Southern Bluster

Time To Read: 5-7 minutes Image Credit: RoadRunner.Travel Back in the day, long rides were not for the faint of heart. The only bikes available then were thrummy 100ccs and the occasional 150. Of course, there were Royal Enfields, but the old girls were notoriously unreliable, and very harsh beyond 65 kilo-meters per hour. Not just that, the clutch became harder on the damned things as the hours went by in continuous riding. It wasn’t really a choice. In theory at least, the great thing about cubic capacity is that the more you have, the more relaxed the engine is. By that logic, bigger bikes can not only reach and maintain higher cruising speeds, they can do it more easily and are therefore better suited to cover large distances. But how much cubic capacity do you need? Your Bike’s Power Band Explained Things get a bit technical here, but for all practical purposes the usable power of a bike or car is in what is called the power band. This is usually from a certain RP

Time to read: 5-7 minutes IMAGE CREDIT: mkbconseil.ch What do you feel when you watch the video below? This video got over 3 million views on YouTube If you’re like me, the video made you feel very uneasy. There is no doubt in my mind that whoever carried out this campaign had their intentions right. Urinating and defecating in public and on public property is rampant in India. No doubt, it is a major public hygiene issue and one that needs to be addressed. However, is vigilante justice and such a dramatic one at that the answer? To me, it seems almost Batman-esque and gothic in the extreme. Everything about the contents of the video says something: The fact that the men who wield the water cannon wear masks not only says they do not wish to be identified, it also shows they understand that they are executing a form of justice that is not civic-minded and therefore operating outside the law. Off the top of my head, here are some questions to ponder: What could hav

Late in May 2016, Chinese company Shenzhen Hashi showcased a working scale model of the 3D Express Bus concept, also known as (straddling bus, straddle bus, land airbus or tunnel bus) or Transit Explore Bus (TEB) at the 13th Beijing International High-tech Expo. The idea seems simple enough. It’s ingenuity is in that existing city infrastructure does not need to be extensively remodeled to implement this interesting Mass/ Bus Rapid Transit System (MRTS/ BRTS) concept. INGENIOUS: Vehicles under 2 meters height will be able to drive under and through the bus RISING ABOVE: People will get on and off at elevated metro-style stations The concept attracted went viral on social media and attracted international media attention The bus is electrically operated and will draw power both from the grid and photo-voltaic cells installed on the roof. The smallest of them can carry 1,200 people, while the larger ones will carry around 200 people more. That means the TEB could replace

Value is a myth in India. So would be values, but that is a philosophical question and therefore another argument for another day. Today, we’ll talk about just a couple of bikes and explore just a few possibilities. A popular YouTube channel did a comparo of two bikes: The KTM Duke 390 and Kawasaki Ninja 300. You'll notice the first is not a great looker. In fact, I'll admit it looks like a bright orange grasshopper. The 2016 KTM 390 The 2016 Kawasaki Ninja Z250-R In the video too, the public that was polled always chose the Kawasaki over the KTM. In pretty much every test thrown at it from every value point, the KTM is a winner. It is more powerful, has a better power-to-weight ratio, handles beautifully and has a far better feature set. It has a riding position that is more suited to navigating the massive urban snarls that are India’s roads. It is also priced more competitively. So why does the public chooses the Kawasaki almost every time? They’re going for it