For the Indian Market
TVS will take on the new KTM 250 Adventure in the Indian market with its own small adventure bike. The company will create a motorcycle based on the RR310, according to GaadiWaadi.
This new motorcycle was jointly developed with TVS and BMW Motorrad in 2018 and it will likely take after the BMW G 310 GS. BMW and TVS have been collaborating on this 310 motorcycle for quite a while, and it has spawned new versions of the BMW G 310 R and G 310 GS. BMW is also expected to make a fully-faired sportbike.
TVS has a fully faired sports touring machine and now it will create a new adventure machine based on this same platform. So, what the India market is essentially getting is a whole bunch of bikes based on the same engine and chassis. This new TVS adventure motorcycle that’s set to come out next year, will just be one of those bikes.
GaadiWaadi had some renderings of the upcoming motorcycle. One of them is shown above. It’s a nice looking bike. It will be powered by a 312cc single-cylinder engine that’s fuel-injected and will make decent power. It’ll get a six-speed gearbox and be good for highway miles as well as slogging through trails.
While this new bike is interesting, what could be even more interesting is if TVS were to take that platform and utilize it elsewhere. The company doesn’t sell motorcycles in North America that I’m aware of, but TVS does own Norton now. I don’t see the company diluting the Norton brand with a small 310 based on a BMW/TVS creation, but the world is a crazy place.
Anyway, I could see TVS making a bike like this work outside of India if it chose. BMW obviously does, but I’m not sure the nature of the agreement between the two brands. TVS might be contractually obligated not to do so. Regardless, KTM has will have another player to contend with, and it will likely be a highly competent one.