The motorcycle industry in India is slowly changing. Manufacturers are starting to adopt newer trends and styles that increases the overall efficiency and appeal of a motorcycle.
Some of the common changes that I see in today’s modern motorcycle are-
Running the headlamps off DC
Headlamps on motorcycles were initially made to run off the power generated by the engine dynamo (AC current) to reduce load on the battery and sometimes because, the motorcycle wasn’t equipped with a battery at all.
The drawback though, was that the intensity of the beam reduced with reduction in engine speed. This made the headlamp almost useless when going at slow speeds, say while crawling over a speed-breaker.
First introduced in Bullets, now becoming a common trend-newer motorcycles have their headlamps running directly off the battery (DC current), just like on a car. This provides a steady illumination of the road. Some motorcycles are equipped with an electronic timer to switch the headlamp off if the rider forgets to when the bike is in ignition.
Use of tubeless tyres
Sure it was taboo when the market first saw tubeless tyres. Questions roused as to whether one would be able to fix punctures on a tubeless tyre easily, as most puncture repair shops didn’t know about it.
The primary advantage of a tubeless tyre is in internal construction and materials used. A tubed tyre is vulnerable to friction and heat generated between the tube and the inner surface of the tube which reduces life of the tube. In a tubeless tyre the inner layer of the tyre is the tube itself. This layer is made of a material like halo-butyl or chlorobutyl which is basically resistant to heat and reduces permeation of air. As a result, blow-out of tyres at high speeds is prevented.
Slowly the tubeless tyre became accepted as people slowly started believing in its advantages and now they are factory fitment on most cars.
The motorcycle industry seems to have joined the bandwagon now. Honda and Yamaha were the first to begin the use of tubeless tyres on motorcycles. Now, a good number of motorcycles come factory fitted with tubeless tyres. MRF and TVS tyres are prime manufacturers in India.
Use of maintenance-free battery
Just as on modern cars, the motorcycle manufacturers too are factory-fitting maintenance-free batteries on their motorcycles.
A maintenance-free battery is a sealed lead-acid battery where the oxygen evolved at the positive plates will largely recombine with the hydrogen ready to evolve on the negative plates, creating water—thus preventing water loss. There is no need to check the level of electrolyte or to top up water lost due to electrolysis, reducing inspection and maintenance.
Replacement of carburetor with electronic fuel-injection system
The fuel-injection (FI) technology hasn’t really kicked off in India. The main reasons for that is
- A number of people don’t believe in this technology. They simply don’t like the idea of handing the job over to a computer while the carburetor has been doing a decent job all these years
- A motorcycle equipped with FI is relatively more expensive when compared to a regular carbureted one
- Unlike carburetor, an FI system will not allow one to manually tweak the jet of air and fuel mixture which resulted in difference in power or fuel-efficiency
The FI unit is a closed-loop system that basically consists of a microprocessor (ECU) which does the same thing a carburetor is supposed to, only better. It maintains an extremely precise air/fuel mixture. This is done by monitoring various inputs from several sensors which sense cylinder head temperature, throttle position, manifold air pressure, oxygen, air-inlet temperature etc. Based on these data, the ECU optimizes the air/fuel mixture hundreds of times per second by determining how long and when the injectors spray fuel into the port.
The result is a more efficient engine that consumes less fuel and reduces exhaust emissions.
It also ensures a better start-up. Instead of the rider guessing the engine temperature and choking the carburetor manually, the FI system will start the engine and keep it running at a required speed to warm up. Also, there is no chance of the idle speed being incorrect as it is fully controlled by the FI system.
Honda was the first to bring their PGM-FI system on the Hero Honda Glamour. It certainly was more expensive than the usually carbureted motorcycles. So are the current crops of FI-equipped motorcycles. In the days to come, stricter emission norms will force motorcycle manufacturers to use these electronic FI systems on all motorcycles.
I am not trying to say that the FI system is the solution to all the problems but I am trying to lean on a system that is more efficient. That currently happens to be the FI system. Be it the FI system today or some other technology in the years to come, the manufacturers should boldly adopt these trends. The buyers must also be educated about newer trends and ideas.
Elimination of the kick-start lever
I wouldn’t really call this a step forward for now. Manufacturers have eliminated the kick-start lever from most premium motorcycles, leaving the ignition job solely to a battery and starter motor. Ignition is assisted by the FI system and in non-FI motorcycles, an auto-choke.
Many motorcycles are plagued by weak batteries and bad starter motors. In such a case, the FI system becomes useless. In the non-FI case, I am not entirely convinced with the auto-choke system. It never works flawlessly and is meant only to save the rider the trouble of choking in cold temperatures.
In my opinion, since these motorcycles aren’t of huge capacities, a kick-start lever must be provided so that the rider can easily start up the motorcycle in case of a fault with all these electronic ignition gizmos.
Use of twin horns
Barely anyone can hear the puny horn of a motorcycle in a crowded street. That’s why today’s motorcycles are equipped with louder twin horns. Relatively, they are louder, thus making it easier to alert others on the road.
Visual changes
LED tail-lamps
This is no change made to improve the efficiency of the bike. In fact, it‘s just another marketing gimmick- to advertise that their motorcycle has as a LED tail-lamp.
Technically, they consume lesser power than the old tungsten bulbs and add to the overall looks of the motorcycle. Also, they do not vary in brightness with engine speed as they run on battery directly. The use of these LEDs is okay as long as they are of good quality. It’s of no use to have them if they’re life is going to be lesser than that of the old bulbs.
Digital instrument consoles
Again, this is a change made only to increase the appeal of the motorcycle. Manufacturers have started using a digital LCD display for showing speed and fuel level.
The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear about this digital console affair is- you switch on the ignition, the backlight turns on, all the segments of the LCD display darken, the tacho needle goes whirring, giving you the feel of a pseudo sports bike doing a pre-ignition self test.
The real advantage is if those displays can show the time or other essential data which is useful. Rest is only for the looks. Some like it, but I am not a fan of this. I prefer analogue dials which have easier readability.
These are the changes I have noticed in today’s motorcycle.
This is my first blog; please feel free to comment on anything. Do correct me if I am wrong.
