Triumph's Daytona Super Bike Makes Noise at the Auto Expo

British bike maker Triumph Motorcycles launched its popular Daytona 675 at the Auto Expo on Thursday. This comes a day after rival Harley-Davidson unveiled its made-in-India Street 750 bike for Indian roads. 

Triumph, which started operations in the country last November, will sell Daytona at Rs 10.15 lakh in India. Its other bikes here range from Rs 5.7 lakh (Classic) to Rs 20 lakh (Rocket III). According to the company, 160 advance bookings have already been made for the just-launched bike. 

The Daytona 675 is a superbike powered by a three-cylinder liquid-cooled, a double overhead camshaft head (DOHC)—a technology which boosts engine performance—and a 675cc engine mated to a six-speed gearbox. Triumph, which has two stores and seven dealerships across India, hopes to sell over 1,500 bikes in 12 months (including 500 units in the first six months) up to March 2015.

According to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), India sold 10.27 million motorbikes in the calendar year 2013, a 1.4 percent growth year-on-year. Global motorcycle makers like Harley-Davidson, BMW, Ducati and Yamaha view it as a rapidly expanding market, driven by a young population that is fuelling the demand for super sports bikes.