Motorcycle News Of The Week: BSA & Yezdi To Make A Comeback; KTM 200 Duke ABS, 2019 TVS Apache RTR 160 Launched And More!

Last week witnessed quite some local launches and international reveals in the two-wheeler business. In India, the retro motorcycle segment is about to get even better with the planned resurrection of the Yezdi and Jawa brands. There’s more too, and here are all the important happenings in the two-wheeled world last week summarized into one story:

MV Agusta F3 800 and Brutale 800 get new colours:

MV Agusta has updated the F3 800, F3 675 and the Brutale 800 with new colours for 2019. Mechanically, the new bikes remain unchanged. The F3 800 now features two new colour options: white and Agostini Red. The latter pays homage to one of the greatest grand prix racers ever, Giacomo Agostini. With a career spanning over 14 years, Agostini achieved a total of 122 Grand Prix victories! Even the F3 675 gets this colour, along with a blue and black colour scheme. You can read all about them here.

The Brutale 800 on the other hand comes in three new dual-tone colour schemes: Intense Sky Blue & Night Grey, Ice Grey & Aviation Grey, and Fire Red & Night Grey. It is expected to enter the Indian market in the first quarter of 2019.

Norton Atlas range & TT Challenger unveiled:

Norton took the wraps off its two ‘entry-level’ motorcycles, the Atlas Nomad and the Atlas Ranger. The former is the base variant costing 9,995 Pounds while the latter is the more off-road-focused version, at 11,995 Pounds. The two bikes share an all-new 650cc, parallel-twin, liquid-cooled engine, with 85.1PS and 64Nm on tap. The power delivery is further optimised by two-mode switchable traction control system, and there’s switchable ABS as well. Norton is planning to bring the Atlas to our shores by 2020. It will compete with the Ducati Scrambler range and the Triumph Street Scrambler.

The British bikemaker also unveiled its middleweight Isle Of Man TT weapon, the Superlight. True to its name, the bike is slathered in generous doses of carbon fibre, and it even gets carbon wheels. Power comes from a 650cc parallel-twin liquid-cooled motor, which punches out 105PS and 75Nm. It gets a plethora of rider aids like wheelie control, traction control, multiple riding modes, launch control and the likes. The motorcycle is not road-legal, though.

BSA & Yezdi to be back soon:

After resurrecting the Jawa brand in India, Mahindra & Mahindra’s Classic Legends is going to further enhance its portfolio by introducing the BSA and Yezdi brands back in India. Bikes from BSA will have relatively bigger engines, and is likely to command a similar premium. The products from the Yezdi brand are expected to be authentic enough to do justice to its glorious past in India. Here’s the complete low-down.

New launches from KTM, TVS & Ducati in India:

KTM launched the ABS variant of the 200 Duke in the country at Rs 1.6 lakh (ex-Delhi). This variant is around Rs 8,200 more than the standard Duke, and the ABS is a single-channel unit. The new variant comes in three colours, and KTM confirmed that it will continue selling the standard Duke as well.

TVS has updated the RTR 180 for 2019 with minor visual tweaks. The new model gets refreshed graphics and instrument console, apart from the frame slider-integrated crash guard. The bike also comes with forged bar-end weights. Mechanically there are no changes, though. Available in both ABS and non-ABS variants, the bike competes with the Bajaj Pulsar 180 and Hero Xtreme 200R.

Ducati’s flagship litre-class track tamer, the Panigale V4 R has been launched in India at Rs 51.87 lakh (ex-showroom). This homologation special of the V4 generates 220PS from its 998cc V4 engine. Apart from the new aero package, this bike also gets a tweaked subframe to make it more track-worthy. Only 5 units are earmarked for India for now, and deliveries are scheduled to commence from next year. You can read more about the bike here.

Hero XPulse 200 & XPulse 200T spied:

Hero’s upcoming off-road friendly motorcycle, the XPulse, was spotted testing for the first time since its unveil at this year’s Auto Expo. The XPulse 200T was also spied alongside, and this variant made its debut at the 2018 EICMA show. The 200T is a touring-oriented model, with alloys and road-biased tyres. The two bikes are powered by a 200cc air-cooled engine which churns out 18.7PS and 17.1Nm. Here’s our detailed analysis of the spy shots.

New UM adventure bike to be launched soon:

UM Motorcycles India has confirmed that they will be launching a new adventure motorcycle in the coming months. It is likely to be the DSR Adventure TT which the brand showcased at this year’s EICMA. Though the international-spec bike has a 125cc liquid-cooled engine, we expect UM to plonk in the upcoming Duty S’ air-cooled powerplant in this motorcycle. There’s also the possibility of UM using the existing Renegade range’s 279.5cc liquid-cooled motor. Depending on the engine configuration, the bike is expected to cost between Rs 1.5 lakh to under Rs 2 lakh, ex-showroom.