Bedazzled- Honda refreshes its 150cc workhorse for the masses

Words- Firdaus Shaikh

‘I love my Honda... like I love my Ganja’ is presumably a cult song for Honda lovers, which I got to hear some time back. My love with Honda began when I first straddled the Honda Unicorn back in 2005, soon after the bike was launched. It was the first bike to give Indian masses a taste of mono-shock suspensions, but also raised doubts about its reliability on India roads. But these doubts were soon cleared owing to the splendid quality and comfort of the Unicorn’s unit, for which Honda is well known along with performance which was until then catered only by Bajaj and Hero Honda. Owing to performance, comfort and fuel economy, the Unicorn soon climbed up the sales charts and earned respect in the premium 150cc segment. The Unicorn also has been one of my personal favourites, owing to its comfortable seating position. But unfortunately for enthusiasts, the Unicorn’s styling has always been plain-jane with the bike seeing only minor face-lifts in the form of fresh graphics, addition of alloy wheels and a black powder coating for the engine. The only show stopper it produced was the Limited MotoGP edition Unicorn with a paintjob replicating Honda’s MotoGP machine – the then RC212V. Over the years Honda realized that minor face-lifts would not be all to keep the Unicorn brand going and that it needed a serious overhauling if it has to survive in the intensely competitive Indian two wheeler market which also happens to be the largest in the world.

So come 2010 and Honda introduces the all new sleek avatar of the Unicorn, rechristened as the CB Unicorn Dazzler. The CB Dazzler ditches the plain-jane looks of the Unicorn for a more sporty form with a new headlight, tank flanks and tubeless tyres further complimented by a digital speedometer and fuel efficiency indicator. At first glance the Dazzler may not really appeal owing to the radical styling, with overgrown tank flanks borrowed from the CB Twister. But rest assured, the looks will definitely grow on you once you spend some time in the saddle of the bike. Besides working on the looks, Honda has also worked on the engine to enhance performance. Power output for the Dazzler is now at par with competition at 14.1PS, and is developed at 8500rpm now, as compared to the Unicorn’s 13.4PS at 8000rpm. The torque rating remains unchanged at 12.7Nm, but now kicks in at 6500rpm as compared to 5500rpm on the older bike. The overall length of the bike has been reduced by 22mm, and is now down to 2073mm from the earlier 2095mm. The wheelbase too has been shortened to aid handling; and now stands at 1328mm, as compared to the earlier 1340mm. This has made handling the bike in city traffic a tad easier for girls like me, as compared to the Unicorn – further aided by the smaller 17 inch wheels on the Dazzler. The Dazzler has also undergone a strict diet, and has shed about 8 kilos, to come down to 138 kilos. Fuel tank capacity again is down, from 13 litres to 12 litres, which has helped to make for a sleeker fuel tank, as opposed to the Unicorn’s bulbous unit. The Dazzler’s seat on the other hand feels slightly stiffer compared to the Unicorn’s which could make you uncomfortable in the saddle after a while. The 240mm hydraulic disc brake unit on the Dazzler is the same as the Unicorn’s, and is still one of the best in the business, making for safe and sure stops. Coming to the all important aspect of pricing, Honda has played a clever game here. Honda has not stopped production of the Unicorn, and is selling the Dazzler alongside the Unicorn. The Unicorn retails at Rs 63,620, ex-showroom in Mumbai, whereas the Dazzler is priced at Rs 67,079, ex-showroom in Mumbai. This means that if the plane-jane looks of the Unicorn do not really suit you, all you need to do is shell out another three and half thousand to get yourself the same reliability with added performance and better styling. So what’s gonna be your pick?

Good Deed Gone Bad

When Baljeet Singh Kochhar, an active member of Pune based Bullet group Roadshakers collaborated with Vijay Jain aka Wheelieboy and xBhp to conduct a Pune-Mumbai Helmet Awareness Rally, little did he know that his efforts and good deeds would backfire on him in the end.

