Motorcycles like the Hero Impulse have introduced a whole new segment of motorcycling in India and the Indian Consumers noticeably took a liking to this new segment of motorcycles, and rightly so. They are very much suitable for Indian customers because of their adaptability to Indian terrain and Indian motorcycling conditions. The only complaint most of the consumers had with the Impulse was that it felt heavily underpowered.
Sherco 4.5i off-road bikes heading to TVS Motors’ facility in Hosur
KTM sensed an opportunity here and announced that they would be launching Enduro versions of the Duke 200 and Duke 390 and this idea was welcomed with open arms by motorcycling enthusiasts and commuters alike. Enduro motorcycles are already fun to ride because of the high ground clearance and those tires with aggressive tread patterns, so adding more power to the mix will only make it more fun, especially when the roads are wet and muddy and other track-bred motorcycles are having a tough time keeping it in line out on the roads.
And now, it appears as if TVS motors has taken the cue and are attempting to enter the Enduro motorcycle segment by launching their own Enduro motorcycle. Two examples each of Sherco 3.0i and 4.5i dirt bikes were spotted at the port in Chennai and were said to have been imported from Belgium for ‘research and development’ purposes and ‘testing’ purposes.
Sherco is a Spanish company specializing in the production of off-road motorcycles and trial bikes and are very popular with dirt racing enthusiasts in Europe and in the USA, Sherco also competes with world-renowned Dirt bike manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and KTM in International dirt racing championships.
Sherco 4.5i off-road motorcycle
It is already a well-known fact that TVS will be developing sub-500cc motorcycles in collaboration with BMW Motorrad, but it was not known exactly what kind of motorcycle they would be producing. Now though, the spotting of the Sherco motorcycles in connection with TVS has given us a slight clue as to what kind of a motorcycle could come out of the collaboration between TVS and BMW Motorrad.
The motorcycles imported were the Sherco 450i which is powered by a 450cc, single cylinder, four-stroke motor with a max output of 48 PS and the 300i which produces 35 PS. There are no motorcycles in the 250+cc enduro segment right now, and TVS could do very well by pioneering in this segment, especially when their 250cc dirt racers have been ruling the national motocross and autocross scenes for quite sometime now.
If this turns out to be what we are expecting it to be, TVS motors will have a huge winner on their hands.
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Source – Motor Vikatan
