Press Releases

Team OVERDRIVE & Hero Honda KARIZMA Establish 12 Time & Distance National Records (Annexure)Tuesday, July 29, 2003

Experts from India 's leading automotive enthusiast magazine ride India 's first and only premium sports motorcycle non-stop at 105.209kmph for 24 hours, in the process breaking the time and distance barriers and...

...introducing the art form of record breaking, a new discipline of bike sport.

Pune, July 29, 2003: How does the thought of doing a trip from Pune to Chennai and back sound to you? All that in just a day and on a motorcycle? Grabs your attention, doesn't it?

Well, the team of experts from OVERDRIVE magazine, headed by their Editor-in-Chief Adil Jal Darukhanawala did just that and more to herald in the newest discipline of bike sport in India , - time and distance record breaking. Using the latest premium sports motorcycle from Hero Honda, the spanking new 223cc KARIZMA , Adil and his three colleagues - Aspi Bhathena, Bertrand D'souza and Sherri Bhathena established no less than 12 national records and destroyed a million myths as they stroked their way to 2525.033km in a span of 24 hours.

This event was run on July 26-27 (started at 16:00 hrs on Saturday, July 26 and finishing at the same time the next day) on the 4.226km lap length high-speed track at the National Centre for Automotive Testing (NCAT) at the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) in Ahmednagar. Not only was the 24 hour ultimate record established, but eleven other time and distance records were also set, a fact corroborated by the officials from the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), the national motorcycle sports authority in India . Three FMSCI officials monitored the record attempt round the clock, monitoring the times, the speeds, the stops and the lap recording after which they computed the 12 records from the data logged in and declared the same as the first national motorcycle time and distance records in India.

The KARIZMA ran at an average speed of 105.209kmph for 24 hours, of which the last 2 hours and 45 minutes, the VRDE track was awash with high monsoon showers, signifying a high level of endurance for both men and machine. A list of the other eleven records, the rider change stints, the pit stop details, the fuel consumed and other details are given in the accompanying annexes.

The KARIZMA ran like a locomotive, without missing a beat all day long and the only attention it needed was from the service crews to ensure the transponders on the bike (or the timing and lap recording) had not worked loose and the tank needed refueling with IOC's Premium 91 octane petrol. Its handling, its stability, its seamless power delivery and its super riding position allied to its reliability impressed the usually reticent and highly critical staffers of OVERDRIVE magazine.

Enthused by the performance, OVERDRIVE editor and the man who rode the most on the lead bike (for over seven hours) Adil Jal Darukhanawala said, "The unprecedented levels of handling and steering made us all comfortable in the saddle at high speed for consistently long riding stints. Keeping the throttle twisted to the max virtually 24 hours long, says a lot about the performance of the KARIZMA, for under no circumstances did we ever envisage doing 2525km when we took the start. It is fitting that the country's newest contemporary sports bike was put to the ultimate test by the most discerning men in the business and it emerged with flying colours."

Mr Deepak Mokashi, General Manager Sales, Hero Honda Motors Ltd ., said "We are extremely pleased to be the first two-wheeler company in India to have participated in this discipline of motorcycle sport. This sport served as an excellent platform to display the technological superiority of KARIZMA . We are thrilled with the results of the exercise. It is a testimony to the superior technology and capabilities of Hero Honda. I must also thank OVERDRIVE magazine for choosing to set the new record breaking exercise with our motorcycle."

Mr Shrikant Karani, Vice-President of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India , who headed the three-member panels of stewards and technical experts delegated to monitor the event was equally emphatic about the country's first ever record run. "On behalf of the national federation, I am happy that this historical event took place and I congratulate both OVERDRIVE , and Hero Honda not only for setting new benchmarks but also for bringing in a new form of bike sport into the Indian sporting arena."