The Helmet Awareness Rally that took place in Pune on the 6th of June in Pune saw a number of bikers from Mumbai joining their Pune counterparts for a city rally. Members from Roadshakers, xBhp, RSA and various other clubs participated enthusiastically to make the helmet drive a resounding success. The written permissions for the ride from various officials were obtained by Baljeet Singh and the rally was flagged off at 4pm from Pune University. As the event was attended by over a 100 bikers, the riders were divided into small groups with everyone riding in a two file formation to avoid blocking the traffic. Pamphlets were distributed to commuters to promote awareness of the use of helmets. Covering half the city, the ride concluded at Chandni Chowk with bikers given an opportunity to test the latest kwacker on the block the Bajaj Kawasaki Ninja 250R.

For Baljeet Singh and Vijay Jain the rally went well without any problems, but their train of thought was soon to change as the next day Baljeet singh was summoned by the cops for violation of rules along with 30 other riders who participated in the rally. The cops had a problem with the manner in which the awareness rally was conducted and said that a fine of Rs 1500 should be paid for each rider listed in the permission letter. After a conversation with the cops of the city Baljeet Singh was told “You’ve done a very good job of promoting helmet awareness, but now we can’t help it and you will have to pay at least some fine. Reason for paying the fine? Not riding in groups.” How dumb, the cops ought to know that obviously 100 plus riders promoting helmet awareness will have the sensibility to ride in groups! (For sure bikers in Pune have more group riding etiquettes than the cops!) Unfortunately Baljeet Singh landed paying a fine of Rs 1000 in the court and another 2500 bucks to the cops to rid himself of the misery.

What really disturbs is the fact that in spite of conducting the rally to promote a good cause in the best possible way, without disturbing the traffic, the cops could still come up with senseless excuses to trouble people taking an initiative for a noble cause (In this case, the initiative for the noble cause of promoting the use of helmets should be taken by the cops themselves. As we all know most of the cops in Pune don’t even bother wearing a helmet forget promoting it!) So wonder who needs to be more aware of wearing a helmet, cops or citizens?

Suzuki launches GSX-R and Bandit in India

Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd, have launched two new superbikes to roll on the Indian streets-the GSX-R1000 and the Bandit1250S. The GSX-R1000 which is the third litre class bike in the country faces competition from the Yamaha YZR R-1 and the Honda CB1000R while the Bandit has a class of its own. The GSX-R1000 is available in two colour options white/blue and black/silver while the Bandit will be available in grey or black. Both the bikes have been launched across 11 cities in India with the GSX-R1000 priced at Rs 12.75 lakh and the Bandit priced at Rs 8.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

No formula for fun

Words: Sahas Chopra

It was one crazy afternoon when my friend and I read an advertisement in the newspaper that WYC was organizing a Formula Fun Race in Chandigarh. We felt really enthralled about this race. Within no time I called up my friends and they too got psyched about this whole idea about racing. So we called up the race co-ordinator to find out more about the entries for the race. It turned out that there were 50 teams competing in a total of 10 rounds per race. The event was for both 4-wheelers and 2-wheelers of any make or model. It was a time-bound event, where each round involved completing two tasks, the Navigational Rally and the Competitive Activity. Teams would get points on completion of each round and activity. Now, we knew that the inclusion of a female participant was a big worry because we were sure no girl we knew in Amritsar would be able or allowed to travel to Chandigarh with us to participate in a race.

Each team would comprise of four participants for the Car Rally, while each Bike Rally team would involve two participants. An interesting aspect was that at least one female participant was necessary for both the car and bike rallies. To make matter even more interesting, there were loads of prizes to be won in both categories.

Now the inclusion of a female participant was a big worry for us because no girl would come along with us from Amritsar to Chandigarh to participate in the race. But we kept it aside for a while as we thought to manage it later ones all other preparations are done. So we signed up for it without any delay, as it was one week from the time we read about it. The rules were simple and it required no special race kits and gears as it was to happen in the streets of Chandigarh. After all it was fun formula race.

