Indian Husky clone by TVS Motor Company: RTR 250 FX (+ action video)

HOLY COW !

What the...Husky frame with a Husky engine all the way back to 2010. Then a Husky frame with a KTM engine? Was TVS cloning/looking for a suitor? Looks like they found their suitor with BMW.

Or did Cagiva step in and said say hey, that motor design was from our hard work. You don't steal from the Italians, kapish.

I think I read somewhere that BMW were trying to cut a deal with TVS back in 2010 where they probably said "hey, take one of our Cagiva Huskies and race it and reverse engineer / clone it if you want". Somehow SP & KTM got involved, hence the clone bike got a KTM engine along the way, I'm guessing some time around 2011/2012. Then "surprise", BMW sells Husky to KTM/Bajaj and signs a "deal" with TVS. You can join the dots from here.

The interesting part as Tinken mentions above will be to see what the kymco powered TVS 449/511 will look like. I wouldn't be surprised to see the above KTM powered Husky clone bike to be re-branded a "Bajaj".

Additional commentary on the BMW-TVS partnership in case you missed it earlier (I did).

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/can-you-picture-a-49cc-bmw-scooter-57874.html

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/indian-tvs-motors-wants-bmw-engines-52704.html

To keep all this in the proper prospective, you gotta remember these emerging markets countries are well behind anything the states or EU has to offer in about all ways of life, ESP motorcycles ... Look at all their current models made in these places ... Most look like bikes from decades ago with some flair on the tanks or whatever...

--
In more mundane words... TVS says “teach us how to make good bikes,” while BMW answers “we need to lower the costs of production, but still be able to keep the standards high.” And with both parties signing this agreement, good things are expected.

--
After watching what bmw did with dirt bikes, I'm not seeing what the articles says about bmw knowing anything about dirt biking ... Allowing this company to make a cloned Caviga\Husky, is not rocket science ..

On 1 June 2012, TVS Motors reported a dip of 5% in its total sales for May 2012.[10] In July 2012, TVS Motors and BMW Motorrad were reported to be in talks for technology sharing.[11] 0n 8 April 2013, BMW Motorrad and TVS Motor Company signed a cooperation agreement with the aim to develop and produce motorcycles in the segment below 500 cubic centimetres.[12]

I'm not sure either of these bikes would sell here, maybe India where the middle class is the size of entire population of the states...

That 449 engine works only with a frame that supports that FS setup and vise-versa ... No one on this island would want such a bike as through the yrs, nothing can be swapped out except with another bike of the same type ... Here, that FS configuration means nothing but an off-breed thing and is actually a show stopper I'd guess.

The TR650 might can be cloned but not at that engine size probably ... Just too big for most ... A TR250++ would be a better bike probably ... When I was buying my first bikes in the 70s, the 550cc and 650cc were huge and top of the line bikes at the time. Thats where these countries are at in terms of bikes... Not that there are not 1000cc machines around, but no real profitable markets to sink your teeth into at that size ... The road system here is not meant for speed really ... No shoulders on the roads in most places so vehicles must stop in the roads when doing business ... Walkers and slow riders are everywhere on the roads ... 60mph is well over the average speed here for many so when you put something out here in most places doing > 60MPH, they look like an Indy 500 race car going down the road ...

I sent TVS a message asking about a price quote and never heard back ... I'll try again out of curiosity on the price ... I'm not really a fan of putting any $ into bmw pockets but you never know ...