2009 Honda Vtx1300c on 2040-motos

Moto blog

New Delhi Auto Expo 2012 – Motorcycle Manufacturers Draw Battle Lines for World’s Second Largest Market

In past years, the biennial Auto Expo in India slipped under the radar while the industry was focused more on shows such as EICMA in Italy and Intermot in Germany. But with India’s middle class starting to flex its financial muscle while other markets continue to struggle, the New Delhi show is becoming much more prominent, with major OEMs positioning themselves to claim a piece of the India’s 13 million vehicles-a-year market. We’ve already looked at India-produced Royal Enfield’s new Thunderbird 500 and Hero Moto’s hybrid scooter concept which debuted at the Auto Expo, and today we’ll look at what the major international OEMs presented.

Honda Motorcycle Technology

For all you gearheads out there, Honda has opened a new Motorcycle Technology Picturebook site, an easy to understand guide to Honda’s advanced motorcycle technologies.  You can find anything from the engine idling stop system to Honda’s new automatic transmission system for motorcycles or the HFT (Human-Friendly Transmission) pictured above. This site will be updated regularly, check it out now!

Awesome Anaheim Supercross

The highlight of this winter has to be my visit to last week’s Anaheim Californian Supercross.  I’ve followed this spectacular series on Motors TV but the atmosphere while watching the action live is something else. Forty five Yankee dollars gets you a good seat high in the stadium, with practice starting at 12.30pm and the main event kicking off at 7.30pm. If you are making a day of it however, I’d recommend buying a pit pass then you can get in full anorak mode to hassle the teams and riders for autographs and photos.  We conveniently made some new friends allowing us to do some pre event ‘tail gating’, a great concept which is basically barbecuing and downing beer around your vehicle in the surrounding car parks.  The evening race schedule is four hours of nonstop action starting with the capacity crowd standing for the American national anthem sung by a stunning blonde with a huge voice.