The next day we all had a meeting where all the important decisions about the race were to take place. After a long discussion we concluded that I would take my own car for the race, which is Toyota corolla 1.8e. But as the race day was approaching, I made sure to service my car prior to the race. I made myself to feel that something big and exciting is going to happen. The very day I sent my car to the workshop to replace the front discs, tires and rear shocker that were wearied and needed a replacement. I also made sure that the interior was all vacuumed and immaculate before we leave for Chandigarh. My friends and i met everyday in our university in order to consult the way we are going to move for this exciting race.

As the d-day was approaching the fear about having no girl in our team started to evoke from the grave. We tried to talk to our other friends that if they could come along. But as a matter of fact every girl was ready to accompany us in the race only if it were in Amritsar. It was nothing about that my posse and i had a bad reputation within the girls but it was just a fear within them that their parents won't allow them to go 250 miles with a bunch of boys. (Girls! Please don't judge, I am a good guy...:) Anyways, it was only two days prior to the race when we all started to panic for not having a girl in our team and thought we may be disqualified from the race without even participating in it. At once I even thought of dressing up my friend in an attire of a girl and would try to ruse the coordinators. But this thought got washed away when cosco balls popped up into the picture. Later in the evening, we all sat in my car thinking any possible way to participate but nothing snapped us. So as nothing in our hands we finally thought of calling the coordinator to tell him about our problem and ask him any alternative if he can suggest any.

Anxiously, I called that guy and told him about the same. I was flabbergasted when he said that we could race without a girl, as it was no big deal. After it was known to all of us we scorned and shouted at each other in the best vituperative way possible for not calling the coordinator the very day when we signed in for the race. At least we would not have undergone this misery of finding a girl.

It was decided that I would be driving, my friend Bunny from Chandigarh would be navigating and the other two, Kanav and Angad, in the rear seats would be performing the other necessary tasks. We left for Chandigarh without a clue to what awaited us there.

As we reached Chandigarh we freshened ourselves at our friend's place and left for the venue where we were supposed to register ourselves for the race. We were enthralled and excited about the race as we really struggled hard to reach there. We were supposed to reach the venue at 10am but we reached at about 11:15. Now fearing that we were too late to reach there and perhaps the registrations might be closed by then. We entered the corridor to that place and couldn't find any canopies and throng down the hall. It was all deserted. That moment we again blamed each other for reaching out late to the venue and now the registration were over and we were screwed. After searching for the coordinator or anyone around we found a guy screaming and shouting in the garden on the phone. There sat the two others with their faces down and may be thinking. We thought of going to them and talk about the registrations. As we reached to ask him about the race, he nervously leaned forward with his twitching eyes and said that the "FORMULA FUN RACE HAS BEEN CANCELLED". A sudden unreasoning fear of discovery laid hold on us. It felt our jaws fell down on the ground. Although the reaction was quite blatant enough as we knew that we struggled like hell to reach there. It was at that time I realized that I spent 20 grand on my car just for this conceited race. And considering the signing amount to be extra. Now we felt was the right time to take all our desperation out on that guy and we did that successfully though. After having a sort of a tussle with him, refunding us the signing amount and our expense for the gas was the least he could do. We definitely felt disappointed and exasperated about the whole thing. And sat on the table to talk the matter and find out what is next. We talked that we'd definitely feel chagrined when the people would hear that the race is cancelled. We really did gasconade about the race a lot in our university and out and now felt a little contrite for doing that. We sat there for few hours moping and found indolent to do anything else. That was when Kanav rouse and said "no matter the race is cancelled but we can still have fun." his words filled us all with enthusiasm again and we decided that any how the money which was refunded had to be utilized so why don't we shop something for all of us. We all rouse up to lunge for sector -17 for a shopping spree. Our wallets much lighter than before, we then set off to the outskirts of the city to an arena where we played a rejuvenating session of paint ball. Hard to believe, but I found that I had an awesome time.

