Rev up the bike to 4000rpm and drop the clutch, front wheel comes up nice and easy. Whoa! This is nowhere near the TVS we know. TVS is know for its Sh*tty four stroke bikes. You know all that stuff. Four gears, moped type styling, low performance, the list goes on and on and on. When I saw the Apache in various auto magazine's reviews I was spellbound. I couldn't beleieve TVS honchos had the balls to bring about such a bike, and that too against the mighty Pulsar 150 against which even the Unicorn had kneeled its knees before. My friend had bought the Apache about four days ago and he doest believe in running in the bike(just like me :D). So far, so good.
Some first impressions:
-Looks fresh and overtly sharp(mudguard, tank, fairing et al).
-Looks ultra aggressive, a nice change from the conservative looks on other 150 machines.(Pulsar's started getting a little aged now...)
-The tank is beautifully sculpted.(No egg shaped tank here which would threaten to crush your balls)
-The engine shows fine detailing.
-The rear end is bad.(quicky finished off?)
-Black mags have a nice finish.
-Has a very short wheelbase. Nice for initial turn in .but really dangerous for high speed cornering.
-Sadly, the riding position is still commuterish. High and wide handlebars and forward set footpegs. I was expecting something more sporty.
-Looks best in Silver/Blue.(Red looks too garish)
-Bike is droomaal. Amazing attention to detail.
-Instrument Cluster is very Unicornish.
-Sitting on the bike does not give a big bike feel. Looks like you are sittin on some 125c bike.
-The bike is not meant for tall/large guys.(you'll looks like a chimp riding a tobu cycle, thats exactly what my freind told me when I was riding the bike!)
Well, now to the ride-
-Gearbox isnt perfect, but feels close to the P180's box.
-Clutch is ultra smooth(as smooth as unicorn's).
-Head Light beam is amazing, Pulsar's beam when compared to Apache is poor, so apache can be ridden at high speeds even at night with more confidence. Though the strength varies with the revs(unlike Zma).
-There were some fairing vibrations close to 60kmph.
-Seat size is small, so should a little bit unfortable on long rides.
-The fairing cuts away some parts of the tacho/speedo(point to be noted that i'm 6''3)
-Mindblowing flickbility(much better than Pulsar Classic), would rate it among the best there is.(yes the RX100 included)
-Well, engine vibrations is something that's worries me a lot. Pulsar or Unicorn dont have this problem, though the CBZ had this problem to a certain extent. Vaimood was right in his observation.
-At low rpms knocking was apparant though was not more than expected.
-Short wheelbase helps handling. It also helps in stunting. The bike is meant for stunting.(be very very careful when riding with a pillion, let off the clutch the wrong way and you'll have difficulty in finding the rubber side down.
-Forward set foot-pegs is a boon in traffic.(but not so on highways or open roads)
-Gas shcks do their job nicely.
-The engine sound is a mix of pulsar's and fiero's. Is split right down in the middle.
-Braking is excellent.Stoppies are damn easy now. And the best thing is you are in complete control. Full marks to the Disc.
-Gearbox is the conventional one down four up. Is damn smooth. No noises while shifting as on the Bajaj bikes.
-Horns are dual and black in colour and create quite a ruckus.
-Only TVS tyres available.
-Commenting on tyres, they have very bad grip comapared to zappers.
-Acceleration seems to be better than the unicorn. Cant comment with Pulsar's since not ridden a P150 for a very long time now.(All these 150's seem to have the same Acceleration, Mileage and Top Speed)
-Didnt gun for the top speed, but it did 110kmph on an empty stretch of road where my Zma does 120. Quite acceptable.
-Acceleraion real slow after 100kmph.
-Doesnt induce a Balls in your mouth feel which you get while driving a pulsar.
There are two versions. The higher end (Disk & ES) is priced at 56500/-, and is with black alloys. The lower end (No disk & no ES) is prices at 51500/- and has silver alloys.
Bottomline: This bike is for those guys who want to be different while not sacrificing performance, looks and mileage.
And please dont forget to rate and comment even if you are late.
Thanks for reading.
