Spark plugs ignite rivalry

India's two-wheeler industry, having thrived for years on technology from the Far East - primarily Japan and South Korea - may be on the verge of returning the favour, at least to an extent.

Japan's automotive giant Honda Motor Company has expressed an intention to use two spark plugs in its motorcycles in the 100-125 cc class as a method of reducing friction in the engine.

"Honda is developing the world's top-level low-friction engine for the 100cc to 125cc class - the largest volume segment in the world. The low-friction engine achieves improved combustion efficiency by introducing two spark plugs while friction is reduced significantly. This new innovation improves fuel economy by 13 per cent," Honda's president and CEO Takeo Fukui had said in his 2005 mid-year speech recently.

The statement has found an echo in the cheers arising out of the research and development wing of Bajaj Auto, which has a technology tie-up with Honda's rival Kawasaki and claims to be the first to use two spark plugs in motorcycle engines to increase power and fuel efficiency.

When contacted, a Bajaj Auto spokesperson claimed that the twin spark plug system was introduced by Bajaj over a year back with the launch of the Pulsar DTSi and the company had applied for a patent for this technology both in India and major overseas markets.

Whether or not Honda needs to consult Bajaj on this technology and have an arrangement is likely to become clear once the technology is adopted.

An e-mail, seeking to clarify this, to Tetsuya Ikeda, manager, PR division, at Honda Motors' head office, remains unanswered.

Honda intends to apply the twin spark plug technology, along with a variable cylinder management system for motorcycles that apparently improve fuel economy by 30 per cent, to mass-market products and then expand the number of models equipped with these technologies in order to improve the environment performance of motorcycles.