Bike sales December 2015: Honda 2 wheelers sell 306,779 units; captures 25% market share

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) registered overall sales of 306,779 units for the month of December 2015, down from 3,48,737 units in December 2014. Out of the current numbers, scooter sales stood at 198,332 units while motorcycle sales stood at 92,380 units. Export sales came to 16.067 units for the same period. The market share claimed by Honda for December 2015 in the domestic market is 25%, while the domestic as well as export market combined market share stood 22%.

Till December 2015 of the current fiscal year, HMSI sold a total of 3,354,831 units. Of these, scooter sales stood at 2,079,833 units while motorcycle sales accounted for 1,125,678 units. Export sales stood at 149,320 units in the current fiscal during April to December, 2015. The market share claimed by Honda in the domestic market is 26% while the Domestic and export market share accounted for 24% of the overall market share.

Honda 2 wheelers brought in a street naked sports bike in the form of the CB Hornet 160R – one of the first mainstream bikes in India to meet BS-IV emission norms. The motorcycle will be available for sale in 2 variants with the price starting from Rs 79,900 (Ex-Showroom, New Delhi).

The company also came out with an exclusive booking app available on the android as well as the iOS platform known as the CB Hornet 160R. Honda advanced the CB Hornet 160R’s availability from the planned 21 cities to 53 cities as the number of downloads crossed 40,000 mark.

Honda also went on to win 3 awards in December 2015 namely the manufacturer of the year 2 wheeler, motorcycle of the year up to 160 cc, and the motorcycle of the Year up to 110 cc all under the NDTV Car & Bike awards 2016.

Harley Davidson withdraws SuperLow and FatBoy Special from the Indian market

Harley Davidson India recently unveiled the 2016 line-up of motorcycles with upgrades for most of the products on sale under a new theme known as Dark Custom. However, what one didn’t notice that Harley Davidson also withdrew two of its models from the Indian market namely the SuperLow and the FatBoy Special.

Priced around Rs.6 lakh and Rs.15.5 lakh (Ex-Showroom) respectively, the SuperLow and FatBoy Special were withdrawn from the Indian market reportedly due to the low sales cost. Even though both the models were available in India for an estimated 3 years, they still didn’t manage to gain popularity. They were brought to the Indian shores through the CKD route.

The SuperLow is powered by an 883 cc V twin air cooled engine that produces 70 Nm of peak torque at 3,750 rpm. The V twin engine is paired to a 5 speed transmission. The SuperLow gets a decent share of chrome bits that makes its appearance as good as the bigger Harleys in the segment.

The FatBoy Special, on the other hand is powered by a 1690cc air cooled engine that produces 132 Nm of peak torque at 3,250 rpm. This engine was mated to a 6 speed gearbox. The sales of the FatBoy Special were so low that Harley couldn’t manage to sell even a single unit of the motorcycle in the last few months. Another possible reason for the low sales of these bikes could be the introduction of the Street 750 which is a comparatively affordable model and took the place of being the most reasonably priced motorcycle from the U.S. based manufacturer.

What in your opinion would be the ideal choice for a bike with the SuperLow and FatBoy Special being discontinued in India by Harley Davidson? Will Harley replace these models with something new?

New Hyosung GT300R and GT650R India launch said to be scheduled in June 2016

Hyosung showcased its new product line up at the 2015 EICMA motorcycle show including the new GT300R and the updated GT650R. While the Korean two-wheeler maker did not reveal any specific details about the India launch time frame, the folks at motoring portal Bike Advice report that the GT duo would be launched by mid 2016. Shirish Kulkarni, chairman of DSK Motowheels confirmed that the GT duo should arrive in Indian showrooms by May-June 2016. He added that the GT300R and GT650R are yet to reach the production ready stage.

The GT300R will replace the GT250R and will be propelled by a 275cc V-twin engine. The twin motor will deliver 28 PS of power at 10,500 rpm and 23.5 Nm of torque at 7,000 rpm. The motorcycle will also come equipped with a dual channel ABS as standard and an updated design. The updated refreshed GT650R, on the other hand, gets a 647cc  V-twin motor delivering 74.4 PS of power and 54.4 Nm of torque.

