Who is the Mahindra Mojo for?
It’s a question asked quite often ever since the Mahindra Mojo was launched and the answer is as simple as the question itself.
Most manufacturers in India try to come up with motorcycles that please everyone – it’s a no brainer really ‘cause the more people you please the more units you’ll sell. That isn’t really a tough job considering there are mainly two kinds of Indian motorcycle users – those who love to see really high fuel efficiency figures and those who want a full fairing.
There is an emerging class of hardcore enthusiast bikers, though, who know exactly what they want from their machines and have the disposable income to go and get it. We’re not really talking about the 600s and above here, but more in tune with the ones who are willing to spend around Rs 2 lakh on a motorcycle and have grown up on a steady diet of the original Bajaj Pulsars and Hero (Honda) Karizmas over the last decade or so.
While many from this group have settled for a certain orange brand, for some it has simply been because of a lack of choice. Especially for the tourers, the KTMs provide the thrills but doesn’t make much sense, thanks to being ergonomically aggressive and having tiny fuel tanks. These are exactly the kind of motorcyclists that the Mahindra Mojo is out to cater to – and I’m one of them.
The Mojo isn’t competition to any other singular bike out there really – what it aims to do is to fill a void left by the high performance KTMs on one end of the spectrum and the chilled out Royal Enfields on the other. The closest motorcycle that the Mojo’s rider could actually be linked with would be the Honda CBR 250R which was a nifty sport tourer in its own right. While many went into a frenzy to lap up the CBR thinking that it was a proper sports rival to the likes of the then Kawasaki Ninja 250R, it really wasn’t.
The Honda liked to be ridden far and long, had the right ergonomics in place and the motor itself had a very endurance type feel to it rather than going all out on a drag strip. It’s been a while since the CBR 250R has been in the Indian market and for those looking for an upgrade while still wanting that very tourer-friendly character, there really was no real option until the Mahindra Mojo showed up earlier this month.
The Mojo may not have a fairing or the Japanese flair of the CBR, but once you get down to riding it for a decent distance, you start appreciating its every quality. It’s got the goods – a strong 295cc motor with 27PS and 30Nm that will run all day long and is yet not thirsty, a comfortable seat, wide handlebars, exquisite ride quality, stable highway manners, massive 21-litre fuel tank, super grippy Pirelli Diablo Rosso II rubber fore and aft and even powerful dual headlamps for lighting up the way, if halting at nightfall isn’t your thing.
Despite all the delays and the uncertainty, Mahindra hasn’t lost focus on what the Mojo was going to be and that clearly shows in the final production version – it’s the bike that will give you immense joy on your long trips.
Like I said, this may not be the bike for everyone, but if you’re at the stage in your life where you’re done with the super-leaned-knee-scraping kind of corner carving and cutting through traffic, then at Rs 1.58 lakh ex-showroom in Mumbai, this Mahindra is set to bring your Mojo back!
(Muntaser Mirkar is one of India’s renowned automotive journalists and the Co-Founder of MotorScribes. He can be reached on Twitter: @BullSpeech)
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