Over the last few years, many automotive news websites have been publishing some really interesting pieces of motorcycle news. Most of these sites claim that this news is from reliable sources. Of course, they leave these reports open ended – and don’t provide any tentative dates as to when we could expect these models to actually hit the streets. Most of the bikes that these websites feature as ‘arriving on Indian shores shortly’ are the big litre bikes, or beyond. Some look extremely beautiful, while others look really brutal. But there’s no denying the fact that they are all big-time eyeball catchers. These bikes catch my attention for a very short span of time, and then they are discarded to some corner of that hard disk with infinite space that we call the brain. A while back some website posted a report that Honda is all set to introduce the CRF 250 – one of the best dual purpose bikes ever. The pictures had me drooling. The CRF is just my type of bike. This bike makes absolute sense for riders who like to travel for weeks at a stretch through obscure places – in other words, me! It’s not a transcontinental tourer, and makes no pretence of being one. The CRF has enough power to tap when needed, very good height, light weight, good luggage carrying capacity, and is at home both on tarmac and on the dirt. It won’t come cheap, I knew that, but so what? It’s just the right type of bike for me, and so I made my calculations as to where I would get the money from to buy it. The news went cold after a while. It was rumoured that Honda would showcase the bike at the Auto Expo, but it never did. And so, the hope bubble burst. The rumour mill started again, and this time it stated that Hero is all set to introduce a 250cc version of the Impulse. This seemed like a very real possibility, given the fact that many riders have already performed a successful engine swap – fitting the 225cc Karizma engine into the Impulse, and it worked just fine. So, perhaps the manufacturer would also consider doing something similar. Agreed that the Impulse did not sell in the numbers that Hero would have liked, but that was mainly because of the small capacity engine. It’s such a lovely bike that a 250cc heart would make perfect sense – both for sport, and for pleasure. But, it doesn’t look like we’ll get to ride it in a hurry. And now, it’s the turn of the KTM Adventure 390. The bike looks absolutely gorgeous in pictures – a biggish tank, high seating position, good ground clearance, swept up exhaust, thick front forks with long travel, and good tyres. The rear has slots to attach hard panniers, and it’ll look like a real tourer with these attached – travelling to Leh & Ladakh, it would be a dream. Recently, I spoke to an ex-KTM guy, and he said the Adventure was coming for sure – but it would be a 350, and would come as a CBU. Now that sure is a damper. A CBU will cost a lot of money, and that’s something that’s in short supply. I guess it’s no use reading these reports and hoping for the launch. But importing a dual-purpose bike is simply not an option, and so I will wait. I just wish that this wait draws to a close before hope fades…
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