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Midget muscle

Personal transport never got more portable!

Miniature Bike and Vega, the latter known for their helmets, can take credit for these new offerings. The Belgaum-based company has now brought pocket biking to India. A craze abroad, miniature motorcycles are especially popular in America and Europe and are used for racing, and sometimes even to sharpen a bike racer's skills, the same way as go-karting has gained currency amongst race car drivers.

What Vega has on offer are superbly made Blatas and Ducatis - these bikes are scaled down models of racers, with oversized rider pegs as well as big grips and levers for grown ups. Tubular welded frames and beefy swingarms link the 3.00 x 4-inch tyres front and rear. The engines are two-stroke; the Blatas make 3.4bhp, while the louder Ducatis generate 4.2bhp.

The bikes are started via a ripcord, a-la a portable genset and these minimotos come with automatic trannies and hand-operated front and rear disc brakes. At 17 kg, the Duke may feel like a toy, but it rapidly picks up pace. The blokes at Vega, who've spent enough time on them, say there's ample power to pull of healthy wheelies and adequate stopping power to get the rear end well clear off the tarmac. With a claimed top speed of 80 kph, don't expect any stability or safety at that velocity.

Here's the best part - Vega tells us that pocket bikes can do without a riding licence. But riding it in traffic won't be a good idea, and a closed, controlled environment such as a go-kart track is a good option. If you are looking at getting one for your kids who aren't old enough to get a driving license yet, ensure they wear protective gear and also get throttle caution drilled into them.

How much will they set you back by? Well, the Blatas cost around Rs 75,000, while the Ducatis go for about Rs 1,60,000. Pocket change for little rockets?

RISHAD COOPER

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