Thunderbird Twin Spark Launched

So finally the Thunderbird Twin Spark has been launched this Wednesday.

Intrestingly there has been a press quote from the managing director and chief executive of Eicher Motors, Mr. Siddhartha Lal, who says that the twin-spark technology, the as we remember was the issue behind a court battle between Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor. Supposedly (and of course practically) this is not a patentable know-how. Wonder How Bajaj would react to this, and of course TVS reaction to whatever the outcome is!

Lal told mediapersons that the technology has been available for several years. "We have been working on this engine since the 1990s. We don't expect any legal issues,"

Eicher's Thunderbird, priced at Rs 130,000, is powered by an engine that the company has developed on a spend of around Rs 250 million!

Interestingly last year we had a 'escapist' comment made by the Royal Enfield CEO RL Ravichandran who said: "Despite being a twin-spark plug engine, our technology is totally opposite from that used by Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors.
Our engines have valves, while they (Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors) predominantly use overhead cams in their engines.
The twin spark plug technology is already in use for many decades and we have used it in our engine architecture to make it more efficient and make combustion easier."

Also another tangent to this is that Bajaj has the patent for twin spark for 'low' powered bikes, wonder if a 350CC machin can be classified as a low powered bike :)

Anyways, we can only wonder how all this will shape up in the coming weeks/months.

Back to Thunderbird I guess our prayers for a reliable bullet been answered?

The list of changes in the new RE Thunderbird.
1) Obviously a redesigned head for the additional spark plug.
2) New crankcase.
3) Unitary construction for the engine with integrated gearbox (teh much hyped UCE unit).
4) Gearshifter and brake at their usual positions i.e. left and right respectively.
5) Halogen lamp for fuss free riding at night.
6) Uprated clutch to handle extra power and torque from the engine.
7) Hydraulic tappets for precise valve timing and control

At a price tag of 130,000 its a neat touring deal, and again now I am confused among going for a cruiser (Thunderbird twinspark) vs a sports tourer (R15)

Damn! Would have loved to house them both in my garage!!!!