Hi,
I own Apache 150CC for past 3 year. Based on my experience I will give the cons and pros of this bike. Choice is subjective on pros and cons
Pros,
1) Mileage - 55-60 kmpl Now the bike has run 27, 000 kms and still the mileage is consistent(This is the main advantage with TVS)
2) Handling- The length of the bike is less. So handling it in traffic is good. The bike is easy to turn(compared to pulsar and unicorn) you can make a u-turn easily. Bike width is also less so we can move in traffic like a 100cc bike unlike pulsar and unicorn.
3) Cost of Spares: The spares seem to cost less compared to Honda and Hero-Honda.
Look: This is subjective to taste of people. I liked it personally very much.
4) Design: The dis-adv with pulsar is, when you hit your brakes very hard and your pillion dashes you where your balls gets squeezed. This problem is not there in apache. I hope this problem is only with pulsar.
5) Control: This bike has really a good control on roads. Brakes are also good with good slowdown response.
Cons,
1) Comfort: Suspension is not that good, compared to unicorn. Riding position is good but still not comfortable enough for long rides more than 150kms. Pillion rider comfort is also average.
2) Vibration: Slight vibration when you cross 80km speed. Its extremely silent and comfortable under 60km speed similar to unicorn.
Contextual Cons:
1) The gear transmission is not that smooth whereas the other apache doesn’t seem to have this problem.
2) Had a bad time in getting it serviced. Very few TVS service centers exists in my city.
3) I had a bad feel on the riding position, so got my handlebar adjusted. Now it seems to be good.
The RTR model has some of this cons fixed but still lacks a good suspension. Real competitor for pulsar. Bajaj have re-discover pulsar to get ahead of competition. This bike is obviously a good option over unicorn sport, cbz extreme and hunk. Guys Pulsar or Apache is your choice.
Thanks for your time
Sundar