On 31st of October 2003 I became a ’proud’ owner of TVS Victor. Obviously I was rewarded with a Mixie(local make) for buying this vehicle. It seems to be a Season offer!
I have my own experiences in making a decision on buying and usability of this TVS’s first own kid. Let me share them with you all which might help you all to make a decision in buying one.
My requirement for a bike was for general commuting. So, I decided to scan through bikes balanced with both mileage and power. There were three bikes Splendor, Wind and Victor which dominated my thinking in choosing the one. All the three bikes have all the features of any contemporary 100CC bike. So I was really confused.
Splendor 100CC is a well-proven Hero Honda product. Its a very stable bike, consistently delivering the best performance for its capacity.
Wind 125CC is a new kid from Bajaj. Its also a well built bike. However, its a new kid in the block so there was not enough details about the bike interms of its performance. Also the poor customer attention given by the dealer did hardly helped me to infer bike’s performance and mileage details.
Victor GL 109CC is a own kid of TVS. This bike has all the features of Splendor and Wind. Since it was launched a year ago I managed to get enough inputs from various users and websites particularly from MouthShut.com about the performance of this bike.
With all the inputs I shortlisted Splendor and Victor. However, Victor was the one that I decided to go with for the following reasons:
. 10CC more than the Splendor
. Adjustable rear suspension
. Relatively comfortable seating
. Equally and much better fuel efficiency
. Big headlights . Almost same price
. GL is a rectified version
. Good resale appreciation. However not as good as Splendor
Now I own a Victor GL and trying to validate those aforesaid deciding pointers with my experience.
. I could get a feel of the 10CC difference only with the pillion. However, in the signal stops, vehicle is struggling to pick up from the idle mode.
. I didn’t experience anything new with the adjustable rear suspensions.
. Seating is really comfortable even with pillion rider.
. Fuel efficiency is one hitching factor against the TVS’s mantra ’’Smiles per hour’’. I got the first service done 15 days before the schedule, due to poor mileage, misfiring and bad cold start. I travel about 50kms every day that too long drives. In this condition, bike was able to deliver only 47kms/ltr which is below the standard mark. The cold start is the worst thing of all. About 6-10 times, I have to kick my Victor GL to get started even if the choke is held ON, everytime. Then the reason for misfiring I really was unaware. Perhaps I knew misfiring could happen be due to unclean carburetor or spark plug also. With all these complaints I was simply forced to leave my bike for service 15 days before the scheduled first free service date. After first service, there is some improvement showing on fuel efficiency side. Now it delivers 60Kms/ltr. However, it is falling short of what is being told by TVS showrooms in normal road conditions. The average mileage being promised is 65kms/ltr. I need to ensure this only in the subsequent scheduled services. However, even after the first service the bike continues to have the misfiring problem. I was told by the mechanic in TVS service center that all the four stroke bikes have this problem. I am really doubtful about this point. So I need to check this problem with some other reliable mechanic. The cold start problem is not much as before.
. Well the headlights are really large and gives better visibility during the nights.
Overall, the performance of the bike is good except these couple of problems. I hope it gets solved in the subsequent services. With these details I would like to conclude about my experience with TVS Victor GL.