All The Premium Bike Launches Of 2020

While 2020 has been a not-so-good year in terms of the economy, thanks to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, motorcycle enthusiasts still got to witness quite a few interesting premium bike launches. Here’s a list of all the new bikes displacing 700cc and more as well as BS6 updates: 

BMW F 900 R & F 900 XR

Launch Month: May 2020

Price: F 900 R: Rs 9.90 lakh, F 900 XR: Rs 10.50 lakh onwards

The BMW F 900 R and the BMW F 900 XR were the Bavarian bikemaker’s first BS6-compliant offerings in India, launched in May. The BMW F 900 R is essentially a replacement for the F 800 R which was sold in markets abroad. The design of the naked bike is somewhat reminiscent of the BMW G 310 R, whereas the F 900 XR looks similar to the S 1000 XR. 

Both bikes use the same 895cc liquid-cooled parallel-twin motor, producing 105PS at 8500rpm and 92Nm at 6500rpm. BMW has packed the bike with a decent list of electronics, including a traction control system, two riding modes, and cruise control (standard on the F 900 XR Pro). The two motorcycles are brought to the country via the CBU route.

BMW R 18

Launch Month: September 2020

Price: Rs 18.90 lakh onwards

BMW Motorrad launched its first old-school cruiser, the R 18, back in September. This gorgeous German packs a behemoth 1802cc air-cooled boxer engine - the largest of its kind. Thanks to its big heart, it throws down a healthy 158Nm of torque at just 3000rpm. To top it all off, it gets all sorts of old-school bits such as spoke wheels, exposed shaft drive, fin-shaped exhaust, and generous helpings of chrome everywhere. To complement these, the bike also gets new-age features such as an all-LED lighting system, three rider modes, switchable traction control, engine drag torque control, and even hill start control. 

Ducati Panigale V2

Launch Month: August 2020

Price: Rs 16.99 lakh

Ducati India kicked off its BS6 innings with the launch of the Panigale V2 in August. This beautiful faired Italian is the smaller sibling of the manic Panigale V4. Despite adhering to the stringent norms, the Panigale V2’s 955cc L-twin motor churns out 155PS and 104Nm, 5PS and 2Nm more than its BS4 predecessor.

Of course, as with any track tamer worth its salt, it is loaded to the brim with sophisticated electronics such as a 6-axis IMU, multiple riding modes, cornering ABS, lean-sensitive traction control, and wheelie control. 

Harley-Davidson Lowrider S

Launch Month: April

Price: 14.69 lakh

The Harley-Davidson Lowrider S was the last cruiser the American cult bikemaker launched in India before shutting down and later joining hands with Hero MotoCorp for its operations in India. It packs a humongous 1,868cc Milwaukee-Eight 114 v-twin engine, producing a massive 155Nm of torque. Unlike most of Harley’s other cruisers, this one had sporty genes all over, thanks to parts such as an inverted front fork and a twin front disc brake setup. In fact, it was the only performance-oriented Softail one could buy in India at the time. 

Honda Africa Twin 1100

Launch Month: March 2020

Price: 15.35 lakh onwards

Honda’s first BS6-compliant big bike, the CRF1100L Africa Twin, was launched in March, just a couple weeks before the entire country was shut down due to the pandemic. The bigger engined Africa Twin upped the game for Honda in the adventure touring segment. Armed with a bigger 1084cc parallel-twin liquid-cooled motor, it churns out 102PS and 105Nm, up by 7PS and 7Nm compared to its predecessor. 

But that’s not all. Honda has also blessed this bike with a 6-axis IMU-based cornering ABS, traction control, and wheelie control. Geeks out there will be happy to know it also gets a proper 6.5-inch TFT instrument cluster with Bluetooth connectivity and Apple CarPlay.

Triumph Street Triple R

Launch Month: August

Price: 8.84 lakh

Launched in August this year, the Triumph Street Triple R is the most affordable Street Triple in India, priced at Rs 8.84 lakh. In fact, it’s almost Rs 2.5 lakh cheaper than the top-of-the-line RS variant. It gets a slightly less powerful tune compared to the RS model: 118PS (5PS less) nad 79Nm (no change). There’s also a bidirectional quick shifter, traction control system, and three riding modes to keep the rubber side down: Road, Rain and Sport. 

Triumph has cut costs by equipping the bike with a semi-digital instrument cluster, unlike the full-colour smartphone-compatible TFT unit in the RS variant. Overall, the Street Triple R may miss out on certain features but it more-or-less stays on par with the RS variant on things that really matter (read performance).

2020 Kawasaki Z900

Launch Month: September

Price: Rs 7.99 lakh

The Kawasaki Z900 deserves to be included in this list as a new motorcycle considering the comprehensive updates for the 2020 iteration. For starters, the BS6-compliant 948cc inline-four motor is enhanced by two power modes, three riding modes, and a switchable traction control system. The engine produces the same amount of power and torque as before despite adhering to BS6 norms -- 125PS at 9500rpm and 98.6Nm at 7700rpm. 

The bike also gets an all-LED lighting system, full-colour TFT instrument cluster with smartphone connectivity, and new Dunlop Sportmax Roadsport 2 tyres on both ends.

Triumph Tiger 900

Launch Month: June

Price: Rs 13.70 lakh onwards

Triumph replaced its venerable Tiger 800 range with the all-new Tiger 900 lineup in June. With a new 888cc inline three-cylinder engine, the bike makes 95PS and 87Nm. Triumph offers the ADV in three distinct flavours to cater to a wider set of audience with different needs. The Tiger 900 GT is the most affordable variant at Rs 13.70 lakh. It’s more of a soft roader, complete with alloy wheels and dual-purpose tyres on both ends. Off-road lovers can opt for either the Rally or Rally Pro, with the latter coming in with all the bells and whistles such as all-round crash protection, smartphone connectivity, six riding modes and auxiliary lamps, to name a few. You can read more about the motorcycle in our first ride review here.

BS6 Updates:

Apart from all-new bike launches, several brands have also updated their existing lineup to comply with the stricter BS6 emission norms. While some have simply made the emissions cleaner, other manufacturers have gone two steps ahead and thrown in some other updates as well. Here’s a full list with the pricing and launch details: