THE
MARKET:
 There is much movement in the two wheeler sweepstakes. Bajaj, which
was numero uno for years, is dethroned by Hero Honda. Bajaj retaliates
by cutting prices to unimaginable levels and launches a slew of
new models. TVS goes the R&D way and launches quality bike after
quality bike. Enfield launches Bullet Electra with the long awaited
CDI ignition and finally gets it right. Yamaha discovers the crux
of the matter and launches Crux-R after buying out Escorts. TVS
does the opposite by buying out Suzuki. Honda of Japan starts independent
activity with Activa. Back in Japan, Suzuki and Kawasaki get into
an alliance of sorts. LML Energytically FXs its Adrenoline. Piaggio
piggybacks on an Ape and cruisers towards two-wheeler-land. Kinetic,
which was focussing on the economy angle with its K4 and Challenger,
(both of which are record holders in the economy segment), decides
to enter the power segment.
Happenings are so many and so rapid that it gets difficult to keep
track. And with a power bike, which disappears while you are looking
at it, I decided that I better make my move fast before I get overtaken
by something with more bhp, more rpm, more cc, more attractivity.
I am talking about Kinetic's GF 125.
THE KINETIC WAY:
Kinetic
has really come a long way from the Luna days. It bought out Honda's
share in KiHo and went independent. The good old KiHo became Y2K.
Then it Zoomed. People Marvelled. Lunatics went on a Safari. People
said Kinetic is getting Stylish. Then Kinetic sung its song Karaoke
style, in unison with Korean background music and Indian lyrics.
Thus emerged the Hyosung-Kinetic GF 125.
THE KOREAN CONNEXION:
 India's connections with Korea are nothing new. They actually predate
history. It is believed that Lord Sri Ram's stepmother Kaikeyi,
was Korean. It stands to reason. The name sounds as if it was Korean
(the K-word is operative). And it is a fact of history that while
Ram was dark like most of us, Bharat was fair, after his mother.
To me it is even more believable, because I have myself seen the
statue of Dhritrashtra at the Sanjusengendo Temple in Japan. In
fact, there are statues of numerous ancient Hindu heroes at the
Sanjusengendo Temple, originally built in 1164 A.D., and rebuilt
in 1266 A.D. Indeed, Japan's ancient, pre-Buddhist religion was
(and still is), "Shindo", which is how the Japanese pronounce the
word "Hindo" (Hindu). The Japanese Emperor is a Suryavanshi (descended
from the Sun God), just like Lord Sri Ram. Checkout the facts if
you don't believe me. From Korea to Japan is just a hop, skip and
jump. Look at a map. Japan is Korea's nearest neighbour and genetically
too, Koreans are most akin to the Japanese.
Kinetic's connexion with Korea is relatively recent, just about
a couple of years old. It involves technology transfer, spares,
engine support etc. from Hyosung Corp. of south Korea. Hyosung was
founded in 1957 and is one of the top ten corporations in Korea
with a turnover of more than Rs.18,000 crores.
|
