The India Superbike Festival (ISF) has come back in 2016 amidst great pomp and expectations off the great success from 2015. Sadly, that didn’t seem to be the case this time around as the event was a major blunder of epic mismanagement and lack of participation. The reasons are not yet clear as to why major brands across the country were absent from the showcase, it is true that demonetization must have hit some of them really hard.
2015 had seen as many as 9 brands showcasing their line-up on a grand scale, but this year, apart from the three new entrants Ducati, UM Motorcycles, and MV Agusta who were absent in the previous edition, all others showcased their line-up on a very small scale. Company stalls included Suzuki, Ducati, MV Agusta, Harley Davidson, Yamaha, UM Motorcycles, and Mahindra. On the other hand Triumph did participate, but in the gratis part of the show.
The festival was conducted in two sections this time around with the major show with a paid entry on one end, and another free entry section with a limited collection of bikes. The presence of Puneri Dhol Band did add to the festivity in the latter part of the Saturday. On the other hand, visitors were greeted amongst major issues from the organizing committee with sun and dust all over the place. Even the cafeteria section was limited and small which was a true sign of utter mismanagement. The space for the visitors to walk through the bike showcase was limited, causing hindrance to many and majority crowd experienced bumping into one another. The scene got worse in the latter part of the day when the footfalls increased after the sun went down.
Lots of riding groups across the country did make it to the festival on their bikes in all glory and pomp, but forgot the most basic part of it, the safety gears. Most groups entering in did not even put on the helmet while handling the high power machinery. Though later almost all groups put forth the message of safety while riding, not many followed the preaching by ignoring even the helmets when prancing around the festival arena.
The vintage bike collection was a major attraction for some as a part of history was on show. It was great to see all the old bikes still in shape and shining in full glory as people ogled at them, bringing in the nostalgia among some of the crowd. Some of the other attractions included a custom bike and some crazy helmet designs by some riders.
Custom bike builders and ancillary service providers such as tyre protectors, bike detailing, and accessories dealers has their stalls set up on the other end of the arena, though they lacked to attract much crowds among the superbikes which were on display. It was sad story to witness yet again that major big brands were absent and most importantly, major Japanese brands which are the highest sellers in India were absent from the showcase. But then maybe this will record in their sales figures sometime in the future owing to poor public relations and non-participation.
To sum it all up, the 2016 India Superbike Festival just kept me wanting for more, especially after the success of the 2015 edition of the festival. My only hope now is that the festival makes a bigger comeback in 2017 to make it better than 2015, as 2016 is something I am sure even the organizers would like to forget as if a bad dream.Photographs: Prajakta Panse
Report By: Pratik Patole