There is no word on the pricing front but the new motorcycles, with their added list of features, are expected to carry a slightly premium price tag. As aforementioned, both motorcycles will reach Indian shores by mid 2016. We would bring you all the updates about the new GT300R and GT650R as and when they arrive. Meanwhile, share your views about the new GT duo from Hyosung through the comments section below.

Creativity At Its Best! These Cool Bikes Of The Future Remind Us of Sci-Fi Movies!

Every motorcycle buff will admit that there is some connection between bikes and sci-fi movies.

Be it the Light Cycle from the movie Tron, or the Bat Pod from Batman, each of those deadly machines completely awed us with their awesome design & features.

How we wished we could strap in and hit the road with one of those macho bikes.

Thanks to technology, the future of motorcycles seems promising, and we might be lucky enough to own a revved up machine.

Listed below are few futuristic bikes that are highly functional & creative, and remind us of those monstrous vehicles that appear in sci-fi films:

1. Small, Fast, & Electric-powered

The Halbo-Future Duo-Wheel BMW is an amazingly small motorcycle offering blazing fast speeds. Designed by the famous Pierre Yohanes, this bike has a stationary front wheel, while the back tail can turn, thus offering the driver a motorboat riding experience. What’s more, the vehicle is electric-powered, and hence a boon for the eco-minded people.

 

2. Jaguar-shaped

The Jaguar M-Cycle doesn’t have the term jaguar only in its name, but its outer design is also in the shape of the Jaguar car manufacturer logo. Measuring a massive 8 feet in length, the body of this speed demon flaunts an ebony lacquered fiberglass over dazzling stainless steel.   

3. Sits upright when parked

Keeping in mind the practical problems of parking in metropolitan cities, designer David Miguel crafted the Scarab Motorcycle that utilizes space in a crowded parking lot. The unique feature of this vehicle is that it can sit completely upright, and as many as 3 Scarabs can accommodate in a standard sized car parking space.  

4. Box-shaped

Truly peculiar and different from all its counterparts, the Nuclear Motorcycle appears like a weird box when parked. However, it’s amazing to see the way it extends its wheels and raises the saddles once it starts rambling on the road.

  

5. Three-wheeled

One may wonder that how does a three-wheeled vehicle qualify to feature on this list? Well, this incredibly clever motorcycle, known as Magic Tricycle, has an interesting form factor. Once it lies on its side, it uses all its 3 wheels exactly like a car. Alternatively, it can also stand upright with the third wheel on top, thus providing the owner an opportunity & feel of driving a motorcycle.

Apart from the above-mentioned bikes, there are a handful of other motorcycles that boast of intimidating designs, bleeding-edge specs, and mind-boggling performances. Time will tell whether we would be able to hop on to one of these spinning beauties. However, if given a chance, which sci-fi movie bike would you like to lay your hands on? Think about it and let us know by posting your views in the comments box below!

Mahindra Mojo: First Ride Impressions and Image Gallery

As Suvil hangs up his boots after spending a couple of days with the Mahindra Mojo in and around the scenic coffee plantations of Coorg, he sends us images and brief first riding impressions. Stay tuned for an exhaustive, detailed review soon.

A recap of the specifications are in order, which include a 294.7 cc, liquid cooled, single cylinder engine good for 26.82 bhp and 30 Nm of torque. It’s cradled within a twin tube frame with coaxial mounting and mated to a six-speed transmission. Suspension duties up front are handled by USD (upside down) telescopic forks, while a high pressure gas charged mono-shock mounted on the box-section swing-arm takes care of the rear.

Braking is handled by a 320 mm petal disc up front, along with a 240 mm disc at the back. The Mojo benefits from premium Pirelli Diablo Rosso II radial tube-less tires, which measure 110/70 up front and 150/60 at the back, and are wrapped around 17-inch wheels. Other highlights include dual exhaust cannisters, DRL strips, a BOSCH ECU with a limp home mode, and a comprehensive, part-digital instrument cluster.

