[60sRetro]

It isn't just British bikes, KTM is partnered with Bajaj.

https://marketfeed.news/the-bajaj-auto-ktm-collaboration/

Check out this promo for the KTM Great Ladakh Adventure Tour. I have a friend who ran logistics for this trip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m_cgGaXhQw

India is doing some cool stuff with bikes. It's great if they want to rescue the British classics.

[GlennF]

India is doing some cool stuff with bikes. It's great if they want to rescue the British classics.

The British Classics date from a time when motorcycles like Royal Enfield and BSA were the average working mans daily transport. 

In Britain motorcycles are now toys for the most part, used for recreation and the odd weekend day trip.

In India on the other hand, the motorcycle is still the typical daily transport of millions of working men. 

If anything the Indian market has continued the great British tradition of motorcycles for the masses that Britain seems to have forgot.

[gizzo]

India is doing some cool stuff with bikes. It's great if they want to rescue the British classics.

They're not rescuing anything. They're cashing in on another country's heritage and claiming it for their own. India has an amazing culture going back thousands of years, rich in science, technology and art.

It'd be great to see them make products inspired by their own history instead of appropriating from any culture they think they can make a buck from.

An Indian bike with a rebirthed brand on the tank is no more the real thing than a crappy Chinese hatchback is a  real MG, no matter what the badge on the bootlid says.

[GlennF]

An Indian bike with a rebirthed brand on the tank is no more the real thing than a crappy Chinese hatchback is a  real MG, no matter what the badge on the bootlid says.

How is a Triumph made in Thailand or Harley Davidson from Brazil or India any different ?   

One of the reason Moto Guzzi appeal to me is they are still manufactured in Mandello where the company first set up shop back in the 1920's .

[gizzo]

How is a Triumph made in Thailand or Harley Davidson from Brazil or India any different ?   

I didn't say it was any different. But seeing you ask, I do think it's different because there's continuity. It's the same company, making products in different places. Just because you move house, doesn't make you a different family. But paying money for a title in Scotland doesn't make you a real lord, either.
And FWIW in my imagination triumph is still l the real thing because bloor bought the ashes of triumph as it coasted to a halt, let Harris use the name until his modular bikes were ready then had at it. There's continuity. He never dragged a 50 year defunct label from the dustbin and slapped it on.
IMO, YMMY, FWIW etc.

[GlennF]

I understand, it is a bit like establishing provenance for an artwork.

Personally not sure if it counts for much especially when the current triumphs are really nothing like the classic ones but it clearly works for them in terms of sales.

[AzCal Retred]

@ GlennF # 31: +1 to that. The old IB Bullet is chock full of clever thinking that aids the maintenance chores of the everyman. That heavy-flywheel, long stroke engine is a fuel sipper & gets whatever traction there is to be gotten out of the tires. Not a racer, just a good solid workhorse.

The Indian market is full of small displacement, highly fuel efficient motorcycles. I think the Honda uni-cam CG's were designed for such markets. Lots of cast wheels on quasi-road-racery looking bikes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motorcycle_manufacturers
Indian Motorcycle Manufacturers:
Bajaj Auto (including KTM)
Hero Motocorp
Mahindra Two Wheelers
Royal Enfield
TVS Motors
Ather Energy
Honda 2 Wheelers India
Suzuki Motorcycles India
India Yamaha Motors
Jawa Motors

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajaj_CT_100
Overview: The CT 100 replaced the Bajaj Boxer. The new CT-100 have the same four-stroke, 99.27 cc (6.058 cu in) engine as the Boxer. It came with a "Ride Control" switch which enables the rider to select between the economy and power mode; this feature was scrapped in the later models. The CT 100 used to give apx up to 104 km/l mileage (240 MPG!!), but current modifications due to emission standards have reduced its mileage capability to around 75 kmpl(175 MPG).
 

[60sRetro]

They're not rescuing anything. They're cashing in on another country's heritage and claiming it for their own.

The British were in India for what, almost 300 years? India was the crown jewel in the British empire. The histories and cultures of Britain and India are deeply interwoven, and that was true long before someone put the first motor on a bicycle.

It's completely appropriate to see Indian ingenuity breathing life into the British classics.

[Bilgemaster]

The British were in India for what, almost 300 years? India was the crown jewel in the British empire. The histories and cultures of Britain and India are deeply interwoven, and that was true long before someone put the first motor on a bicycle.

It's completely appropriate to see Indian ingenuity breathing life into the British classics.

...Particularly as Chicken Tikka Masala or Chicken Curry has more or less become the national dish of England.

[cyrusb]

It's only fitting that India produce and ride British machines.
 Earlier, it was the British who rode Indian machines.....

[gizzo]

The British were in India for what, almost 300 years? India was the crown jewel in the British empire. The histories and cultures of Britain and India are deeply interwoven, and that was true long before someone put the first motor on a bicycle.

It's completely appropriate to see Indian ingenuity breathing life into the British classics.

I completely agree. RE is a great example. The IB, then the AVL and UCE have been made in India since what, 1956ish? when the tooling was sent from RE in England to India. They've been at it ever since. They actually did breath life back into a British classic and have done a great job.

[AzCal Retred]

RE India have been building Bullets for about as long as Royal Enfield existed in England, 1901 - 1971 vs . 1956 - 2021; 70 vs. 65 years. As has been pointed out, these are workingman machines, and I believe they survived because form followed function, like the scorpion or horseshoe crab. As long as you don't frag the crank, virtually every other engine or drivetrain maintenance operation can be carried out with the engine in the frame. Accessible, appropriate technology for the intended users.

[Adrian II]

...Particularly as Chicken Tikka Masala or Chicken Curry has more or less become the national dish of England.

Don't think this hasn't gone unnoticed by our Indian friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzTDQctgaYI

A.