Apollo Tramplers Now Found On Husqvarna Svartpilen 401, Pirellis Removed

Despite initially offering Pirelli Scorpion Rally STRs on the Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 in India, it seems that Bajaj has had to switch over to the Apollo Tramplers for the bike going forward. We reached out to Bajaj officials and they said that it was due to a government mandate for imported tyres.

The Indian government’s stance on promoting Indian-made goods saw a radical ban on imported tyres, without exception to begin with. However, the restrictions were laxed for tyre sizes not made in the country, and hence, owners of more powerful machines could breathe a sigh of relief. However, it seems that the imposition applies now as the Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 was running with tyre sizes that are being made by a couple of tyre makers in India, and hence the Pirelli rubber was discarded for Apollos. 

This does raise two concerns, though. Firstly, what happens to the likes of the KTM 390 Duke, RC 390, 390 Adventure, TVS Apache RTR 310/RR 310, BMW G 310 R, G 310 GS and Triumph Scrambler 400X, and many more bikes of its ilk that use imported tyres like Metzelers and Michelins. While local options for some of these bikes, like the TVS Protorq Extremes for sporty nakeds and supersport bikes, work brilliantly, we aren’t quite sure of the same performance capabilities of some local tyres to work quite as well, especially in the dual-purpose motorcycling zone.