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“I am thinking of getting a heavy motorbike for myself. It’s a BMW Motorrad. I am engaged in negotiations with the owner. Hopefully, I’ll be able to buy it for one and a half or two lakhs,” says a lady motorcycle rider who is also a part of the Pink Riders club.

But when informed that a BMW Motorrad cost far more than that, like something in the vicinity of over 50 lakhs the lady insisted that she had managed to find one far cheaper and which was also in very good condition.

How was that even possible?

The motorcycle market in Saddar these days has about 120 different brands that have nearly all been made in China. Apart from the 70CC, 100CC and 125CC motorcycles and shining scooters or the lighter scooties, as they call them, which are preferred by lady riders these days, this market also boasts of some five or six motorbike sellers who also deal in heavy bikes.

One such dealer, Abdullah Shari, who had several beautiful machines, such as BMW, Yamaha YZF-R3 and Kawasaki, parked right before his work desk, smiles as he shares their price with Dawn. And you almost fall off your chairs when you expect to hear something like six or seven million and are told that they cost three to six lakhs in rupees only. One wonders if they are second-hand or refurbished models.

“Not everyone can afford genuine heavy bikes, the cheapest of which may cost as much as 25 to 45 lakhs,” says Shari. “Then if you are buying a second-hand genuine bike, its cost may go down to something between 16 to 25 lakhs, but here these new bikes are so reasonably priced due to their being replicas of the real thing,” he says, making everything fall into place.

“What do those people who also love heavy bikes and dream of owning one but can’t afford it, do?” The dealer asks and then ends up replying to his own question. “Well, they can go for these China-manufactured first copies of the originals,” he smiles. “When parked next to an original, even someone who prides himself in knowing about heavy bikes can get confused,” he says, adding that some 70 per cent of such bikes in Pakistan are actually replicas.

He turns to his computer to show more heavy bikes that he is expecting from China in his 12th or 13th consignment. The machines which usually have a 350CC engine, have a running of about 25 to 30km per litre unlike the normal lighter bikes that one sees on the roads, which have a running of 60 to 70km per litre.

“But one who is willing to buy a bike worth Rs500,000 won’t really be worried about mileage,” the dealer laughs.

What he or she would be concerned about is maintenance. “We make sure to make all spare parts for this beautiful machine available as after-sales service is the key to their popularity here. Without that they will be a total flop.

Along with that they also come with a 2,000km engine guarantee,” he says.

Originally published in Dawn, May 5th, 2019