This one hardly comes as a surprise. Suzuki has finalized plans to launch the Hayabusa and the GSX-R 1000 models in India. Yamaha already sells R1 and MT01 while Ducati almost has it whole range of bikes on sale here and coupled with Honda’s announcement of a big 800cc+ bike ealier which acted as a catalyst, Suzuki would not have liked to be left behind (pun very much intended).

“We will launch the bike in the first week of September,” said Atul Gupta, vice-president, sales and marketing, Suzuki Motorcycle India. “The demand for big bikes is actually more of a hype. Cumulatively these bikes sell only about 400 units per annum and we don’t expect volumes as well. Along with the GXR we will probably do 150 units per annum.”

According to the company, besides the 105 per cent import duty, which more than doubles the retail price of these bikes, lack of infrastructure is a big deterrent for growth. “India is not the place for these bikes. We don’t have the roads like they have in developed countries for them and it is not fun to ride them at say 70 km per hour,” Gupta said. “We are nevertheless launching the Hayabusa because it will showcase our strength as a bike manufacturer. Moreover these are already available in the grey market so we might as well legalise them.”

The Hayabusa is expected to cost 11 lakh rupees when it lands in India.