5 Of The Best Bikes Between Rs 2-3 lakh In India

The time has finally come! You’ve used your first bike for quite a while and now you want to upgrade. The budget is between Rs 2-3 lakh and you want a bike with good performance but also great looks and presence since this is your first big bike. And with those needs and wants in mind, we have carefully made a list of 5 bikes that could suit your purpose quite well. Let’s quickly dive into the list: 

Royal Enfield Classic 350

Price: Rs 1,81,118 to Rs 2,15,750 (ex-showroom, Chennai)

If we’re talking about looks and feel, you just cannot ignore the Royal Enfield Classic 350. The Classic 350 is a big bike with great road presence and that means that no matter what you use it for, it’ll grab attention for sure. No matter what big bikes are out there on the road, the Classic 350 will still turn heads the moment people hear its exhaust note. 

And despite its heft, the Classic 350 manages its weight pretty well. On the move, for the most part, you won’t feel its weight and it’s quite an easy bike to ride. A couple of weeks into riding it you’d get used to its weight and from there on, it’s smooth sailing. So be it everyday commuting or touring, the Classic 350 will handle it all. While the bike might not do those things fast, it’ll do them all with reasonable comfort and a relaxed feel. It’s almost like the bike asks you to take it easy and soak in everything around you as you ride it. 

Triumph Scrambler 400 X

Price: Rs 2,67,731 (ex-showroom, Delhi)

Buying your first big bike always feels that much more special if you’re getting it from a brand that is well known on a global level. It’s a nice feeling when you know that your bike’s brand is well-reputed at an international level. And that’s exactly the feeling you’d get from the Scrambler 400 X. Being a Triumph bike, finish levels are excellent and in fact, the Scrambler’s probably the best finished bike in this entire list. The Triumph Scrambler 400 X is an awfully good looking bike from afar but the good feelings persist even when you start inspecting it up close. 

The icing on the cake is its engine. The Scrambler is an easy-to-ride bike and its engine has loads of bottom end torque, meaning even though it’s a big bike, you will be able to get on it and ride it comfortably well. Another thing that Triumph has got spot on is comfort. The Scrambler 400 X’s suspension feels plush and you can ride it over all the bad roads in our city and on our highways and the Scrambler 400 X will handle it all. In fact, it’s a lovely bike to take off roading too, given its light weight. 

KTM 390 Duke

Price: Rs 2,97,531 (ex-showroom, Delhi)

The KTM 390 Duke is a legendary bike and in its latest iteration, it’s better than ever, for it’s easier to ride while still being extremely exciting. Under Rs 3 lakh, there’s no other bike that has performance like the 390 Duke. In fact, it has enough performance for most situations, so it’ll be a bike that’ll entertain you for quite a while. 

The performance on tap is boisterous and the moment you open the throttle, the 390 Duke accelerates with ferocity. Yes, it’s not for everyone. The sheer performance on tap means it’s very easy to end up in trouble and in the hands of an inexperienced rider, things could go wrong in no time. But in its latest iteration, the 390 Duke has gotten a lot easier to ride. So if you promise yourself to ride it maturely and with a bit of self control, you should be able to get along with the Duke pretty well. And with its price now starting just under the Rs 3 lakh mark, the 390 Duke is back to being a great value for the money you’re spending. 

Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 

Price: Rs 2,85,000 to Rs 3,19,682  (ex-showroom, Chennai)

The Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 is the sweetheart of this lot. We had a long term Himalayan 450 which we rode for almost 20,000km and everyone in the office who rode the bike fell in love with it after spending some time with it. The Himalayan 450 sounds like a big, heavy bike on paper but ride it, spend some time with it and you’ll realise it’s an absolute sweetheart. The big boy manages its weight quite well and unless you’re at crawling speeds in the city, you’ll never really notice its near 200kg kerb weight. In fact, ride it in the city and you’ll see that it handles incredibly well for such a heavy bike with a big front wheel. The bike changes lanes and filters through traffic with surprising ease and the peppy engine seems to keep up with it. 

And then there’s the suspension. The Himalayan 450 is the most comfortable bike in its segment and the way Royal Enfield has set up its suspension is simply magic. It soaks up everything you throw at it but it’ll also let you know that the bad roads that you just rode over were dealt with effortlessly. It’s a communicative bike to ride and if you’ve any touring intentions, the Himalayan 450 is for sure the best tourer of the lot. 

TVS Apache RR 310

Price: Rs 2,56,240 to Rs 3,10,640 (ex-showroom, Delhi) 

Can’t talk about getting your first big bike without talking about a sportbike? If you want a bike whose looks stand out, the TVS Apache RR 310 is one gorgeous bike and definitely one of the best among made-in-India bikes. In its latest iteration, the bike also gets winglets and a transparent clutch cover. While it may not be useful in the real-world, it surely evokes a big bike feel. And as for the transparent clutch cover, it definitely looks stunning 

And then there’s the big Apache’s handling. If your first bike was something like the Yamaha R15, the RR 310 will feel like a very natural upgrade. Both bikes are extremely sweet handlers and easy to ride, meaning you as a new sportbike rider can make mistakes without them proving to be costly. And if you like your weekends to be spent riding up and down a twisty road on your new bike, the RR 310 can be quite a good pick under the Rs 3 lakh mark.