2nd BIKEX -----A visit to remember.



Hi everyone here I come back with another entry. hope it finds its place among billions(may be I counted less!) of other stories.

Yesterday it was just another normal Sunday but for the visit to the 2^nd BIKEX India bike exhibition at the Chennai trade centre.

About a month or two ago, one of my friends in trichy, a bike enthusiast had told about the event and about his plans to attend it.

So when I gave him a ring on Saturday afternoon, I learnt that unfortunately he would not be able to make it to the exhibition at Chennai.

I spent some time in the night in gathering information about the exhibition. It was the second of its type to be organized in India.

The first one was a huge success at New Delhi early this year and this the first one here at Chennai aims to bring together the national and international manufacturers and traders of Motorcycles, Scooters, and Bicycles and its parts, components and accessories. The show is organized by Sunstar Expositions Private Limited,New Delhi.

After spending the morning in a frivolous way watching silly comedy scenes etc. in the small screen, I thought I would give a call to my good old friend Sathya and I was surprised to hear that he was also interested in visiting a bikex.

The Travel

Chennai trade centre is situated at nandambakkam. The place is easily accessible from anywhere in Chennai(though it is quite far from places like triplicane etc.). In case you take a share-auto its just Rs10/-. away from guindy railway station.J

The show:

The entry was just a nominal thirty rupees. The place defied all my expectations about a bike exhibition as it did not have any power bikes or race Bikes or either any popular auto giants displaying their concepts and yet-to-be introduced technologies. Though the organizers boast of international participation,either they were not so keen on inviting Indian big-shots like bajaj,enfield etc or may be those companies did not value this opportunity as a productive one. But though TVS had a stall displaying its new FLAME 125cc and its other scooty pep variants, there was not a single technical person who can answer questions like “where is the 3 rd valve-the bike’s specialty located?”. The answer got was “in the engine!!!!”. Needless to say ,I was stumped!.

Electrifying exhibits

Hero ultra and Yo! Bikes were the centre of attention , not because they occupied more than half of the floor space and also not because they had appointed mini-skirt models to help you on the details but because of the technology they sell. A joint venture between hero cycles and ultra motor company of UK,the company is manufacturing a range of revolutionary electric bikes and scooters. The scooters are sleek and come in 7 variants and 6 of these models do not demand drivers license or all those registration or road tax tortures. You can gift these to any kid on his birthday and need not make him wait till 16 or 18.yes! there is no age limit!!!.And all those child prodigies who drive santros at an age when they cannot even do their homework alone ,can better try their hands on these.

The owners can now smile with a reason when they hear gossips about rise in petrol prices and they can even stop frowning at the kid at the petrol bunk for letting that one drop fall down. The costs they say is as low as just 10 paise per km which is one-tenth the running cost of petrol 2-wheelers.i never tested these and it is for you to believe but critics say that it is just a little above the price quoted, and if it is the case it is fantastic!. The vehicle is noise free(“why dint I try honking those horns??”) and hence you and I cannot switch channels when we recognize papa’s bike arriving!!

Nothing good in life comes without the price!!! Even these bikes. At least not until another decade or so.

Though these come with the same price tag as a scooty pep+ or ++, the maximum speed you can expect here is just 40 kmph!!! Do not panic.this is the max. speed on the costliest ride in this segment. Others have it at 25kmph max. this means that if you want to ride to your workplace or college at say somewhere on the ECR, you would nt be partying late in the night.

Another major limitation is the battery charging time which is a constant 6 to 8 hours and a fully charged battery can fuel you only up to 70 kilometres.

Reading through the pamphlet,I found this thing interesting.

**The vehicles are not deemed to be motor vehicles for compliance to CMVR requirements and are exempted as per criteria specifies in GSR589 (E) dated 16.09.2005

So, just consult your banker whether you can avail an automobile loan and all its benefits. But this is just a beginning. As our automobile sir says “ a lot of research is going on and on” and at the present rate of support from organizations world over, we can expect a lot to change. Maybe in a few years ahead we can see those beautiful petrol and diesel engines only at a museum.

Another interesting information was about how Mc-donalds(Andheri-lokhandwala) uses 40 YO! Bikes to meet their delivery commitment and Hypercity mall too has replaced its fleet with Yo!. Kudos to these eco-responsible corporates!! Instead of bearing huge import charges on petroleum governments can subsidise such projects which can be a measure to counter pollution and also reduce dependency on the middle-east.

So, think twice before gifting your wife or loved ones with a normal bike.J

What else?

Another main attraction was the rough surface rider and the caddie type car that TamilNadu government had bought (I think three),for its chief minister to see around exhibits and to travel short distances inside campuses. A magazine shop gave out two magazines at the cost of one and food stalls were also not to miss.

The surprise!

The organizers for some bizarre reasons had made arrangements for a ramp walk. Even though I was fairly comfortable with models posing with those heavy bikes in foreign motor shows, it was quite odd to see a ramp show being organized with these delhi models walking amidst the crowds here at Chennai. Maybe the organizers tried to surprise the crowd.

Being a bike enthusiast myself, though I would like to reinstate that expectations were not fulfilled. This may be because of the wrong time of visit, probably all those bike stunts, bike marathons and bike races got over in the first two days itself. But as it is the first ever time a bike show is happening in Chennai, it is a must visit for all those bike freaks living in and around.

Cya soon..

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