From the Royal Enfield Bullet to the Yamaha R15, motorcycles have long ruled Indian highways. But, a few forgotten bikes once roamed the streets of India. Let’s take a look at 10 forgotten bikes in India.
10 Forgotten Bikes in India
1. Royal Enfield Mini Bullet
The Bullet is a well-known brand in India, particularly Punjab and Haryana. Every street corner in the country has a Bullet 350. Its weight, however, makes it difficult for some to drive. This was when the business created Little Bullet, a scaled-down version of the heavy bike. Because the MINI Bullet never truly took off, you may have never heard of or seen one.
2. Rajdoot GTS
The Honda NAVi is not the country’s first mini-bike. The honor belongs to the Rajdoot GTS, a bike that adopted the ordinary Rajdoot’s 175cc two-stroke engine and three-speed gearbox. The GTS gained a sizable fan base after being featured in the film Bobby, with Rishi Kapoor riding it to serenade Dimple Kapadia.
3. Royal Enfield Explorer
In the 1980s, Royal Enfield partnered with German bike maker Zundapp, and the Explorer was the fruit of this relationship. The Explorer had a 50cc two-stroke air-cooled engine and a three-speed manual transmission.
4. Yezdi 350
Ideal Jawa could never compete with Yamaha’s Escorts and its RD350, but the Indo-Czech motorcycle manufacturer gave it their all. The Mysore-based bike maker’s Yezdi 350 was one such endeavor. The Yezdi 350 featured a two-stroke parallel twin engine with 21 Bhp on tap. It wasn’t a match for the RD350, and those who wanted to move quickly didn’t buy it.
5. Hero-BMW Funduro 650
Did you know Hero once sold the Funduro 650, India’s “first” true ADV bike? True, this bike was originally valued at 5 lakh rupees in 1996. By Indian standards, 48 Bhp was a lot of power for this bike, but it blew up. The rationale is obvious. Simply put, the market was not ready to afford a motorcycle that competed in pricing with the Maruti Esteem.
6. Bajaj Sx Enduro/ Kawasaki RTZ100
Previously, the firm sold Kawasaki RTZ100, marketed as the SX Enduro in its on-road variant. The more powerful 100cc engine could not complement the bike’s off-road appearance. It was a difficult-to-sell Bajaj motorcycle that has since been forgotten.
7. Royal Enfield Fury
Since you won’t remember this one, fury is the third RE on our list. Fury was created as a result of a brief collaboration with Zundapp. It was powered by a 163cc two-stroke engine coupled with a 5-speed manual transmission and competed with the Yamaha RX100. It had a chrome cylindrical exhaust and hydraulic disc brakes.
8. LML Graptor
To compete with the Bajaj Pulsar, Lohia Machinery Ltd. (LML) unveiled its flagship motorbike, the Graptor. The bike was propelled by a 150cc four-stroke engine coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission that produced 13.4 horsepower and 12.8 Nm of maximum torque. Yet the bike malfunction was brought on by strange looks.
9. Bajaj Boxer 150
This bike was made for the African market by Bajaj Auto. The company tried to bring it to rural markets in India but failed. It is currently the finest boxer-branded motorcycle that Bajaj has to offer.
10. Suzuki Bandit 1250S
Suzuki, a Japanese automaker, is well known for producing sports bikes like the Hayabusa and GSX-R1000. The bike’s brief existence in India was primarily due to its high price of 8.5 lakhs in 2001. The 125cc in-line 4-cylinder liquid-cooled engine produced close to 98 horsepower. Bandit’s excellent ergonomics made it a great travel vehicle, but the market was not yet at its apex, and it was only well-known for the Dhoom film series at the time.
