10 forgotten bikes of India: Continued

Royal Enfield Bullet Diesel

Royal Enfield did sell a diesel version of the Bullet by combining the Bullet’s chassis with a Greaves diesel engine. Extremely frugal, this engine delivered about 65 Kmpl. Performance was very relaxed though, with the bike making just 6.5 Bhp.

BSA Brigand 50

The BSA Brigand was the off road version of the Bond 50. It featured the same 50 cc two stroke motor and the monoshock rear suspension, but taller mudguards and a higher exhaust. Like the Bond, the Brigand was meant to do well off the road too.

Royal Enfield Fantabulous

Royal Enfield wanted a pie of India’s scooter market, and the odd-ball Fantabulous was born. The scooter never really took off though, and few know about it. The Fantabulous featured a 175 cc Villiers 2 stroke engine with 7.5 Bhp on tap. It also got a self starter.

Lambretta

Automobiles Products of India (API) acquired the license to build and market the Lambretta range of scooters in India, from Italian company Innocenti. After a while, the Indian government bought out the equipment used to build Lambrettas and established Scooters India.

TVS Supra

TVS Motors was one of the first companies to get out of the gate and begin producing affordable and reliable 100 cc Indo-Japanese motorcycles in India.  The Ind-Suzuki AX100 was the first such vehicle. Then, the Yamaha RX100 came along, promoting TVS to bump up outputs of the AX100. The Supra was born, with the same 100 cc motor making 11 Bhp, the same as the output of the RX100.

Images courtesy 1, 3, 6 & 10