This is the first glimpse of the joint-project 300cc motorcycle from BMW and Indian motorcycle company TVS Motors, and it could be part of the company’s future worldwide line-up.
The prototype was photographed by British motorcycle website VisorDown and shows a petite bike with a single headlight, LED taillights, upside-down forks, chunky swingarm, six-spoke alloys wheels, Michelin Pilot tyres (110 up front and 150 in the rear) and single front brake disc with ABS ring and radial-mounted calliper. It’s all pretty high-end components for a small-capacity bike made just for the Indian market.
This is the first of three models, all expected to be 300cc single-cylinder bikes built to cope with India’s bumpy road conditions. From the photos, it looks like it’s a water-cooled engine.
This prototype is expected to go into production this year and we predict it won’t be made solely for the Indian market for long.
Under the 2013 agreement signed between BMW Motorrad and TVS, they will eventually develop and produce motorcycles in the under-500cc segment for the global market.
With more and more bikes being made in South East Asia and India, including the new Harley-Davidson Street 500, it is not inconceivable that BMW could market this bikes to countries such as Australia where learner-legal bikes are doing big business.