The Mojo is 2,100 mm long, 800 mm wide, 1165.5 mm tall and has a wheelbase and saddle height of 1,465 mm and 814.5 mm respectively, making it bigger than, say, the Honda CBR250R. It has a generous ground clearance of 173.5 mm, a 21-litre fuel tank and a dry weight of 165 Kg. In case you want the finer details regarding the specifications, click here. Without further ado, here are the initial impressions

Performance :

The Mojo feels refined all throughout the rev range and there are very few, forgiveable vibrations, that too north of 7,000 rpm. The engine doesn’t feel comfortable to stay below 3,000 rpm range, and starts to show its true colours from 4,000 rpm onwards. There is a significant bump in power around 5,500 rpm, when maximum torque is delivered, post which power deliver is very linear. The engine, which itself has a dry weight of just 35 kg, red-lines at 9,000 rpm, while it idles at 1,500 rpm. Adding to the safety aspect of the motorcycle is the clutch. The clutch needs to be deployed to start the engine even in the neutral gear.

The Mojo is indeed a good tourer, as it is being touted as. The Mojo cruises effortlessly on the highway in top gear, with the digital speedometer reading out numbers between 80-90 kmph, and the tachometer needle hovering around the 4,000-5,000 rpm. Whack the throttle open, and the motorcycle shows a good potential to hold 120 kmph on longer stretches of roads without any noticeable stress on the engine. The going gets laborious beyond 125 kmph though. That being said, the lack of a wind shield makes wind blasts is a major concern while cruising in three digit speeds.

The motorcycle boasts the largest braking set-ups in the segment, with a 320 mm petal disc upfront and 240 mm disc at the rear. While the rear brake is impressive and replies flawlessly to inputs, the front brake lacks initial bite, and isn’t that confidence inspiring. Mahindra says they have implemented progressive braking but personally, we believe that the Mojo could have fared better in this aspect, given the lofty specifications. ABS isn’t even an option for now, but will be made available in the future.

Instrument cluster:

The instrument cluster hosts a long list of features, some of which may not be used on a day to day basis. Things like the “race mode”, which gives the rider an option to record the 0-100 kmph timing, along with the time taken to cover 500 metres, or the maximum speed recorder are interesting gimmicks that one can boast about. We recorded the best 0-100 kmph time of 9.51 seconds. Other information includes side-stand warning, tale-tell indicators, high oil temperature warning, low battery indicator and malfunction indicator.

Ergonomics:

As mentioned before, the Mojo is better suited for touring, rather than be sporty. The seating position is upright, courtesy the centre-set foot-pegs and raised handlebar. On the move, the motorcycle is comfortable over long distance trips, but the seat, despite being well padded, feels a little uncomfortable after about 150 kms of travel. The well-specified suspension soaks most of the potholes efficiently making the ride on rough roads pleasant and adequately comfortable.

Though not a focussed canyon carver, the motorcycle is still fun around the corners, especially because of the sticky Pirelli Diablo Rosso II rubber and the meaty mid-range. The chassis is well balanced and the Mojo can be flung into corners relatively easily without making the experience a twitchy one. However, the sheer mass and weight prevent it from being as agile as some of its competitors, though the throttle can be gunned mid-corner and the day be saved. The motorcycle handles equally efficiently in traffic and getting through congested roads is quite easy as well.

To sum it up, the new Mojo seems promising but everything depends on how well does Mahindra prices the product. Anything beyond 1.5 lakh (ex-showroom) may push away potential buyers – that’s a personal opinion. Do you concur?

Unveiled: The 2015 Honda CB Twister 250

Honda has been in the spotlight for the past few days for its surprise strike with the prickly CBR250RR- a concept that still has time to see daylight. As for the present day- the Japanese manufacturer has unveiled the 2015 Honda CB Twister 250 for the Brazilian market.

Powering the new Honda is a single cylinder air cooled 249.5cc DOHC fuel injected motor with an oil cooler that produces a healthy 22.6 bhp of max power @ 7500 rpm and peak torque of 22.4 nm @ 6000 rpm transmitted to the rear wheel through a six speed gearbox. Like other Brazilian oriented motorcycles- the engine on the new Twister 250 has been tuned to run on ethanol premix fuel.

The 2015 Honda CB Twister 250 is held together by a diamond frame and suspended on conventional telescopic front suspension with 130mm travel and a 108mm travel monoshock at the rear. The 5 spoke alloy wheels have been shod with 110/70-17 at the front and 140/70-17 Pirelli Diablo Rosso tyres at the rear. The ABS equipped braking setup includes a twin piston caliper mounted over a 276mm single disc upfront and a single pot mounted 220 mm single disc at the rear.