Formula Fun Race may be cancelled but we realized by that experience that there is No Formula For Fun and we can have it anytime we want.

Tata Nano Gujarat plant inaugurated

Tata Motors has inaugurated its new Tata Nano plant at Sanand, Gujarat. The plant which spreads over an area of 1,110 acres has a capacity to produce 250,000 units per year which can be further expanded to 350,000 units annually. A vendor park is also hosted on the premises of the same plant.The plant currently employs 2400 individuals and deliveries of the Nano from the Sanand plant will begin June end. The inauguration also saw the flag off, of the Nano Superdrive, a country wide drive wherein the winners of an online contest will drive across 36 cities in India and conclude the drive at the Sanand plant. The project has also opened the doors for the development of the Sanand-Changodar, as a new urban centre.

Source: Tata Motors

An Insiders account of the Volkswagen Polo Cup Races 2010

Mr.Shreekant Apte, the President of the Maharashtra Automotive Sports Association (MASA) invited the correspondents of the Autozing51, to act as marshall’s for the Volkswagen Polo Cup races and it seemed to be a rare opportunity to get to know the event better. So along with my colleague, I headed on Thursday to get briefed for the Polo cup event that took place on the twenty ninth and thirtieth of May. “Welcome and be proud to be a part of history” said Mr.Shreekant Apte. “This is the first time a street circuit race will be conducted in Pune and we have to make sure the safety of the drivers is top priority. We must work as a team and make the first ever street circuit race in Pune a success”. The only two registered COC's of India, Mr.Farhan Vohra and Mr.Amit Arora gave us an inspirational pep talk and also demonstrated flag usage and marshaling. There were a total of fourteen turns on the 2.15 km long circuit, out of which six were crucial and I was made group leader of one of them.

The official practice sessions commenced on Friday starting with vigorous exercises for the Micromax, junior and senior karters. Arjun Maini and Abha Mankar were the most popular names in the racing circuit as they burned the tarmac with their superb driving skills. The narrow width of the circuit had high risks of accidents and we were on alert at all times. Nine year old Krishna’s vehicle crashed badly and he had to forego the event with a dislocated shoulder. The Polo cup drivers also took a few practice rounds to get a feel of the circuit. Alisha Abdullah was the only female among the 20 short listed racers of the Polo cup event and her name figured on the list with 96.5 points.

It was inspiring to watch National Rally champion, Mr. Hari Singh and German car stunter, Mr. Ronni practicing for their stunt display on Saturday Morning. They pulled out smooth and amazing drifts on their Volkswagen Polos that are truly beautiful and powerful machines. The qualifying session for the karters and racers began after that and we were on full alert for the possibility of crashes. Two senior karters crashed into each other when I was on my flag marshalling duty and the control was informed immediately. I handed over the yellow flag to my assistant to wave to other karters and rushed forward to help with my team. The organizers had put in safety measures of international standards as the safety team was truly efficient and the ambulance reached the spot within twenty five seconds. We feared the worst as senior Karter Mohit Ahuja wasn’t moving al all, but luckily Doctors confirmed that he was fit to race the next day. The Polo qualifying sessions saw a spin out and a crash but the drivers were fortunately unharmed.

