India and a pointer for competitors like Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha to look out for in the future.
Source – RideApart