RE Himalayan, the favourite bike for Ladakh ride!

In the end of May , as soon as the high passes of Ladakh are officially open, bikers  from around the country start on the long journey to the enchanting land of Lamas.

Bikers from far corners of the country, braving the heat of Indian plains,  reach the cool climes of the high Himalayas where mixed road conditions await them. Some riders take the easy Jammu - Srinagar - Kargil route to Leh, where the road conditions are good for the most part, while the more adventurous ones take the Manali, Sarchu route to Leh. 

In the year 2012 I took a bus to Leh from Manali, and personally experienced the road conditions - black ice, snow, landslides and water crossings, it is one adventure which i will never forget. 

Believe me  Manali-Leh road will give a off road track a run for its money, in most parts it is just a mud track, which has many water crossings, ice patches and more. 

In Leh I hired a Bajaj Pulsar 150 and rode to the highest motor-able road to Khardungla pass, and to Pangong Tso lake over the snow covered Changla pass. Pulsar was a excellent ride on the tarmac, but i craved for a bike with better suspension and handling while going across the pot holed roads, covered with mud and ice. It was always a bone jarring and tiring journey to say the least.

Enthusiast bikers mostly take their city bikes on this adventures, and a large number of domestic and foreign bikers choose the tough RE bikes for this adventure.

Since the Launch of RE Himalayan,I have read about  many bikers who have bought RE Himalayan for their Ladakh rides this year. As we all know RE has purposely built Himalayan with keeping adventure tourers in mind, and tested it extensively in various terrains, particularly the rock... mud strewn roads of Ladakh.
 

Himalayan has a very good suspension, a powerful engine with good low end torque, with loads of luggage space, which make it ideal for this adventure.

In the coming months as the riders start returning from their long Ladakh rides and start to pen down their adventures, we will come to know the on road performance of Himalayan in this inhospitable terrain. If Himalayan receives good owners reviews about the high altitude performance, we would surely see an explosion in the number of Himalayan riders to Ladakh next season.

                                                                                                                                                   ....Alok

Spotted my first Maruti Vitara Brezza on the road !

Hi guys,

I have been writing about Vitara Brezza since its launch and wanted to see it in flesh, but till yesterday I had been unlucky in seeing one on the road.

 Yesterday evening I was on my daily walk, enjoying the cool breez,when suddenly a red car passed me by , it looked like Brezza , but I was not sure since the road was dark at that spot, and the driver drove past me at good speed.

The only impression I could make of the car in those few minutes was that it didn’t look big, in fact it just looked like any other hatchback on the road, this confused me more, was it really the much hyped compact SUV from Maruti which was such a runaway hit that 

 it had dethroned the much capable segment leader Ford EcoSport?

Well the confusion was soon to end , as just half a km ahead I saw the same car parked by the side of the road. It was again in a dark spot but now since it was still, I could see it much better. The best part was that a Ford EcoSport too was parked behind it, so I could compare the looks of them both.

The car was brand new, still had the plastic cover on the seats.Color was nice dark red…looked much dark… like wine red due to the low light. The roof was black and the combination of red roof and black roof looked really good.

I came slowly from the rear towards the front and took my time to let the design sink in, from the point of view of a prospective buyer.

The rear didn’t look distinctive , very hatch like. The boot didn’t look very big, I don’t know if it would hold enough luggage for a long holiday for a family of four.

As I came towards the side, the thing that impressed me was the high ground clearance, and large wheels, but the car didn’t look very high, the stance was not very SUV like. To tell the truth I was not very impressed and kept looking at the EcoSport standing behind Brezza just to see if it really was a better looker than the old leader.

I waited there for few minutes looking at the side profile , and thinking if it was really worth so much money when it looked just like any other hatch?

Btw …I had seen quite a few Hyundai Creta, another rival of Brezza, and it looked very good….much bigger  and SUV like. At that moment while looking at Brezza I mentally compared the image of two cars and I would have immediately paid much higher price and bought Creta.

But there has to be some design element which immediately catches eyes of the prospective buyers when they walk into the showroom, which makes them buy that particular car over others. As I moved towards the front of Brezza, I saw what had clicked for Brezza in such a big way that it had months long waiting list, it was the awsm front…the grill, the head lights, the fogs, the bonnet…all had that macho look of a big SUV…which makes you fall in love with Brezza instantly.

 It was at this moment, when I looked at EcoSport, I knew the reason why it had lost its number one position…it just looked too old when standing next to Vitara Brezza.

