The Hindu Business Line : Brand make-over for the Gladiator

To further cash-in on the bikes emerging popularity, Yamaha Motor India has launched a new variant with cosmetic changes meant to give the bike a different style identity.

Yamaha Motor India has some of the best performing bikes in the country. But it is still a bit of a mystery why the company's bikes do not seem to achieve their full potential in terms of sales volumes.

Strange, because the Yamaha RX100 and the RD350 achieved iconic status amongst bike lovers, and the Yamaha brand is one of the strongest in market. Maybe, buyers' yearning for the return of the glory days of the RX100 and RD350 is dampening the appeal for the current set of Yamaha bikes.

The Gladiator has had a good start, managing to push up Yamaha Motor India's sales in the past year, thanks largely to the high-profile advertising and the charisma of the bike's brand ambassador — John Abraham. Though it has helped Yamaha boost volumes by about 130 per cent, speaking in relative terms with its competition in the 125cc segment, the Gladiator can do better considering its potential. It still is the most rocking bike in Yamaha's portfolio in India.

John Abraham's self-confessed and much publicised love for big, muscle bikes, particularly Yamaha's, has had a beneficial effect on the Gladiator's youth appeal. When the Gladiator is doing well is the best time to make the most of its emerging popularity.

So, Yamaha Motor India did just that last week by launching a new variant with cosmetic changes meant to give the bike a different style identity.

The new Gladiator Type J.A. (short for you know who) has for the first time been given an all-black finish, except for the new silver-toned alloy wheels. The engine block, the silencer pipe, the sub-frames and the rear grab rail are all in soft matt-black. With the new variant, Yamaha has tried to adopt a few features that are usually found in some of its internationally popular big bikes, even as it attempts to offer buyer signature exclusivity, quite literally.

On the new Gladiator Type J.A.'s fuel tank is the brand ambassador John Abraham's signature. The scoops on either side of the fuel tank also get Yamaha's famous three-tuning-forks logo in gold. Yamaha says that world over the use of the golden tuning fork mark is restricted to only a select set of the company's big bikes such as the YZR-M1 and YZF-R1 SP2006 models.

The Type J.A.'s seat also gets new style material for its cover, what Yamaha calls `G16 Poly Nova make' pattern.

Along with being a popular pattern in the international motorcycle market, this is expected to give the new Gladiator variant a tough, rugged, yet refined and luxurious feel.

The Gladiator Type J.A. continues to sport the same 123.7cc engine that has been on offer in the existing Gladiator models. But in the Type J.A., the engine block and crankcase, etc., have been painted with a special Japanese `Mat Black 2' paint that gives them a soft-matt finish.

In addition to enhancing the looks of the engine, the new finish is also said to provide much improved rust protection to the engine and its parts. The bolts around the engine have also been zinc-plated for better rust protection.

Similarly, for the muffler and silencer pipe, Yamaha has adopted a special `shoot blast' process, along with special paint adhesives for better protection from chipping and rust for these components. The chrome-plating process used for the muffler's black finish is also expected to improve the longevity of this part, which is prone to be under the influence of high heat for a prolonged period.

The Gladiator Type J.A. also gets a new font finish that has a bit of baroque, old world look about it. The Type J.A. is offered with self/electric start and disc brakes as standard fitment. There are a base steel-spoke wheels and a deluxe alloy wheels version that is available. The price differential between the existing Gladiator and the Type J.A. is Rs 1,500.

S. Muralidhar

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