Ton - up salvo from Bajaj Auto!

The symbolism and the significance may not have been apparent to many but trust you me, the two events are clearly very much interlinked but not in the manner the majority can comprehend. The very fact that the world's cheapest car went on sale was great but the motorcycle brigade has hit back in a most telling manner with a vehicle that is priced for just one third of what the cheapest base version of the Nano retails for but also delivers probably the best fuel efficiency in India, if not the world. Operating costs, initial outlay and top notch tech just right for the 100cc segmenters is what one Discovers of the new bike from Bajaj Auto.

What is important about this bike is the company's avowed objectives to raise the threshold of expectancy from a bike for those who only see the term "100cc" and not much else. Making a difference in the 100cc class was what Bajaj is finally offering and what we are sure to experience is nothing short of a seismic shift in the largest selling bike segment in the country. The new Discover 100 sports the look of the best selling Discover which has done well in 125cc and 135cc displacements (to the tune of over 2.2 million bikes sold and counting) but underneath the sheet metal and plastic is an all-new frame and of course an all new high tech engine which the company is pinning its hopes on to doing the deal against the best selling Splendor and Passion duo from Hero Honda.

We'll get to the engine last but there is more to moving the segment than just the engine alone and here you can focus on the large wheelbase chassis, a very comfortable and relaxed riding stance with a long dual seat, Nitrox rear suspension, alloy wheels, revised new telescopic forks up front, revised front headlamp and tail lamp plus the best cycle parts to complete the dynamic package.

And then there is the heart of the matter - an all new from the ground-up 100cc single cylinder ohc engine sporting version 2.0 of the DTS-Si top end. This comes with an electric start and five-speed gearbox as original equipment - ingredients which are absent from the 100cc class among many others. However what is truly of import is the strong driveability this DTS-Si 2.0 engine is able to dish out. Low and mid-range torque is the bread and butter of this class of bike and the Discover 100 is expected to change all the rules of the game here. Also given the work done by Joseph Abraham's team on the powerplant, this engine has delivered impressive fuel efficiency figures and comes with an 89kmpl IDC reading which is the highest from any bike in this class. A fuel efficiency almost 20 per cent better than rivals is what Bajaj Auto claims for this new product and we should Discover that as soon as we get to test ride it in the coming week.

What completes this comprehensively equipped package (goes on sale all over India on July 27) is a stonking price tag of Rs 40,000/00 (ex-showroom, all over India). With the dynamic capability plus the comfort and safety from its chassis fitted with the best suspenders in the business, the long legged capability of such a bike will set new standards in the commuter segment. The amount of work done on reducing NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) levels will further enhance the feel good factor and when the drive and the torque kicks in with resultant fuel efficiency, it will help keep those smiles going on for long, long, long and even longer! Surely this is a major tectonic shift in the Indian motorcycle world which no one would have anticipated. Fitting that none other than Dr R Chidamabaram hit the ignition button to launch this new world beater.