 And to tell the truth Brezza’s front end looked better than Creta’s, which was stylish but did not have that burly look which  is so much more more SUV like. So even with  bigger dimensions than Brezza, Creta may loose out to that muscular front end of Brezza.

 Brezza looked like a car which would be comfortable in the city, also good for occasional highway runs, but with its compact dimensions it surely didn't look like a mile muncher to me.                                                                                                                   ...Alok

Maruti Vitara Brezza is the new CSUV King !

                         Maruti Vitara Brezza the new King of compact SUV segment !

Till Maruti launched its compact SUV Vitara Brezza, Ford's Ecosport was the ruler of the compact SUV segment, infact with Ecosport Ford practically invented the compact SUV segment in India.

Before Ecosport's launch both the market leaders, Maruti and Hyundai, had no clue about the changing taste of the Indian car buyer, who wanted something more than just the simple sweet compact cars, which were good for the daily grind, but fell short on those fun weekend trips. 

Ford identified this need of Indian car buyer and made EcoSport keeping in mind the market aspirations in mind.  Ecosport was launched in India in 2013 and opened to a fantastic response, Indian car buyer loved the high stance, rugged styling, feature loaded interiors, and on top of all this the  mouth watering launch prices made EcoSport the hottest selling  car in no time.

Since than other auto manufacturers too tried to cash in the ever growing craze for compact SUVs in India by providing more rugged looking versions of their small hatches, but these makeovers didn't go too well with the car buyers and EcoSport ruled unchallenged.

Car enthusiasts waited with bated breath for the two giants Maruti and Hyundai to respond with their own versions of compact SUV's, but neither Maruti nor Hyundai throw any half baked products in the market just to occupy their place in the segment. Both companies are know for their great products which were loved by the masses, so Maruti and  Hyundai both took their time and just like Ford they too came up with brand new products Vitara Brezza and Creta.

 Hyundai Creta was the first to arrive on the scene in end of 2015, and since than has been burning the sales charts. It seems Hyundai never had any intention of competing with EcoSport, they  made Creta bigger, much more luxurious than Ford Ecosport,  and placed it at a much higher price point too. In a segment above compact SUV, Creta was pitted against the big boys - Renault Duster, Mahindra Scorpio and XUV5OO...btw none of them have the interiors, styling, features, fit and finish like Creta :D. Hyundai's strategy worked so well that  Creta managed to carve a niche for itself, and has been  been selling 7K+ units since past several months.

 Maruti launched Vitara Brezza in March 2016 and pitted it head on against the compact SUV segment leader Ecosport, by launching Brezza at prices lower than Ecosport. Ford too responded by lowering Ecosport prices substantially. But with its contemporary styling, its long feature list, with no hassel Maruti owenership experience, and with the undisputed power of brand Maruti... Brezza not just opened to a fantastic response, but within no time booking numbers kept swelling, and waiting period extended to a few months.

 The lates May auto sales numbers have come in, which show Vitatra Brezza sales at 7193

and EcoSport sales... less than half ...at 3033 (source team-bhp), and this shows that Brezza is the undisputed King of compact SUV segment in India.

                                                                                                                                                       ...Alok

Maruti Vitara Brezza Vs Ford Eco Sport comparison video.

Tata Nano in a crazy avatar...checkout the SUPER NANO !!!

If you are one of those who admired Tata Nano for its cute looks, you will be surprised to see this amazing new avatar where the tiny lil hatch  transforms into a fun to drive pocket rocket, with 200 roaring horses under the hood.

While watching this video you can see how excited  Shapur Kotwal is with the performance of Super Nano, while driving it on the race track. 

The power, suspension, handling, braking.... take this custom made Tata Nano to another level of driving pleasure. 

Dont expect to see this amazing Nano streak past your ride on a highway drive, because this car is not street leagal and has been purpose built for the track by Jamotorsports.com

Throw away your dumb luggage...the Bluesmart bag is here !

Technology over the years seems to have bypassed luggage industry. Your luggage still has...more or less...the same features as when it was invented. But not any longer, many companies around the world are making innovative products which are more relevant and useful to the lifestyle of the modern traveller. 

One such modern piece of luggage is  Bluesmart Smart Carry-On Suitcase, which has a app of its own to use its various features.

It Charges - Battery with 2 USB Charging Ports
Track - 3G + GPS Location Tracking
Weigh - Scale in the Handle
Lock - Remote Digital Lock and Two Hard Keys
Compact - Designed to International Carry-on Requirements, Ideal for 2-3 day Trips

Video review of Bluesmart Smart Carry-On Suitcase