Dhak dhak gone

The end of the 26-year-old Hero Honda partnership marks the end of an era in Indian automotive history. MiD DAY staffers get nostalgic about what was once the 'desh ki dhadkan'

IT is the end of the road for Hero Honda.

After a successful 26-year run that saw it become the darling of the Indian masses and the largest two-wheeler maker in the world, the company announced yesterday that the joint venture between India's Hero Group and Honda Motor Co of Japan would be dissolved early next year.



The Hero Group will buy out Honda's 26 per cent stake in the company, which will reinvent itself with a new name and avatar to take on the global market in line with its Indian masters' ambitions

"This is the most important announcement I have made in last 25 years. The board has approved an MoU between Hero Honda and Honda. Today is a new beginning to broaden our horizons," said Hero Honda Managing Director and CEO Pawan Munjal.

"The times have changed. The markets have changed. The vision has changed. This company wants to go beyond where it is today. This company wants to go beyond borders, it wants to do stuff which it is not supposed to do," he added.

However, even as the maker of iconic bikes like Splendor and Passion decides to move on, MiD DAY staffers say they will never be able to get over their love affair with them.

J Dey
Editor (Investigation)

IT was the first bike I bought. When I bought it, the only lure was better mobility. But, slowly, I fell in love with her the Hero Honda CD 100 motorcycle that I bought in 1995.

A few months after I bought the bike, I realised that I was developing a bond with her. My wife, who was then my girlfriend, and I fondly named her Rani. Some of my colleagues also knew her by that name. I shielded Rani from the towing van morons I would always be alert.

I rode the bike every single day, close to 100 km a day. She never troubled me, not even when it poured. I felt this bike had a heart and not just the simple throb of an engine. Moshinbhai, an ace mechanic, agreed with me when I discussed this aspect of Rani's personality with him a few years ago.

A few years later, I got a feeling she was getting old. The potholes and pollution were wearing her down. But mechanic Asif and his younger brother Mujib did their best to keep her in a reasonably good condition.

Finally, earlier this year, I realised that Rani had outlived her utility. She had travelled with me for more than 2 lakh kilometers; smiling, like a sporty companion.

She rested only when I rested on weekends. I would park her in my compound and wash her every Sunday morning.

Six months ago, a man started approaching me repeatedly, wanting to buy her. I finally reluctantly agreed. Parting with a loved one is always difficult. "She has a heart.

Will you take care of her?" I asked the man. "Yes" was the reply. Even today, when I peep out of the window, I miss my Rani sometimes, my second love.

Shubiru00a0Rishi
Chief Sub-Editor

My first and the only bike was a Hero Honda Splendor, which my father gifted me in 2000. Initially, he wanted to buy me a Bajaj Chetak ("Because beta, it can carry a whole jerry can," he had reasoned).

After that offer was shot down vehemently, he (very grudgingly) took me to the showroom, handed me the money, and left me to choose the bike all by myself.u00a0

The joke was on me because my biking experience had been limited to pillion riding until then. So my first solo bike ride was actually dragging it all the way home, which was a good five Km away.

A few days later, after figuring out which was which (the clutch and the brake), I overcame my fear. My actual maiden ride was with a man who weighed 82 Kgs, riding pillion.

This was one of my father's ideas (the other ideas were pretty similar to the one about my first ride). The bike grunted a little, yes, but move it did.
u00a0
We covered a good 40 Km (in about 3 hours; with my co-rider sweating and grunting profusely), but without incident, and no complaints from the bike. Eventually, by the time I was back home, I knew one thing my bike and I were inseparable.
u00a0
Years later, I would take the bike on month-long trips to Himachal and the North East, with the original Hero Honda motto Fill it, Shut it, Forget it.

Nimesh Dave
Principal Photographer

I bought my bike a second-hand Hero Honda Splendor for Rs 22,000 in 1999. It was like my baby.
u00a0
I used to care for it a lot. What reinforced my faith in the company was the fact that when I was looking to sell the bike in 2006, I sold it for Rs 25,000 Rs 3,000 higher than what it cost me.

The decision that my next bike would be a Hero Honda Passion Plus was a no-brainer. It is an excellent bike with next-to-zero maintenance and very good fuel efficiency.u00a0

I am so scared for the bike's well-being that I don't give allow anyone else to ride it even now, not even my brother.

Jishu Dev Malakar
Senior Illustrator

I purchased my first bike a Hero Honda Passion in the year 2002. It was like my first love and, because of this, instead of selling it I gave it to my friend when I came to Mumbai from Delhi.

I had met with an accident in Delhi and, even then, I remember worrying more about the harm caused to the bike than to me.
u00a0
I kept thinking all my wounds would heal eventually but I would feel u00a0lost if the bike got badly damaged.

50
The number of years ago Hero Group started operations as a small component company for the bicycle industry

1984
The year in which the joint venture between Hero Group and Japan's Honda Motor Co was founded

Collaboration
The $3.5-billion Hero Group, which started operations as a small component company for the bicycle industry more than 50 years ago, is the largest manufacturer of two-wheelers in the world today.

The group, since it was established in 1956, has rolled out products such as Hero Cycles, Rockman Cycles, u00a0Hero Majestic Moped, Hero Puch 50-65 CC bikes, besides a wide range of motorbikes in collaboration with Honda.

The joint venture between Hero Group and Japan's Honda Motor Co, hailed as one of India's most successful, was founded in 1984 and is credited with putting the Indian middle class on wheels.