MY NEW PARTNER APACHE RTR 160

After using a Bajaj Boxer, Pulsar 150 classic and the recent P150 dtsi, I was bit dissatisfy with the overall performance of the Bajaj engineering. Though I must say, all of them are very good bikes, and I had never faced any problem in the middle of nowhere, but I always missed the quality of the cycle parts and refinement in Bajaj motorcycles. So after repetitive insist of my friends and colleges, I determine to go, and taste other

manufacturer in the market. This time my main moto was to find a good bike with all show off goodies like digi spedo, refined engine and black paint job,and the power. I already told you that I was bit disappointed by the Bajaj, so the 200 & 220 was out of my list. I also took the test drive of the Unicorn, its too smooth and the sitting posture is the best in the industry, but lack of punch in upper gears, and stile of the Unicorn is still way behind the other manufacturer, even a P150 can easily beat it in style segment. I finaly took the test drive of the TVS Apache 160 RTR. And believe me, I took just two days to set my mind.

RTR stands for Racing Throttle Response, and by this name TVS easily makes you clear what they want to mean. RTR’s 159.7 cc motor churns out 15.5 bhp, just 1.4 bhp less then the P180. And apart from the Unicorn, this is the smoothest engine I had ever ridden. The engine sound is very good and you can hear a loud thump when idling. Style wise I like the way it is, but the digital Speedo is really eye catching. And I can remember, after LML Vespa, this is the second two wheeler where you find a digi clock in the dashboard, though the Vespa had an analog one. The red reflective tape on the black wheel is a small but good touch of visual appeal. The sitting posture is very sporty and looks awesome when ridden. You may feel a little nervousness at initial stage but soon you it becomes fun to ride. Though I personally fill, if the handle can be adjusted height wise it will be rider friendly. The front Petal disk is also the first in the industry, and work very well, and has lots of bite, the rear one is still drum. Soon this rear drum will be replaced by a similar petal rotor disk brake in up coming RTR EFI.

It is not wise to say more than this at that point about RTR and its character, because a full 100-200 km road trip is still pending. The other figures will come soon in front of us as the odo increase. But after riding total of 113Km I will not call it again “SLOW COW”, may be not even you.