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Numbers....
- Thread starter MacDoc
- Start date
love it
Look at the value of the bikes sold to the NA market vs India and I suspect you'd see the opposite from a statistics standpoint. 
In short as we all know, they sell like wildfire there because usually it's the only transportation a family can afford, and when temperatures are suited for motorcycles pretty much year round as well, it's a recipe for that sort of thing. Same as how motorcycles outnumber cars in the Caribbean as well.
In short as we all know, they sell like wildfire there because usually it's the only transportation a family can afford, and when temperatures are suited for motorcycles pretty much year round as well, it's a recipe for that sort of thing. Same as how motorcycles outnumber cars in the Caribbean as well.
J_F
Guest
I kinda like the Royal Enfield, Indian Harley
I work in Saudi Arabia, place would not function without Indians as they perform every manual task there is
Saudi's having lived off the petro-teet for 3 generations now are a useless bunch
so I know many Indians and some have become friends
they know I like to ride on my time off, and many have bikes...showed a couple dudes a picture of my kitted up
FJ09 and they had a question: who uses it when you're here most of the time?
could not fathom that someone would own a bike for pure pleasure use, and that it would sit unused for so long
sure they buy a lot of bikes, but true to other places where people are brown, bikes are not toys in India
I work in Saudi Arabia, place would not function without Indians as they perform every manual task there is
Saudi's having lived off the petro-teet for 3 generations now are a useless bunch
so I know many Indians and some have become friends
they know I like to ride on my time off, and many have bikes...showed a couple dudes a picture of my kitted up
FJ09 and they had a question: who uses it when you're here most of the time?
could not fathom that someone would own a bike for pure pleasure use, and that it would sit unused for so long
sure they buy a lot of bikes, but true to other places where people are brown, bikes are not toys in India
They are. Talked to a rider in the Caribbean once, showed him a picture of my VTX. He was blown away by the fact it was 1300CC - that's unheard of down there.
wolfpack27616
Well-known member
Just to add to the above points already made- I have about 15 years of riding experince in India.
1. The typical motorcycle on the road is 150cc. 250cc and above is more like a niche segment- with the Enfields enjoying a cult status out there much like Harley in USA. It's only fairly recently that higher cc models have been introduced in India from Honda, KTM etc
2. The weather is definitely conducive for riding year round. However, there are other factors that contribute towards
the purchase of motorcycles versus cars- better fuel economy (that's a big deal in India, which is one of the reasons why people prefer underpowered lower cc motorcycles) and the traffic which is bad and disorganised in most cities. Lane filtering is exclusively done by motorcycles (even though there is no huge lane discipline)- and hence you can reach your destination way quicker than you would by driving a car.
3. The population difference between the 2 markets.
1. The typical motorcycle on the road is 150cc. 250cc and above is more like a niche segment- with the Enfields enjoying a cult status out there much like Harley in USA. It's only fairly recently that higher cc models have been introduced in India from Honda, KTM etc
2. The weather is definitely conducive for riding year round. However, there are other factors that contribute towards
the purchase of motorcycles versus cars- better fuel economy (that's a big deal in India, which is one of the reasons why people prefer underpowered lower cc motorcycles) and the traffic which is bad and disorganised in most cities. Lane filtering is exclusively done by motorcycles (even though there is no huge lane discipline)- and hence you can reach your destination way quicker than you would by driving a car.
3. The population difference between the 2 markets.
anterabae
Well-known member
This makes me laugh. As someone who was in a car most of the time in India, I disagree that only bikes lane filter-bikes just get further ahead. And saying 'no huge lane discipline' might be the greatest understatement I've ever seen.
But all that being said, I agree with all yours points. Oddly, very few of my friends there actually own a motorcycle, and none of them exclusively. I'd hazard a guess that the bike market has slowed, but then with the population being the size it is, who'd notice that much?
wolfpack27616
Well-known member
Out there-I used to ride to work on weekdays (used to save at least 30 mins each way versus driving my car) and drive my car over the weekend for pleasure.
And here- it's been just the opposite
anterabae
Well-known member
You saved 30 mins, and here it probably would have been a 10 min drive? ?Out there-I used to ride to work on weekdays (used to save at least 30 mins each way versus driving my car) and drive my car over the weekend for pleasure.
And here- it's been just the opposite
China has M/C issues and they are banned in some cities because they aren't the pampered toys we have here but rather the lowest form of transportation. Their presence degrades the cities.
If someone here says they have a pickup truck we envision a gleaming new 4X4 with alloy rims and leather interior. The Chinese envision the truck from The Beverly Hillbillies.
In third world countries most bikes have the status of a wheelbarrow.
When we legislated 2strokes out of existance here, all the tooling was paid for and shipped to India, Thailand , Malaysia and they carried on. My Yamaha RD350 has a never ending supply of parts thanks to the "rangoot" , an Indian yamaha RD350. Its crazy how many honda 90's and 125 get stamped out weekly in the third world.
wolfpack27616
Well-known member
Did you mean Rajdoot? I am surprised that you mention that there's an unending supply of parts- because the Indian (Rajdoot) version while it enjoys cult status, didn't sell in great numbers. And i think production ended in early 90's. I had seen very few on the Indian roads in the last decade.
Rajdoot (auto spell). Your right they disappeared in '89. Which is a lot better than Yamaha killing it in '73 . My company has a connection to an Indian office we work with, my counterpart there seems to be able to find me any thing I ever need, not that the thing sees much running time anymore.