The cockpit looks modern with a full digital LCD display comprising of a speedometer with large readout, a cascading bar tachometer with a 9000 rpm redline, clock, twin trip meters and fuel gauge for the 16.5 litre tank. Also indicators for fuel pump, refueling, ABS and tell tale lights have been provided.

The styling is very similar to Brazil specific Honda CB300R and it needs to be seen if the 2015 Honda CB Twister 250 will be sold alongside the CB300R or if the latter is slated to be phased out and be replaced by the new 250.

2015 HONDA CB TWISTER 250 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 

ENGINE	249.5cc Air Cooled 4 valve single cylinder with electronic fuel injection
POWER:	22.6 bhp @ 7500 rpm
TORQUE:	22.4 nm @ 6000 rpm
TRANSMISSION:	Six Speed
FRAME	STEEL, DIAMOND
DIMENSIONS (L x W x H)	2,065 mm x 753 mm x 1,072 mm
SEAT HEIGHT	784 mm
WHEELBASE	1386 mm
SUSPENSION:	130mm front telescopic, 108mm rear monoshock
BRAKES:	276mm single disc with twin piston caliper 220mm single disc with single piston caliper With ABS
TYRES	Pirelli Diablo Rosso, 110/70-17 (front) 140/70-17 (rear)
WEIGHT:	137 kgs. With ABS- 139 kgs
FUEL CAPACITY:	16.5 litres

J&D Custom builds a brat bob from a Bajaj Pulsar

Vadodara based J&D Custom and Co. sent us these images of their latest build, which involves transforming a Bajaj Pulsar 220 into a brat style bobber, something, that its creator Jay D. Patel thinks is a one-of-a-kind specimen in India. Apart from the engine, transmission, rims and front forks, everything else has been fabricated in-house. The oval shaped petrol tank has been built from scratch, replete with a chrome cap, while half the frame, the custom swing-arm complimenting a mono-shock suspension have been all built or assembled in house as well.

However, Jay takes special pride in how the custom handlebar has turned out. All plastic switches from the stock handlebar has been done away with, and replaced with metal switches. He says “Handlebar was most challenging part of this whole build, because we got digital 2013 model pulsars which have all digital systems in it. So we can’t put metal switches with those digital systems, because every switch is connected with some sensors. So it was very difficult to customize that digital wiring & make a unique & simple thing.”

He adds that repeated trips to mechanics, wiremen and even some Bajaj guys in order to resolve the issue went futile, as they advised him agaianist it. Not wanting to give up, Jay burnt the midnight oil on hard work and research, and ultimately appointed all the metal switches succesfully. He also thinks that that they are the most eye-catching part of the whole build.

The grips are crafted out of brass, while illumination is handled by a vintage yellow 5 inch headlamp accompanied by two white LED fog lamps. The tail lamp is hand-crafted, and features LED elements which “shine like a rear red light of formula one car”. LED side blinkers also went into the mix. The alloy wheels are stock, but don a mirror finish contrasted with strips painted in black.

This custom motorcycle was built for a client, who insisted on a comfortable seat, hence the black leather job with more cushioning for the pillion rider, complimented by quilted stitching. A chromed tool box with leather belts and a warped, custom exhaust try to uplift the vintage charm. The foot pegs and levers have also been crafted in-house. Most of the wiring has been hidden with copper piping.

While the frame and swing-arm are painted in black, the tank and custom made side panels are painted with metallic bronze paint & airbrushed with off-white strips with the  J&D logo on it.

BlaBlaCar Is Raising $160 Million From Insight, Valuing Ride-Sharing Startup At $1.2 Billion

A little more than a year after announcing a $100 million mega-round, we’re hearing from multiple sources that long-distance ride-sharing platform BlaBlaCar is in the process of raising another round with Insight Venture Partners. 

Insight Venture Partners is leading the round with a significant syndicate of business angels. This Series D round values the company above $1 billion for the first time. A source said that the deal has already closed.

Existing investors include Index Ventures, Accel Partners, ISAI and Lead Edge Capital. It seems like they are not involved in this new round.

