Earlier in October, Bajaj Auto appointed Motodrive as its new exclusive distributor in Mexico. Bajaj and Motodrive, a part of Surman Group, aim to make inroads in the Mexican market with stores, parts and service workshops, with a CKD plant in construction. The announcement confirmed future products and one of the motorcycles is the Bajaj Platina 125.
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The Bajaj Platina 125 was spied testing on the Indian roads in August 2018. The test mule was seen with a 125 badge on the rear panel and a front disc brake. It had absolutely no camouflage, which hinted that it was pretty much ready to roll out of the manufacturing plant.
Apart from the 125 badges and the front disc brake – which will most likely be an optional add-on – there aren’t many visual changes from the 100 cc variant. The hardware on the test mule of the 125cc Platina was nothing out of the ordinary. It was equipped with a halogen headlight with a LED DRL and alloy wheels. Conventional telescopic forks at the front and twin sided shock-absorbers at the rear would perform suspension duties.
Bajaj has not revealed the mechanical specifications of the Platina 125 in the official announcement, as the motorcycle is yet to launch. We expect the variant to feature the same engine that is seen on the Discover 125. The 124.5cc single cylinder, 4-stroke, air-cooled, single-cylinder, SOHC, DTS-i engine is tuned to deliver 11 PS of power @ 7500 rpm and 11 Nm of torque @ 5500 rpm.
Will the Platina 125 arrive in the Indian market? In an interview, Bajaj Auto’s Managing Director, Rajiv Bajaj had said that there are no plans to stretch the Platina range into the 125cc segment as it will dilute the brand.
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Bajaj also confirmed that the falling sales of the Discover brand in the premium commuter segment has it back at the drawing board. Even the V12 did not achieve the targets set by the brand. The company is in no mood to vacate the segment and is working on a new motorcycle brand with 125cc displacement that will come out next year.
Other products heading to Mexico, as confirmed in the official release, are the Dominar 400 and the Avenger range.
