Dateline India

[Kevin Mahoney]

I am currently visiting India for about 10 days. I love to visit India but I hate getting here. It is a long way from the US no matter how you do it. In this case I went from Phoenix to Philly to Frankfurt to Bangalore India. Other than being terribly long (about a 35 hour trip) nothing too interesting happened. I did take one odd video that Rhett may or may not post here. I will leave that up to him. It is totally tasteless so we will see.

Because Bangalore is the center of the computer/software explosion in India the flights in and out of here are dubbed "the nerd birds". This was my first time to Bangalore. The government designated Bangalore as the place where they would build the needed infrastructure to attract the large IT players and it has. The computer industries presence here is enormous. Bangalore has gone from a population of about 2 million to somewhere between 7 and 10 million in a relatively short period of time. What was interesting is the mix of traditional India living next to some of the most modern and advanced companies in the world.

The friend that I am visiting here got us invited to a tour of the TVS motorcycle factory here. http://www.tvsmotor.in/      If you take all of the motorcycles sold in the US over a year and double it, that is how many bikes this company makes in a year. They employ over 4,000 people in the plant I went to and it is huge. They actually started as a subsidiary of the Lucas electrical company a generation or two ago. They later merged with Suzuki and started to make motorcycles. About 7-8 years ago they became and independent company and have thrived ever since. They are the third largest motorcycle company in India, but are also recognized as the most technologically advanced and are generally thought of as the strongest most well engineered bikes in India.

They make bikes ranging from mopeds to 160cc singles. The factory was by far the largest motorcycle factory I have ever seen. It went on and on and on. It was notable for how modern, quet and clean it was. These smaller bikes are brutally strong and reliable and are sold primarily in India, Africa and South America. They put ANY Chinese product to shame. The highlight was being allowed into their Research and Development laboratory. This was an overwhelming experience. They have a R and D facility that would be the envy of many auto manufacturers. They have the ability to design and build anything right there in the lab (covered well over 2 square city blocks) including engines (Many motorcycle manufacturers have no similar facilities.). They had equipment ranging from an Electron microscope for finite analysis of materials to their own casting plant to make experimental forgings. They have the equipment and people
to design and build an entire motorcycle right in the lab. When they design something like an engine from scratch, when it comes off the computer, they can have a running engine build in four days. They start by making the pieces in a laser controlled machine out of a very special plastic from which they make molds. They make the first 10-20 units of any new product right there in the lab including lighting etc. Their emissions testing equipments was as good as or better than anything I have seen in an EPA lab. While these are smaller cc bikes their emission numbers were very low. Their current production engines with air-cooling and carburetors can meet any standard in existence in the world today and even most if not all that are proposed. Next we were taken to the life cycle testing lab which by itself was fascinating. This is the place where they try to destroy test motorcycles to find weaknesses. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself, but they have a  machine that picks a bike up about 3-4 feet off the ground and drops it in freefall to the ground.
The bike has to withstand this treatment for 40,000 cycles before they are happy. Yes I said 40,000 times. They believe that represents 100,000KM of service which is their benchmark for "good enough". They had machines that tested everything, from one machine that actuated the kick starter tens of thousands of times until it failed to robotic test cells where robot arms operated the throttle, clutch , brake and transmission as commanded by a computer, The computer was set up to simulate extreme driving conditions and most any operator error a rider can make. These bikes ran 24/7 until they completed 100,000km. There was much more and unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures, but it was a great experience.

Took a side trip to Mysore today which is about 90 miles from Bangalore. It is the home of several tourist attractions most importantly the Mysore Palace. http://www.karnataka.com/tourism/mysore/
The palace was the home of the Maharajah of that area and was really something to behold. We took the train up there which was a new and pleasant experience for me and then drove home. There are several sights in Mysore and we had a very full day. Tomorrow I fly to Chennai to start my meeting with suppliers and the Royal Enfield factory. Security will be extra tight at the airport since the terrorist bombings in Hyderabad yesterday so I will have to early. More later. I have sent Rhett some pictures so hopefully he can post some here.

[alwscout]

Great update. I never knew there were manufacturers anywhere, let alone in India that had factories like what you described. Real interesting. Take lots of pictures!

Adam

[RagMan]

Interesting stuff, Kevin. I envy you - I spent a long time in India, in the seventies..  I love the food, the people, and the elephants.   Probably in that order.

So, are you going to import the TVS line of motorcycles??  Would be very interesting if you did.