As a reminder, BlaBlaCar is a marketplace where you can find a driver who is driving from one city to another and book a seat in advance. It connects people with empty seats with riders. Drivers can make a bit of money while riders can travel for cheap. Like Airbnb, the company takes a small cut on every ride (currently around 15 percent).

BlaBlaCar also has a significant network effect. The more people use it, the more rides you will find even at the last minute, and even if you are going from a tiny city to another tiny city. It is sometimes much more effective and cheaper than a train ride.

Last year when the company announced its previous round of funding, BlaBlaCar operated in 13 countries and had 8.5 million members. It is now available in 37 countries, including in non-European countries, such as India and Mexico. The company alsoacquired its biggest competitor Carpooling.com and its 6.5 million members.

As BlaBlaCar needs to tweak its model a bit for every country and comply with local regulators, it has many local offices focused on a particular market in Madrid, Milan, Warsaw, Hamburg, London, Moscow, Istanbul, New Delhi, Budapest and Mexico DF. That’s why the company needs a lot of cash to fuel its aggressive expansion strategy.

While Uber encountered a few bumps along the road in France, BlaBlaCar doesn’t face any legal issue as it promotes a revenue sharing model, and not a profit-seeking model — it’s like asking for your friends to pay for the gas. A 200 miles ride costs $26 on average.

India is obviously a big potential as trains are slow and it is one of the most densely populated area in the world, but the company has been around for much longer in Europe — and BlaBlaCar is still beating all its key performance indicators in Europe. Growth in France, which the team considered as a mature market, is still accelerating. And then, there is the U.S.

Every time, I’ve asked about a potential expansion to the U.S., the company has given me the same answer with multiple reasons why it doesn’t make sense to go the U.S. — gas is cheap, and cities are too big and too far away from each other. But maybe this new round will make the company change its mind.

Triumph Speed Triple 1050R may ride into India real soon

Triumph Motorcycles India is likely to bump up its product portfolio very soon as the Indian arm of the British motorcycle marque has imported a unit of the Speed Triple with the “R” badge to India for ARAI homologation. Along with the “R” badge, comes slightly higher power and torque figures and a higher spec suspension setup. The latest update about the Speed Triple R comes from India’s import and export data website Zauba.com.

What’s new? The only difference between the standard and R badge models is purely mechanical. In terms of performance, the international variant of the Speed Triple R receives a 1050cc liquid-cooled, in-line three-cylinder engine tuned to deliver 137 PS of power and 111 Nm of torque against the standard model’s 126.7 PS and 104.82 Nm of torque. The motorcycle will come to India via the CBU route, and we expect to see similar power figures for the India-spec model.

Rest of the technical data of the Speed Triple R remains identical with the standard model but instead of the Showa suspension, the Speed Triple R benefits from Öhlins shock absorbers. The front receives Öhlins 43mm NIX30 upside down forks while the rear is equipped with Öhlins TTX36 twin tube Monoshock. Both, the front and rear suspenion,  come with rebound and compression damping. ABS, similar to the standard Speed Triple, comes as standard on the Speed Triple R and here too, you can switch it off in case you are feeling a little adventurous.

The brawnier motor will help the Speed Triple R compete with the likes of Kawasaki Z1000, Suzuki GSX-S1000 and the Honda CB1000R to name a few. That’s where the pricing will play a crucial role. While most of our readers would already know, we would still clarify that the price – Rs 600,708 – mentioned on the import/export data website does not take into account the import duties and various other taxes. The standard Speed Triple is priced at Rs 11.49 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Along with the added bells and whistles, expect the R badge version to carry a slight premium over the standard model. We hope not by a great margin.

TVS Scooty Zest 110 3000 km Long Term Report

Just yesterday I wrote a story for our newly-launched sister site Gizmoids about Adobe being bothered about its proprietary and trademarked brand-name “Photoshop” becoming a generic name for any digitally manipulated image. Writing that report I wondered why they didn’t see it as a compliment-the fact that Photoshop has become the industry standard, a name so ubiquitous that it has transcended the realm of professionals and seeped into mainstream popular culture. Digging a little deeper, I found that Adobe had clear grounds for its worry. Xerox didn’t like it when its trademark became a generic name, neither did Google and Bayer, the last one the maker of the now commonplace aspirin.

