It's raining superbikes in India

There are dime a dozen superbikes in Bangalore today. Yet, they never fail to turn heads when the roar past on the roads.

It's probably the deep throated growl of the engines that gives them their identity or it's probably their speed and acceleration. Superbikes sport engine capacity of around 1,000 cc or more.

The sales of superbikes are happening fast, even with the eye-popping prices that they sport. The bikes are moving off the shelves faster than perhaps the bikes themselves.

The bikes are selling like hot cakes, if you go by the sales being logged by Harley-Davidson and the newer entrant Ducati in Bangalore.

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The Harley-Davidson, the legendary US motorbike maker, whose bikes start at Rs 5 lakh, and goes up to Rs 45 lakh, has sold 45 motorbikes from its outlet in Bangalore which opened in December.

Meanwhile, Harley-Davidson is present in four cities today, having showrooms in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. From its Bangalore outlet it has been catering to the south India market.

Some 14 models are sold in India, and of those only three are assembled in the country, at its facility in Haryana today.

According to Sanjeev Reddy, proprietor of the Harley Davidson outlet in Bangalore, "We are seeing a huge demand from the youth."

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In the US, a Harley rider is generally seen as a balding, bearded man, while in India, there is no dearth of the young crowd that wants to get hold of the bike.

Those who can't, make do with the Harley Davidson gear. "The gears from the Harley Davidson are in very high demand," said Reddy.

Giving it competition is Ducati, the legendary Italian bike maker that has many a grand prix wins to its credit. It is now in town too, wooing those who are fans of the legendary bikes and want to own the bikes with the racing pedigree.

But, you won't get to ride the bike that Valentino Rossi rides in Moto GP 2011. That's not a road-going version.

Ducati, which was not far behind Harley Davidson in burning the tyre on Indian roads with their super fast bikes, set up shop in Bang-alore in June. Since then the outlet has logged sales of 30 motorbikes.

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It today has outlets in Ahmedabad, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Mumbai. The company's bikes are imported as of now. The Ducati bikes range in prices from Rs 9.8 lakh to Rs 26 lakh for its 1,199 cc bike.

The price of the bikes need not deter a discerning customer, said a spokes-person for the company.

"Ducati has a financing arrangement with the HDFC Bank," said the spokesperson. The youngest customer of Ducati so far is said to be all of only 17-years.

Not that it attracts only the youngsters. The oldest customer is said to be in his mid-fifties.

The competition is only getting tighter. There are many other superbikes made by Yamaha and Kawasaki that are giving the two a run for their money.