Two-wheeler companies in India are gearing up to garner a bigger share of the premium motorcycle category. Bajaj Auto , the segment leader, recently tied up with Triumph, while Hero MotoCorp , the biggest two-wheeler company, has identified it as a growth priority.Competition is revving up in India's premium motorcycle segment, with sales having outpaced the growth rate of the overall industry over the past five years. Sales of motorcycles in the premium category — those with an engine displacement of 150cc and above — surged to 1.4 million units in 2016-17 from 4.6 lakh units in 2011-12, making it the fastest-growing segment in the market. While the figure is only a fraction of India's two-wheeler market, the premium segment offers greater margins and scope for growth.The leading motorcycles in this segment include Pulsar and Avenger from Bajaj Auto, Apache RTR from TVS, Unicorn from Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India and the FZ series from Yamaha.Bajaj Auto led the segment with a 31% share at the end of July, followed by Royal Enfield (25.8%), Honda (14.8%), TVS (12.5%) and Yamaha (10.7%).Bajaj Auto announced an international non-equity partnership with the UK-based Triumph a few weeks ago to develop a range of mid-capacity motorcycles and consolidate its position. It also has a partnership with Austria's KTM, although it ended an eight-year alliance with Kawasaki in March.The recently launched Dominar motorcycle brought in an incremental 4,000 units to the premium segment for Bajaj Auto, although industry experts said the volumes were lower than what the company had forecast. Bajaj Auto plans to launch new products under all existing brands by December to reinforce its position in the premium end."Bade kismet se log aisa competition dete hai. So it is up to us now, whether we can take advantage of this opportunity. A 50% market leader in my view is one who has very little marketing and technology capability as we did 12 years ago. It is for us as a team to take advantage of this," Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj told shareholders at the recent AGM, taking a jibe at the competition, especially Hero MotoCorp.India is the biggest two-wheeler market in the world, with about 70 million scooters and motorcycles sold. The lifecycle of most two-wheelers is six to eight years, which means there is scope for replacement, Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities said in a report in July.The share of premium segment motorcycles has widened to 23% in FY17 from 17% in FY14, Nirmal Bang said.With rising disposable income and growing aspirations, two-wheeler companies have tremendous scope for growth and sales of premium bikes will only go up in the coming years, said Arun Siddharth, vice-president (marketing), premium category and international business, at TVS Motor Co.The company's premium bikes in 160cc, 180cc and 200cc categories account for 15% of its twowheeler sales and will widen in the next couple of years, said Siddharth. In collaboration with BMW Motorrad, TVS will launch new bikes in the 300cc-and-above segment in this financial year, he said.Royal Enfield, the maker of the iconic Bullet motorcycles, is in a "sweet spot to get the maximum from uptrading of two-wheelers," according to Nirmal Bang. The company has consistently outperformed the market and posted yet another year of over 25% growth."There are lot of people who are encouraged by our success. We won't roll out the red carpet for them, but all are welcome," CEO Siddhartha Lal told journalists at 2016-17 earnings conference call earlier in the year. "We believe we have advantages — a very unique product, scale of 60,000 units that offers us a great cost competitiveness, plus the visibility, brand strength and residual value, which no other competitor has in the mid-size motorcycle space.""Volume growth momentum will remain strong for Royal Enfield as the new plant has come on stream in the current month in Vallam, Vadagal. We expect a strong 20% volume CAGR over FY17-FY19E for Royal Enfield," Nirmal Bang said in a report on August 10.Honda Motorcycle & Scooters India has tried to break into the premium motorcycle space somewhat intermittently. From time to time, the company has introduced bikes such as CBR, Unicorn and Hornet, which brought attention back to the brand all too briefly. Yet, the company has managed a double-digit market share.People close to Honda said that with constant capacity constraint, focus invariably shifts to the bread-and-butter scooter segment at the cost of motorcycles.Hero MotoCorp, leader of India's two-wheeler market, is ready with multiple launches across segments, including two premium motorcycles in the 200cc range."We are going to have enhanced focus on the two growing segments — scooters and premium motorcycles — with new products. In the current fiscal (FY18), we are looking at aggressive market share gains to consolidate leadership, without compromising on the bottom line and our margins," said Pawan Munjal , CMD, Hero MotoCorp.A recent Edelweiss Securities report said Hero MotoCorp's commuter bikes are well placed to benefit from the expected rural recovery, given its high rural exposure of approximately 50% of volumes."Hero will have to counter demand shift from its key executive motorcycle segment to scooters; and rising demand for above-250cc motorcycles, where the company has low presence," the report added. Hero is currently a minor player in the 150cc-and-above segment, with three models — the new Achiever 150 i3S, Xtreme Sports and Karizma ZMR."The current penetration level of two-wheelers in the country remains low and the domestic two-wheeler industry has significant scope for consistent growth," Munjal said.Hero has clearly identified the premium segment as one of its top priorities. Multiple motorcycles in the 200cc range have been designed. It's working on a higher-powered, off-road motorcycle to be launched towards the middle of the next financial year (FY19).