TVS’ success with its Scooty brand is something on similar lines. Since its launch in the nineties, the Scooty has revolutionized commuting not just for millions for college girls, but a vast number of urban commuters of both sexes. Here was a four-stroke (initially two) scooter that had space to carry your groceries and some notebooks, was reasonably frugal, and was a hoot to ride in the city thanks to its gearless variomatic transmission. The public lapped it up.

We don’t know how TVS Motors feel about the Scooty name now being used to denote everything from Honda Activas to Kinetic Blazes to Vespas but their accounting department surely can’t be complaining. Ever since its launch, the Scooty has been in continuous production and TVS has kept it fresh over more than two decades with timely updates, both cosmetic and mechanical.

This one here, though, was an all-new machine upon its launch.

For starters, it has got a larger heart, the 109.77cc CVTi unit that also does duty in the Wego and Jupiter. Peak power is rated at 8 PS at 7,500 rpm and there’s 8.7 Nm of torque coming in at 5,500 rpm.

The design has also been updated to keep up with the latest trends and it looks pretty, especially in that signature turquoise, without being overly feminine. It is still a Scooty- as evident in that integrated and elongated front fender-but one that has been updated to present day. I personally dig the side profile the most. Stylish albeit understated scoops and cuts along with minimal stickering make the Scooty Zest 110 one of the best-looking scooters in the market today.

The folks at TVS had the Scooty for delivery in Pune so I picked it up from the showroom and it became my long-termer by default. Despite the proven advantage scooters have over motorcycles for commuting, I wasn’t too enthusiastic about riding one. I like shifting gears manually, using the upper part of the rev range to surge past slow moving auto-rickshaws and sleepy call-center cab drivers. I like the superior handling and, finally, there’s the manly feeling of having something between your legs.

Then I moved to Mumbai. I needed a long termer now more than ever and so, after two weeks of commuting to the Motoroids office in auto-rickshaws, I went back to Pune to get the Scooty. The ride back, almost all 150 kilometres of it, the rain gods refused to show any mercy on the two of us. But it was this ride where I fell in love with the scooter.

Even on the superbly-paved NH4, it is impossible to go above the ton mark in the monsoons safely, with visibility at a minimum, and fog and mist swirling around me. So I decided to take this rain-soaked ride as an opportunity to just cruise slowly, take in whatever I could see of the scenery, and maybe do a little introspection on my new responsibilities at the Mumbai office.

Once I entered that zone, the Scooty proved to be the perfect accomplice. The footboard did a fine job of keeping the mud and rain away from my legs, and the relaxed riding posture meant that I could keep on riding without breaks even in this weather. And when I did stop for a break, I could stash my full-face helmet under the seat – something that few scooters can claim to do.

It has been a month now for the Scooty and I in Mumbai, and we are both warming up to the city. The engine is zippy enough for my daily commutes, and she’s decently frugal for the fun and convenience she offers, although I haven’t had an opportunity to test her fuel efficiency yet. The fuel filler cap is also located under the seat, all of which translates into rather frequent and long trips to the petrol pump.

But that aside, I like the fact that I can now carry my MacBook Air and some other stuff to work, and buy groceries on the way home from work, without lugging along a backpack.

When you are commuting daily, sometimes with bleary eyes and sometimes before you’ve had your caffeine shot, the last thing you want is an involving riding experience day in and day out, no matter how committed a biker you are. The weekends (and trackdays and new review machines for us) are there for that. This is where the Scooty proves itself as a trusty workhorse, a machine that will transport you from A to B in comfort and convenience, and with no drama at all. It is the unobtrusive wingman, the trusty friend that is happy to stay in the background if its presence is not needed, but can rise to the occasion when needed.

The rains have been clearing up in the last few days, so my wingman and I have many more adventures to experience in this city of dreams, the city that never sleeps.

Top 9 most powerful production motorcycles in the world

Power, you can never have enough of it. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In the motorcycling world though, power isn’t everything. It has been conclusively proved that more power doesn’t always necessarily translate into a faster bike, and anything around the 45-50hp mark is more than enough for most motorcyclists’ day to day lives.

