CARS-BIKES

srithi
Oct 19, 2015
2 min read

Motorcycles invention followed the invention of a bicycle and the development of a four stroke gasoline engine. A German Gottlieb Daimler created the first motorcycle in the year 1885. He attached a four-stroke gasoline engine to a wooden bicycle frame and added two extra side wheels for stability, similar to training wheels on a bicycle. Daimler’s engine turned the rear wheel with a pulley. However, if one counts two wheels with steam propulsion as being a motorcycle, then the first one may have been American. One such machine was demonstrated at fairs and circuses in the eastern US in 1867, built by Sylvester Howard Roper of Roxbury, Massachusetts. One such example of a Roper machine dated 1869 is still existent..

After the Second World War, the BSA Group purchased Triumph Motorcycles in 1951 to become the largest producer of motorcycles in the world claiming "one in four". The German NSU was the largest manufacturer from 1955 until the 1970s when Honda became the largest manufacturer -- a title it holds to this day.

The motorbike market, if we see world scenario, is quite large and there are many renowned manufacturers. Indian market if we check has got fewer players. Let us discuss few major player in the Indian context but before that let us have look at the manufacturers at the world level.

World

Harley Davidson

Suzuki

Honda

Yamaha

Kawasaki

Triumph

Japanese two-wheeler maker Yamaha Motor Co Ltd is looking at scaling up research and development (R&D) operations in India, with an aim to designing the country’s cheapest motorcycle indigenously and shoring up volumes in the fast-growing domestic market.

Yamaha’s new cheapest bike is expected to be priced at around $500 (Rs 27,500), cheaper than the entry-level motorcycle ‘Crux’, tagged at Rs 38,365.

The move to develop a low-cost motorcycle comes close on the heels of compatriot Honda Motor Co Ltd (HMC) launching its cheapest motorcycle, the 110 cc ‘Dream Yuga’, in India