In a recent announcement, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said that (HMSI) it would be joining hands with Tour de India (TDI) 2013, which happens to be the biggest cycling event in the country. The company divulged details about its association with Tour de India and told that its CBR 250R model used as the official lead bike for the races. The event is scheduled to get under way on 15th of November 2013 at Mumbai.
Speaking on the occasion, Y. S. Guleria, Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) for the company said, “We are proud to be associated with an initiative like Tour De India. It will connect with the youth and motivate them to adopt cycling as a part of their regular sporting culture. Honda CBR250R is one of India’s favourite and most Awarded sports bike, and it would complement the young racing enthusiasts participating in Tour de India 2013.”
The upcoming event is the largest international cycling event that has ever been held in India. Main reason behind organising such a big event is to promote cycling as a sport and to draw the attention of youth towards taking up the sport. In order to popularise the event, the organisers of Tour De India roped in Bollywood actor, John Abraham as the brand ambassador of the cycling event for the next three years.
The races are scheduled to take place on 15th, 17th and 22nd December 2013 in Mumbai, Jaipur and Delhi respectively. Honda two-wheelers announced that the winner of the Tour De India will be given a new CBR 250R as a prize by the company. The CBR 250R has garnered the attention of many Indian car buyers. It is powered by the 249 cc liquid-cooled DOHC engine that generates 24 bhp of power while churning out 23 Nm of peak torque. At present, the bike is competing against the likes of Hyosung GT250, Ninja 300 and the Duke 390.
It must be noted that India ranks very low out of 132 countries surveyed in the Environmental Performance Index of 2012. As Indian people generally rely on plying through petrol or diesel powered cars, hence 57 per cent of carbon dioxide is produced in India as a result of it. Also to mention, about 65 per cent of CO2 emissions in India are contributed from transportation modes as vehicles in traffic emit pollutants 4 to 8 times more than normal.