And yet, we just can’t resist gawking over spec sheets, poring over brochures, and lusting after the most powerful bikes in existence. There’s something about them, the imaginations of thrill and excitement that we conjure when astride a motorcycle with frankly incongruous amounts of power. The knowledge that you can unleash the seven levels of hell if you want to, that you have all that power at the flick of your wrist is oddly satisfying.

Here we have compiled the nine most powerful production motorcycles in existence today. We could have rounded it out to ten, but the tenth seed was so far off the mark when compared to these nine, that we thought it wouldn’t be fair to put it in this rarified list. We have also excluded track-only, one-off, and special edition vehicles, as the power and figures of most of these vehicles vary wildly, and it would be unfair to add them to this strictly-curated list. Enjoy.

9. MV Agusta F4 R 312 – 190hp

MV Agusta doesn’t make too many motorcycles in its chequered history, but when they do, the world sits up and takes notice. Despite its jaw-dropping beauty, the F4 was written off by many after more than a decade of gracing the living rooms of moneyed connoisseurs, but then they came up with this even more ferocious beast of a machine. It also held the record of the fastest production motorcycle (311kmph) for quite some time, so there’s that.

8. Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R – 193hp

Also known as ZZR1400 in some circles, it was Kawasaki’s answer to the undisputed king of top speed, the mighty Hayabusa. And what an answer it was. Although decried a bit at first thanks to its looks, or lack of it rather, its performance was nothing to laugh about. This isn’t a bike meant for posing, it is a missile designed to propel you down the straight and narrow as fast as the laws of physics will allow.

7. BMW HP4 – 193hp

The BMW S1000RR came out of nowhere in 2009, taking everyone by surprise, shattering speed and power records, and sweeping almost all Bike of the Year awards. Not one to rest on their laurels, BMW has kept on fine-tuning it and honing it with such methodical precision as only the German can. They also introduced a number of iterations of the bike, and this, the HP4 is their wildest ride yet.

6. Suzuki Hayabusa GSX R 1300R – 197hp

Ahh, the Dhoom bike, the one that restarted it all. The one that took the gentlemen’s agreement and smashed it to smithereens, laughing all the while to the bank. The ageing Japanese falcon has still what it takes with 197hp from its 1340cc engine.

5. Kawasaki Ninja H2 – 200hp

We ourselves are a bit surprised to find the heavily anticipated Ninja H2 in the middle of this list, rather than at the very top. This just shows how far technology has progressed in the last decade. If we were including track-only machines in our mix, then the H2’s bigger, badder brother, the H2R, would have decimated all comers with its whooping 300hp of power. As it stands, the H2 though, is still a manic machine at 200hp.

4. Yamaha V-Max – 200hp

The V-Max, a power cruiser, is a bit of an oddity in this list dominated by superbikes and hyper tourers. What isn’t odd though, is its 1679cc engine that produces exactly 200hp of power.

3. Yamaha YZF-R1 – 200hp

All-new for 2015, the YZF-R1 is a technical marvel, meant to decimate all usurpers to the throne who has been strutting while Yamaha lay dormant for the last few years. With its 998cc engine churning out a monstrous 200hp, we certainly think it has what it takes. Did we also mention that Rossi helped develop it? Did we?

2. Ducati 1299 Panigale S – 205hp

With 205hp from its 1285cc engine, the 1299 Panigale S is the most powerful production motorcycle in existence right now, if you don’t count the ultra-rare Vyrus that also just happens to have a Ducati-sourced engine.

1. Vyrus 987 C3 4V R – 211hp

The inclusion of the Vyrus at the top of this list caused a row at the office, and it almost came to blows before the boss had to placate everyone down with some choice takeaway from the Chinese eatery downstairs. Some felt that it doesn’t really count as a mass-produced motorcycle, and if we include it, we also have to count other exotics like the MTT Y2K, the Dodge Tomahawk, and the Boss Hoss.  Others felt that it is now being produced in a pretty sizeable quantity, hence it ought to be here. In the end we went with the latter. At 211hp, the Vyrus wins the crown of being the most powerful motorcycle on sale today.

Do you agree with our list? Do you feel that we missed out any motorcycle more powerful than the ones on this list? Sound out to us in the comments below.