Bicycle Trend Today

In the turn of the new millennium a new obsession invaded everyday American culture. This fad was custom bike building. Shows such as American Chopper and Monster garage became huge hits and Jesse James (the custom bike builder, not the outlaw) and Paul Teutul Senior became big names. Everybody was now a custom motorcycle fan and imagined riding around on a modified Harley Davidson that was customized by some top name designer. I, like the remaining country was swept up in Chopper mania.

Custom motorcycle fans have been in existence a lot longer than simply not too long ago however, and will no doubt be around once the fad finally disappears in the collective public consciousness altogether.

The idea of building custom bikes began after world war two once the veterans came back and found the large, clunky motorcycles released by the Harley and Indian companies unsatisfying. They began to “chop” off the fenders and take away anything deemed unnecessary in order to make the bike faster and much more streamlined. Soon thereafter these customized choppers slowly became popular.

The movie, Easy Rider, thrust the thought of the customized chopper onto the public consciousness and the custom motorcycle group of followers started to grow. Soon, designers started to take over the domain of the backyard mechanic turning the art of motorcycle customization right into a big business. Custom motorcycle fans no more required to chop up and individualize their own bikes. They might instead, go to a top name designer and obtain a unique bike created to their specifications.

Then, cable tv caught on to this growing trend and launched a number of very popular tv shows that featured people building these customized bikes. These shows initiated a bandwagon effect and shortly everyone in Hollywood became a custom bike enthusiast over night. Talk shows were booked and motorcycles rallies began to turn into large family oriented events.

But, who’re the true custom motorcycle fans? The television shows soon got old and people began tuning out. Hollywood celebrities quite bugging Jesse James for their very own Custom bike and the multitude of custom chop shops that had opened overnight to profit from the most recent craze soon began closing. Custom motorcycle fans were no more found on every street corner, but they exist still. Now that the fad has past, true fans from the custom motorcycle trend are now able to enjoy their obsession in peace. Bike Rallies are still being held across the nation and demo shows featuring the latest bikes built through the industry’s top designers still draw large numbers of crowds. Sure, the Teutuls aren’t riding their latest creations into football stadiums to the cheers of thousands of fans, but they’re still building bikes.

Hero Honda started the performance biking trend using the launch from the CBZ way back in 1999. The bike which had a tag like ‘Super Sprint’ performed like not one other machine within the Indian motorcyle market. It was not only fast but power delivery made a crazy rush for that rider. It was something Indians had not witnessed and the CBZ was an immediate hit. Soon the 150cc motorcycle segment became the real performance segment. It had been then the Pulsar 150 and 180 in 2001 and the CBZ all a suddenly lost share of the market. Hero Honda could not leave the 150cc segment alone for very long and had to come up with multiple models to counter attack arch rival Bajaj Auto. The CBZ Xtreme, Achiever and Hunk were all directed like a reaction to the Pulsar. The new bikes helped Hero honda capture a small percentage of market.

Among the models was the Hunk, that has now got a much needed increase in relation to features. Just how does it translate towards the end user? The 2011 model features digital speedometer, something which is become the norm within the two wheeler motorcycle segment in India. The speedometer looks quite much like what is seen on the CB Unicorn Dazzler. The Hunk also features Rear disc brakes which inspired confidence within the rider in emergency situations. Each one of these small features have given the Hunk the much needed hardware to maintain its position within the 150cc segment. This can also help the company to higher compete with the Pulsar 150, Honda Unicorn and Yamaha Fazer.

The Hunk looks muscular with its aggressive tank as well as an an all-black costume treatment to the engine, tail pipe as well as other parts. The engine is identical Honda motor which does duty in its sibling bikes including the Honda Unicorn and CB Dazzler. What this means is the engine is refined and returns good mileage. Performance is good at low speeds but once you tend to gather speed, the Hunk will do a decent 115 kilometer per hour top speed.

The 2011 Hunk costs Rs. 70,000/- (on road Mumbai). While this may not seem to be extremely value for money, the performance, quality and refinement justify the price tag. Add to that Hero Honda is known for our prime network of dealers, quality spare parts and quick service. All this helps make the motorcycle a worthy buy. The 2011 model has indeed changed but for the better.