Yesterday I took a test drive of the RTR at Ashwa TVS in bangalore.i posed as a prospective customer of the RTR in front of the sales guy . he explained me lil bit abt the bike n I kept him hearin as if I didn’t knew anythin abt the bike!! ....When I asked him for the test drive he straightaway asked me---cash or finance!!...he was in a real hurry!!!....now the funny thing!!...just to keep the bells ringin for him I asked him abt any exchange facilities to trade off my 5 year old Victor wid the RTR!!!...he took me seriously n gave the bike widout any pillion for a test ride!!>.....ahaaaaa!!!...i had to wait for 10 minutes..n voila the RTR was under my domain!!!
The few things which I noticed abt the bike bfore takin the test ride...
(1) the paint quality n finish r outstandin...the red luks smashin but the black bike’s white race stripes seems to be ripped up frm a MUSTANG!!!!
(2) the clip-on handle lukd gr8 but was a bit short!!
(3) now the digi-speedo....the RTR’s digi speedo seemed to have some lag wen u switch on n off the bike...u have to wait for 2-3 seconds bfore the speedo lights up n same thing when u switch off the bike....tat seemed a tat irritatin for me!!...also the backlit was not as bright as the ones found in pulsar but the instrumentation console’s quality was top notch!!!
(4) One word for the rear light...it’s AWESOME!!!...i really don’t know how they managed to make the plain-jane lukin apache tail light so attractive!!....it was very bright n had a nice reflector!!
(5) loved those brake levers...seemed to be of very high quality n the brake levers along wid the rear-sets were eye-catchin!!!
NOW THE RIDE...OR SUD I SAY FLIGHT!!!
Startin the Bike was a different experience if u r used to an apache!!!....the bike started in an instant purrr n was calm...wen revved the bike’s sound changed to a healthy beat. I slotted on 1st n made myself comfortable wid the bike...after 10-12 metres I whacked the throttle wide open n quickly changed to the 2nd n revved even harder n the tacho needle went insane it reached close to 9000rpm in just a second or two!!!...this is the only bike which revs so fast that it makes u change the gears earlier than u can expect!!...alas!! the
speedo was dis-engaged so I cudn’t chk out the speed but after movin up the gears I was probably doin 75-80km/hr within my 3-4 km stint in the busy traffic!!
Now the things noticed by me while ridin the bike...
(1)Performance: The bike’s fast real fast but I expected it be much faster may be it wud come to it’s real show after some kms logged on the odo....i m sayin this bcoz I have experienced this wid TVS bikes which perform to the their full potential after runnin-in!!...It didn’t feel as fast as a P180 but it’s just thr!!...now this is controversial as many ppl wud find it hard to digest this but we have 2 wait for a couple of weeks to know if the RTR is really thr!!
(2) Vibrations: the Bike is tooo smooooth!!....now this is a bit of contrast as earlier apache wud shake it’s nuts n bolts off when revved!!....but RTR njoys revvin n it’s a hooligan in tat department....IT REVS INSANELY!!!!..thr was absolutely no vibration even at tacho touchin 8000rpm!!!
(3) Handling n Braking: the Bike handled well but felt much lighter...i donno why??...those monstrous brakes on a light Bike have to used wid a caution as the Bike wud do stoppies without warning!!!
things which I didn’t like!!
(1) the Bike due to it’s rearset n those short clipon felt much smaller as the rider wud have 2 lean more!!...felt like ridin lil SUPERBIKE!!!
(2) those brakes r excellent but TVS should tinker a bit wid the handlin as the Bike didn’t inspire confidence in me to push it harder n throw around the corners...i really don’t know wat is lackin but the Bike didn’t feel as heavy as it’s sibling!!!
For me the bike provides maximum bang for ur buck!!!..it’s still cheaper than P150 as well as the CBZ-X!!!...all in all a gr8 buy!!