The main day of the first ever Volkswagen Polo Cup 2010 held in India, was graced by Mr.Suresh Kalmadi and bollywood actress Soha Ali Khan. Incidentally, this was the first time, she has ever been the Chief Guest of such an event. More than 10000 spectators turned up and it was quite an uphill task for the organizers to manage such an excited crowd. Deutschlander Ronni and Mr.Hari Singh kept the crowd captivated by their mind-boggling stunt driving. The morning began with a parade of the Polo Racers around the circuit followed by Polo Cup Race One. The race consisted of 15 laps with each lap approximately taking one and half minutes to complete. Overtaking on this circuit seemed to be almost impossible as there were eleven 90 degree tight corners. 22 year old Sailesh Bolisetti sailed through the tight circuit with expert precision and achieved the winning position in both Race One and Race Two with the latter taking place at the end of the Polo Cup event. Sailesh who hails from Chennai clocked the timing for the fastest lap in car number one(1:36.181s; 75.2 km/h). Saran Vikram from Chennai and Kartik Shankar from Delhi achieved the next two positions in Race One . In Race Two, Kartik Shankar stood second and Mohd. Fahad Kutty from Mumbai stood third. A few incidents like Alisha Abdullah's spin out on car number 24 and Mohd Fahad Kutty’s tyrewall scrape made the race more exciting for the Puneri spectators. Mohd.Fahad Kutty also got a 15 second penalty for overtaking on a yellow flag which made Kartik Shankar achieve third place in Race One.

Abha Mankar (15), the spunky lass from Pune of Team Red Rooster’s stood out like a shining beacon and was winner in the junior category of the 7^th JK Tyre Indian National Rotax Max Karting Championship which was conduced in the afternoon. She was the only female competitor in her category and she beat the boys by a good margin with a timing of 09:41:230s and achieved a great podium finish. This was the first time a Karting Championship was conducted on a street circuit and was a season opener. Dhruv Mohite (09:41:957s) from Team Mohites and Arjun Maini (09:42:079s) from Team Red Rooster’s stood second and third respectively in the 15 lap race.

The winner of the 20 lap seniors karting category was Chittesh Mandody from Team Mohite’s with a timing of (12:45:561s) followed by Parth Ghorpade (12:45:892s) and Vishnu Prasad (13:00:275s) both from Team Amaron..

The final 20 racers of the Polo Cup will compete in a series of races till December 2010 in various cities. They will also get an opportunity to develop their racing careers by getting sponsorships to compete in Foreign racing championships. The racing calendar of the VW Polo Cup is as follows

Source: Volkswagen http://www.polocup.in/

It was surprising to see that a majority of the Racers and Motorsport officials were from Tamil Nadu. It seems that most of the speed demons originate from down south maybe because they have two well designed racing tracks i.e Kari Motor speedway in Coimbatore and the Chennai track in Irungattukottal at their disposal.

I must add that it was a very well organized event by MASA and being a part of the team helped us to understand the trials and tribulations one has to go through to organize an event on such a grand scale keeping in mind the safety of the racers as well as designing the circuit ergonomically. Mr.Shreekant Apte and Mr. Harish, the Chief Marshall made sure that every requirement of the Marshall’s were met and at the same time ensured that security kept the over excited crowd at bay.

It was a unique experience and quite different from just sitting in the Media lounge and watching the race on the final day and noting down the race results. Next year, I am surely going to Marshall again for the upcoming Formula Grand Prix in India. It is really gratifying to know that Pune has figured on the race map in four wheeler motorsports by successfully hosting the inaugural race of the first ever Volkswagen Polo Cup in India on the specially designed circuit at the Sri Shiv Chatrapati Sports Complex at Balewadi, Pune.

Potential fuel leak leads to recall of Lamborghini Murcielago's

The year 2010 seems to have begun on a recall note for most automobile manufacturers, as some of the most reputed brands have recalled vehicles for major and minor refixes. The latest to join the recall bandwagon is Lamborghini. The Raging Bull marque has recalled 428, 2007 and 2008 Murcielago coupe's and roadsters due to a potential fuel leakage problem. The fuel pump welds on the exotic supercars have a potential to break and cause fuel leakage resulting in a possible fire, as the fuel tank on the Murcielago is placed near the engine. Lamborghini has offered a free replacement of the fuel pump and fuel tank on the recalled vehicles.