Hero Achiever to Mahindra Mojo: 10 ‘almost-forgotten’ motorcycles of India

The two-wheeler market of India is the biggest in the world. There are numerous manufacturers with tons of offerings ranging from Rs. 30,000 to more than Rs. 50 Lakh. Admist these all, there are always motorcycles that come and go without making much of a mark in the industry or on the customers. Here are ten present day bikes that are almost forgotten in the Indian market.

Hero Achiever

Despite its ambitious name, the The Hero Achiever never made it big in the market when it comes to the sales charts. It was a premium commuter segment bike from Hero but managed to sell only around 1,200 units on average. It was squarely aimed at the Bajaj Pulsar 150, a bike which boasts sales figure of around 30,000 units every month. The Hero Achiever is powered by a 149.1cc engine that produces a maximum power of 13.51 PS. The engine is tuned for mileage and returns a maximum of 51 km/l.

TVS Victor

The TVS Victor was a very popular bike in its first iteration and was endorsed by none other than Sachin Tendulkar himself. TVS again brought the brand back to cash on its name. However, the new generation Victor never became very popular in the market. This was due to the fact that the competition has become extremely high and during the absence, other manufacturers captured the segment. Hero MotoCorp’s  Passion, which is a direct competitor of the TVS Victor, sells 60,000 units per month. This is muvh higher than what the Victor manages to do at 10,000 units on a monthly average.

Yamaha SZ-RR

The premium commuter segment is one of the most competitive segment in the Indian motorcycle market. Yamaha tried to crack the nut with the SZ-RR premium commuter bike, but to no yield as it failed to attract customers. The SZ-RR offers aggressive styling with a dual-tone body colour and an all-black body. However, in the face of Bajaj Pulsar, it faired very low. The company only sells around 2,500 units of the bike every month.

Yamaha Saluto RX

Again a bike from Yamaha stables, the Saluto RX looked promising upon its launch. However, it failed to get a good traction in the /market.. The 110cc premium commuter bike remains almost unseen on Indian roads. Yamaha sells only around 1,300 units of the bike each month which is very low compared to others in the segment. By fixing a RX suffix, Yamaha tried to pull customers but without any good results.

Suzuki Hayate

The  ‘Yuhi Nahi Chalate’ tagline by Salman Khan made this bike very popular, at least in terms of TV commercials. The bike also featured in the popular flick Dabangg 2. However, in the market, the bike fails to catch the attention of the customers. Suzuki Motorcycle India has several other good selling models like the Gixxer, but the Hayate is an extremely slow seller in the market. The 113cc engine of the Hayate puts out 8.7 PS and Suzuki sells only around 300 units of the bike each month in India.

KTM 250 Duke

After KTM launched the all-new Duke on the Indian market sometime back, the company also brought in a new 250 cc version of the Duke. The 250 Duke sits between the 200 Duke and the 390 Duke. Both 200 Duke and the 390 Duke are doing quite well in their segment and have made KTM a established player now. But the 250 Duke somehow didn’t catch up with its siblings and remained an average seller. The difference between the 250 Duke and the 390 Duke is about Rs. 40,000, which becomes almost negligible in the EMIs. This pushes more customers towards the flagship Duke in India as it offers more power and equipment.

Hero Xtreme

The Hero Xtreme is the successor to the immensely popular Hero Honda CBZ. However, unlike its previous version, the Xtreme prove to be a non stellar performer in terms of sales. This is due to the stronghold in the market of the Bajaj Pulsar. Hero MotoCorp sells only around 1,700 units of the bike every month in the market. It is powered by a 149.2cc engine that churns out a maximum of 15.6 Bhp.

Mahindra Centuro

Mahindra’s two-wheeler arm is not very popular in the Indian market. Though the company tried really hard and invested a good amount of money in the R&D of its bike, the brand somehow didn’t catch up. The entry-level bike from the brand is the Centuro. It comes with some unique aesthetic elements like a golden rib cage around the engine. But the bike never really performed well on the sales chart. The Centuro is an extremely rare sight on the Indian roads and Mahindra manages to sell around 100 units of the bike every month. It gets powered by a 106.7cc engine that churns out a maximum of 8.5 PS.

Mahindra Mojo

The Mahindra Mojo isin fact a really good product by the company but it somehow didn’t catch up on the market. One of the reason for its bleak performance is that Mahindra kept delaying the launch which eventually resulted into less interest among the people, although initially theerre was a  a very underrated bike on the Indian market. Mahindra built a lot of hype around the bike but the delay in launch killed the interest. The bike is aimed at the long-distance tourers and is powered by a single-cylinder 295cc engine that churns out a maximum of 27 Bhp. Mahindra even launched a low-cost variant of the bike known as the Mojo UT, but that too failed to attract the buyers.

Royal Enfield Bullet 500

Royal Enfield is the best selling premium motorcycle brand in India. The Classic 350 model is the best selling motorcycle of its segment. However, the famed Bullet 500 model is slowly and gradually disappearing from the roads. On contrary, the Royal Enfield Bullet 350 is extremely popular on the market and around 11,000 units of the bike are sold each month. However, the Bullet 500 fails to attract the customers and on average, only around 500 units of the bike are sold.