Valheru Rides!

Here we are again at the proverbial “arse end” of the 2023 calendar year with a slew of exciting developments jumping up and down during the past few months to temp even the strongest of us into a form of moto-purgatory.

The J platform.

• The bobber variant of the Classic was spotted testing at various locations in India ahead of its inevitable launch. From the clips which have been circling for over a year now it’s fairly obvious we are looking at ape hanger bars, foot forward controls (ala Meteor), a different style of exhaust (previously only seen as an accessory),spoked wheels, a shorter rear seat (as expected), a peaked Classic style headlight with what looks like an LED in the same style as the newer Meteor variants, touring mirrors. I’m unsure if those will be on all versions or if this was an accessory test. This will possibly be called the ‘Goan Classic’.

The 650cc twins.

• A scrambler in the 650cc twin segment has been circulating for well over a year now with multiple spy vids/shots having caught these out and about and they look very similar to an Interceptor but with a 2 into 1 exhaust, the monopod control from the Meteor line and Tripper (yay!). More recent details seem to suggest this is coming REALLY soon and looks far more production ready.

• The long teased Himalayan 650, there has also been a good chunk of news about the new ADV version, though I have absolutely no inclination if these are/are not the same rumour. We’ve seen a lot of spy shots of this about and remember it was officially confirmed after being talked down at one point. The current inclination is for two variants, one as a road focused tour bike and the second closer to the SCRAM.

• A Classic twin, this has now been seen testing prior to launch. From the short video from spies it was a 650cc twin with an image closer to that of the Classic 350. It looked pretty awesome to me, hopefully it will be lighter than the Super-Meteor. Though I note in the singles, a Classic is slightly heavier than the Meteor…
• The Continental GT rumours have an awful lot of IF’s about them, it’s not confirmed if the bike itself is getting a minor facelift or optional accessories to style it closer to the cup winning bike.
• The standard twin is probably the teased Bullet 650 which has been seen testing all over the internet over the last year and a half, they are all showing a Bullet-esk styled bike with exhausts closer to the Shotgun, wire wheels but in difference, a single one piece seat.

The 450’s!

Lastly we come to the new range of 450cc liquid cooled bikes.

• With the dust settling from the awesomeness of the Himalayan 452 release in the later part of the year, it’s fair to say that it’s SCRAM 452 must be somewhere close at hand and the few spy shots out seem to show a very similar setup, but with a few jey differences. The front screen is short and almost square, the tank does not appear to be as flared and rises slightly higher than its counterpart. It seems to be using the same LCD screen setup as its brother.

• The Roadster/Hunter 450 had been conspicuously absent on the roads until recently and now it seems to be everywhere! We have a Hunter-esk styled tank on a bike which in many ways does reflect its air cooled smaller sibling and complimented the alloy wheels we’ve come to love.
• The cruiser incarnation, I have to be honest this has piqued my interest the most, though we have had a lot of conflicting reports on its origins and inspiration. Crucially it was announced a while later from the main models and seemed to be very much an afterthought. I have no confirmed information on what it will look like, with practically everything from the Ducati Diavel (🤮🤮🤮) to merely being an upgraded Meteor. I guess only time will tell.

And finally….

With what is clearly a shift to LED lights on the J platform, it has been reported that the replacement will be available as a spare part in the latter part of 2024. If this does turn out to be the case (and I’ve no idea why it wouldn’t?), this is one rider who will be upgrading it. I cannot really think of any reason why this shouldn’t be a must have upgrade.