Hi, I am looking for some advice on my next bike purchase. I have owned a Honda CBR 250R followed by a Classic 350. I now want to move into the 650cc segment. My usage will be mostly limited to city rides. Please share your thoughts on bikes from Kawasaki and Triumph, as I have not owned bikes from these brands before.

Autocar India

•4d

The Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 is one of the most sorted single-cylinder adventure bikes on sale, and aside from its portly kerb weight and large size, there are few drawbacks with this machine. It has excellent seating and ride comfort, a grunty engine, a plethora of official accessories, and RE's service network is one of the widest in the country. If you can make your peace with its size, the Himalayan is a hard machine to fault realistically, for most use cases.Today, KTM India will sell you a 390 Adventure with both 349cc and 399cc engines, and the price difference between the most affordable and most expensive model is over Rs 1 lakh. The 350cc 390 Adventure is a capable long-distance machine, and you won't miss the drop in outright peak power too much, especially if this is your first 300cc+ machine. The 399cc models are, of course, packing in better performance, and the higher variants even come with more adjustable and longer travel suspension. Owing to its lighter weight, the KTM is more lively than the RE in the twisties and is also easier to manage at slower speeds inside the city. Do bear in mind that no matter which version of the 390 Adventure you choose, you'll have to make your peace with some amount of vibration because these aren't the most refined bikes in today's market. Coming to the Norton Atlas adventure models, with their 585cc, twin-cylinder motors. These bikes are sure to be in a different segment when compared to the single-cylinder 350-400cc machines listed above. No realistic comparison between them would be a fair or straightforward one, and it's better to cross-shop the Atlas with the Honda NX500, Kawasaki Versys 650 and BMW F 450 GS - if at all. We're yet to ride and evaluate the Norton Atlas models, and even if they launch this year, it would be a wise move to wait at least 6 months - if not more - before investing in a brand-new platform from a new brand which has yet to establish a comprehensive presence in the Indian market.

Autocar India

•5d

The Vespa Officina 8 is a special colourway that is only available at select dealerships and you'll have to get in touch with your nearest Vespa showroom to see if they can procure it. Coming to the Vespa GTS, Piaggio India hasn't indicated that any of the larger GTS Vespa scooters will be coming to India anytime soon. You could reach out to a Motoplex dealership and see if they will import one for you - on rare occasions, a miniscule amount of GTS scooters have been brought here based on customer demand. Do bear in mind that the GTS will cost significantly more than any Vespa bike or Aprilia bike on sale in India and sourcing spares and servicing them will be tougher than usual too.

Autocar India

•5d

The Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 currently on sale supports petrol with up to 20 percent ethanol. E20 is the current baseline fuel available across India and while draft notifications proposing petrol with higher ethanol blends have been proposed and certified, this is still quite a ways away from becoming the available petrol blend in the near future. Therefore, you shouldn't worry too much right now and go ahead with your new purchase happily!