Honda BigWing Topline Kolkata, the showroom that sells the company’s premium (300cc to 500cc) and ultra-premium (650cc to 1,800cc) motorcycles, opened some time ago. Now that various factors like emission norms and chip shortage affecting supply have been sorted out, it expects to go full throttle from the next financial year, says Kamal Sitaram Agarwal, CEO, PGL Group and the franchise owner of Honda BigWing Topline Kolkata. At an event where three premium bikes were handed over by actor and member of Parliament Nussrat Jahan, Agarwal spoke with The Telegraph about the venture. Excerpts,

Nussrat Jahan swings a leg over the the Honda Africa Twin adventure bike at the Honda BigWing Topline Kolkata dealership.

So this is the first Honda BigWing Topline showroom in the city...

So there are only eight Honda BigWing Topline showrooms in India. This is the newest. This is for the Calcutta metro that is catering to all the eastern and northeastern states starting from Orissa, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and the seven sisters.

Tell us what’s special about this dealership compared to other Honda bike retailers.

This is a flagship showroom, so they call it the Topline. HMSI (Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India) works like this: they have two internal divisions — RedWing and SilverWing. RedWing is for the commuter segment (100cc to 250cc), Then they have the SilverWing, which is the premium motorcycle business of Honda, which starts from 300cc and goes all the way to 1,800cc. Now BigWing is further bifurcated into those that sell 300cc to 500cc bikes, and the Topline showrooms that are in eight metros. So, apart from Gurgaon, Indore, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kochi, for east and northeast India there is Calcutta. The 300cc-500cc bikes sold at Topline showrooms cater to 70 per cent of the buyers. For the uber buyers — those of 650cc, 1,000cc, 1,100cc, 1,800cc, etc. — the bikes are only sold at Topline showrooms.

What is the price range of the products that you are selling here?

CB300F or CB300R range of bikes starts from around Rs 2.30 lakh and it goes all the way to the GoldWing 1,800cc that we delivered today and that is around Rs 53 lakh on the road.

And what kind of numbers are you seeing?

We did a soft launch in Aprilend of 2022 and we have got a very, very good response. Unfortunately, because of government policies related to emission norms, manufacturers are slightly controlled in their production. Plus, there were global factors like the semiconductor shortage. But from the next financial year, brands are going all out. So, you’ll find lots of new bikes and waiting lists for products like the 650cc, or Africa Twin or even the Gold Wing will probably not be there.

Which are the ones made in India and which are imported? The 300cc and 350cc bikes are entirely made in India. The 500cc is a CBU (imported fully made), 650cc and the Africa Twin 1,100cc are assembled here, and the Gold Wing is a CBU that is made only in Japan.

Which are the ones that are selling the best?

By the numbers, then CBR650 is our highest selling in the ultra-premium range and in the premium range it is the H’ness 350.

An array of premium machines at the recentlyopened Honda BigWing Topline Kolkata

Nussrat Jahan and Honda BigWing Topline franchise owner Kamal Sitaram Agarwal (extreme right) hand over the Rs 50 lakh-plus Honda Gold Wing to its proud owner in the presence of Shiv Singh, area manager, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (extreme left)

ACTOR AND MP NUSSRAT JAHAN SPOKE WITH t2 ABOUT HER BIKING ASPIRATIONS AND HOW SHE STARTED RIDING IN THE FIRST PLACE. EXCERPTS.

I’m guessing that you ride two-wheelers...

I have always had this fascination with bikes. What I used to ride as a kid when I used to sneak out of my house as a kid was my dad’s Pulsar. I used to sneak around at night because I never had my own Scooty. After my dad found out that I had been sneaking out of the house when I met with an accident, he decided let’s keep bikes aside and buy you a Scooty. And that’s what happened and my whole high school and college days I had been riding around in the whole Ballygunge area.

Has that fascination for two-wheelers gone further?

You know, it’s nice to use bikes and everything when you are shooting for songs and it has to look beautiful. [But] you don’t get the opportunity to do much here in Calcutta. Where am I going to take these mean machines out on the road at night? Right now I cannot do that because there are protocols that I need to follow. So everybody keeps a tab on where I am going and kotota shomoy achhi, ki korchhi. It’s not possible to sneak out so easily these days.

So cars or bikes?

Both have their own pros and cons. Normally we use cars more often for work, for travelling, but there is something very interesting about bikes which pulls you, it attracts you because it looks beautiful. And then you know you really want to dress up. I used to have this fascination for wearing those amazing leather jackets with all those biker motifs. They look extremely fashionable and that fashion has not changed. Plus, these machines look really, really nice.

And when it comes to bikes would you go for a racer or one on which you can go on a long ride?

Racing bikes look good, but I think a cruiser is what I would prefer. I was just being told that you can actually go on a road trip on one of these bikes and it would be an amazing way to enjoy the beauty of the locales.

Have you done a long road trip on a bike?

No, no, no. In cars, yes.

And is there any road trip that you think you would like to make on a bike?

I’d like to go to the mountains. Maybe go to Ladakh or [the] Spiti [Valley]. When we see videos it seems lots of people have attempted it and it looks fun and adventurous. Actually, some day, I really wish that I go out on a road trip.

Has there ever been a bike that you’ve been fascinated with?

Many, actually. All these sportsbikes that we used to get for our shoots. But I used to be very scared [to ride them].

What do you think of Honda BigWing Topline coming to Calcutta?

I think Calcuttans needed this new streak of fun. We are always so enthusiastic about luxury cars, but few people are aware that even twowheelers can give you that kind of luxury. I think this is exciting.