[prof_stack]

Kevin, great report!  WIll you send along some pix of RE's that you come across?  We  don't get some models on sale there and it would be great to see them.

[birdmove]

  I wonder if that two stroke model sporty bike could pass US regulations?

    Jon in Puyallup, Wa.

[Kevin Mahoney]

I should have thought to take more pictures of Enfields in India. I still have the better part of a week and will try to do just that. I am spending today at the Enfield factory and hopefully will come back with some good shots.
Kevin

[TRider]

Just come back with my two tone green and chrome tank.  Hurry.

Terry

[Kevin Mahoney]

I did indeed take some pictures of some Enfields that I have run across. Unfortunately most of the ones I see are moving with policemen, soldiers or others on them, but I have gotten some. I got into the highly secure (no kidding) design studio yesterday and got a first hand glimpse of the bike that I had only seen drawings of. I was absolutely unbelievable. The details they thought of are truly incredible. I can't say more at this point and couldn't take any pictures, but you will like it. They have change the release date so changed best will be coming first. We will also be brining in Classic bikes with the Lean-Burn engine for 2008 as well as regular Electras and the Classic engine. I will be surprised if we get past 2008 with the regular cast iron engine, but time will tell.
  I flew to Delhi today and visited with a long time supplier who had some cool new stuff, so look for it in the new catalog which will com out later this year. I placed an order for some new things that I think you will like. By the time i got back to Chennai tonight I was bushed, over 5 hours in the air plus meetings. I have not had any free time and I can feel the need to bust loose on my own for a while.
  Last night I met some very interesting Indian guys and had drinks with them at the Madras Club which is a vestige of the old Colonial empire. It has been there for a couple of hundred yearsince at least 1775. One of them owns a disk brake factory and I learned a lot about brakes that I didn't' know. One particularly interesting fellow worked for Lucas in India in the 1940's and 50's. Fascinating to hear his stories about Lucas and the British bike scene which was quite big here at one time.
  Back to the factory tomorrow for meetings with the product development team. I have sent back quite a few photos and videos and I think Rhett will get them posited somewhere here in the next day or two. /For now over and out.
Kevin

[RagMan]

I am looking forward to more news, pictures, and things in catalogs..  Stay safe..

[prof_stack]

... I got into the highly secure (no kidding) design studio yesterday and got a first hand glimpse of the bike that I had only seen drawings of. It was absolutely unbelievable. The details they thought of are truly incredible. I can't say more at this point and couldn't take any pictures, but you will like it. They have change the release date so changed best will be coming first.

We will also be brining in Classic bikes with the Lean-Burn engine for 2008 as well as regular Electras and the Classic engine. I will be surprised if we get past 2008 with the regular cast iron engine, but time will tell....  Kevin

Kevin, thanks for the tasty tidbits!  Wow, if I can get a Bullet Classic with the AVL motor and such, that would about cinch the deal for me! 

The new design you saw:  Is this part of the Unit Construction motor talked about earlier?

[RagMan]

A classic with the AVL motor would be a deal cincher..  I am looking forward to all the news.

[CMW-Rhett]

Kevin sent back lots of good pictures and small video clips. I hope to have some of them online in a small featurette soon for those that are interested.

[RagMan]

I am really interested..

[Kevin Mahoney]

Today is Saturday (Friday nite in the US) and I had to force a day off!!. They have been working me 12-14 hours per day and I am bushed. These are normal days for management here and it takes some getting used to. I am not as young as I used to be so I have had to get used to it. In fact there is an electric massage chair in my room and I have fallen asleep in it twice at night - something I NEVER do.
  Yesterday was spent on the factory floor checking out the new processes and quality improvements. I took some videos that show an Enfield being assembled from one end to the other. I don;t know how to post them so hopefully Rhett can help us out. I think you will enjoy them. I also had a long meeting with the CEO "Ravi" where we discussed issues unique to the US market. He is an inspiring leader with a lot of great corporate successes behind him with Suzuki, Bajaj (second biggest manufacturer of bike in India) and TVS (the third largest maker of bikes). His leadership over the past couple of years continue to pay dividends for Royal Enfield and helps insure our future. It is quite surprising on many levels to see the high caliber young management. Tomorrow I go to see some new samples from on of our Chennai suppliers. He has some new carriers, pipes and seats that I think you will all like.

[RagMan]

Hopefully you will get plenty of rest, on your day off. The Indian work ethic is somewhat different - harder working management cannot be found anywhere else, outside Japan.