“Oh good heavens, that’s close!” We exclaimed for the 57th time that hour from the back of a yellow tuk-tuk as we navigated through a city intersection devoid of any traffic light, stop street, or any form of legislative instruction. A bus sat half a centimetre to our right while a family of four aboard a single scooter came within millimetres of the left side of the vehicle.
This is India, downtown Bangalore to be precise.
We asked Donovan Fourie to join TVS to see what it’s all about…
By: Don Fourie.
Pictures by Don and factory pics supplied.
It was terrifying! We sat white-knuckled as sheer chaos ensued around us, awaiting the moment when a bus didn’t see us, when a buzz bike carrying a step ladder careened into us, when the gap was just too narrow – that moment that would see our lives come to their inevitable demise…
And yet, somehow, despite the unbelievable events unfolding before our very eyes, it never happened. There was never a crash, a major collision, a minor collision – nothing. We always came out unscathed, as did everyone else. That is the magic of the roads in India.
This country is home to more than 1.4 billion people. To put that in perspective, South Africa has a population of around 63.5 million residents. In the same format, India’s is 1,400 million. That’s a lot of people, even in a relatively large piece of land like the Indian subcontinent. It also means moving people around is tricky, and trying to do so using conventional Western methods like buses, taxis or cars would result in a gridlock that would outlive the sun.
So the only solution is the motorcycle, and as the average Indian family couldn’t afford a GS, the smaller motorcycle has to do.
Currently, there are 221 million motorcycles in India, with 25 million more manufactured in the country every year – beating out China at 19 million for the coveted title of world’s biggest motorcycle manufacturing country.
With that, people become well practised in the art of moving around on small vehicles with millions of other people on small vehicles. To us silly outsiders, it looks like sheer chaos and impending doom. There are markings on the road allocating traffic lanes, but these are largely ignored – your vehicle, whether moped, tuk-tuk, car or bus, goes wherever it fits. If you need to pull out from a side road, you just go, and the incoming hordes of traffic will adjust for your newfound location in front of them. As mentioned, many of the interchanges have no traffic lights or stop streets, but the different currents of traffic seemingly flow between each other like water molecules.
There is a deafening din in the air as hooters sound in their masses, seeming to us like a war zone of rage and discontent, but that is their way of doing things.
In South Africa, we hoot as a sign of aggression. In India, it is merely a form of communication, letting the masses know they are there. Road users are heavily in tune with all this. They listen to the cacophony of hoots coming their way, using constant glances at mirrors to affirm everything and make adjustments. There is zero road rage – people in India must be some of the most gentle people in the world. Nothing seems to irk them.
This system of constant close encounters seems to work. The tell is in the cars – if this system were to unfold in South Africa now, there would be collisions constantly, and most cars would have more craters than the moon. And yet, the cars in India are largely unscathed. This is chaos, but organised chaos.
This trip was more than a chance to ride in a tuk-tuk – it was a dealer conference organised by TVS near their base in Bangalore. The Indian motorcycle giant that has grown into an even bigger giant, going from the third-largest motorcycle manufacturer in India to second. It is also now the third-largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, having recently overtaken Yamaha, and sits only behind Honda and Hero.
Annually, TVS produces seven million vehicles ranging from scooters to motorcycles to tuk-tuks and other three-wheeled vehicles. One of its keys to success seems to be its ever-growing range of motorcycles, including the Apache RR 310, a nifty superbike sharing a motor with the BMW G 310 series which TVS manufactures on behalf of BMW.
Joining the RR in November here in South Africa will be the Apache RTR 310, a naked version that looks like it came out of somewhere like MV Agusta. It features every electronic bell and whistle including a keyless ignition, a TFT screen and, no doubt, a decent price.
Also coming from TVS is the RTX, which should suit South Africa well because it’s an adventure machine, featuring a 300 cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder motor, a host of electronics and a wet weight of just 180 kg.
We should be seeing that next year sometime.
Currently, SA has the TVS Ntorq 125 cc scooter that could well be one of the best-looking scooters in the world. Also coming soon is a 150 cc version that is much the same but with more oomph.
TVS South Africa is also looking into importing two other scooters called the Orbiter and the iQube that are both funky and stylish and electric. Depending on the price, these could make sense – they have the range to last a day’s worth of commuting and, like a cellphone, you plug them in at night and have a full charge by morning.
More interesting than all of these is a motorcycle that many people reading this would probably not look at twice, but is probably the most important vehicle in Africa. It’s called the HLX 150 and to South African eyes it looks like nothing more than a delivery bike but it’s a bike TVS built purposefully for Africa. And they sell a heck of a lot of them here.
We suspect that some of that is because HLX sounds similar to Hilux.
Being the economic powerhouse in Africa, we would expect South Africa to be the biggest buyer of motorcycles in Africa, but we are a mere footnote at the bottom of the page. Put it this way – if Bidvest, the TVS importer in South Africa, does well, it could sell around 15,000 motorcycles per year. Sounds good? Not really – TVS sells more than a million motorcycles in Africa, with Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria being the biggest markets, with yearly sales going as high as 100,000 TVS motorcycles per year in each of those countries.
Everyone in these countries rides motorcycles. Like India, it is the de facto means of moving people around. And this begs an important question – what is wrong in South Africa?
TVS South Africa is looking to change things up.
Exciting times! Watch this space!
