First bike from Triumph-Bajaj likely to be Royal Enfield Continental GT 750 rival

Royal Enfield is yet to launch its flagship motorcycle. The 750cc engine is likely to come fitted in Continental GT's frame and test mules have already been spotted in India as well as abroad. It looks like even before the launch, a rival for the Royal Enfield bike is in the making.

The rival is expected to come from the newly-formed alliance between Triumph Motorcycles and Bajaj Auto. The first offspring from the alliance will compete with the incoming Royal Enfield Continental GT 750, reports motorcyclenews.com.

The Triumph-Bajaj motorcycle will also go up against established rivals in the global mid-capacity segment such as Harley-Davidson Street 750 and Yamaha MT-07. The current entry level model, Street Twin has been priced at Rs 7.17 ex-showroom in India while the bike from the partnership is expected to be more affordable at around Rs 5 lakh or below.

When can we expect the motorcycle? Both parties have not confirmed the due date. Considering the 750cc bike's popularity around the world, the debut of the motorcycle can be expected before 2019.

Ravikumar, President of Business Development at Bajaj says, "The new motorcycles will combine the iconic heritage of Triumph with the back end efficiencies of Bajaj, thus creating a unique product unavailable to both partners."

Triumph has also made it clear that it won't return to the 250cc single-cylinder models that they had previously developed. The so-called Street Single and Daytona 250 were supposed to enter production in 2015 but were put on back burner for unknown reasons. "The motorcycles we are developing will be much more mid-capacity," says Paul Stroud, Chief Commercial Officer at Triumph.

Pune-based Bajaj Auto and British manufacturer Triumph Motorcycles had announced their global cooperation to deliver a range of mid-capacity motorcycles on August 8. The non-equity partnership is expected to aid Triumph to cater to new higher volume market segment which is not its domain. For Bajaj Auto, the technical know-how of Triumph will aid in bringing a wide range of advanced motorcycles for domestic as well as international markets.

Source: motorcyclenews.com