Apr 14, 2007 02:22 PM
5623 Views
The Apache is one of the best machines I have ever ridden. I haven't bought the machine but was gifted a bike by TVS Motors when we approached them for sponsorship for our "South Asian Motorcycle Odyssey" in November 2006.
We did about 300 km in Bangalore city before hitting the highway towards Mangalore and further across India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar(Burma) and Bangladesh. Now I think I am in a fairly good position to write a review as I have done about 18, 000 km on this motorcycle through four countries and virtually all kinds of terrains.
In my opinon this is a complete bike in terms of the features it offers. It has five gears, a speedo, rpm meter, fuel guage, indicator litghts, neutral and high beam indicators. My earlier bikes did not offer all these guages and I am a gadget freak.
Well coming back to the bike when I first got the bike from TVS I was wondering how I would be able to handle the disc brakes because all my earlier bikes were with drum brakes which were not sharp. The Apaches brakes are razor sharp and have saved my life quite a few times by thir slick and sticky braking. The styling is good and finishing is fine, so in that department I don't have any complaints.
Let us take one issue at a time in the mechanicals. Handling is the best feature of this awesome machine. Throughout our 18, 000 km tour across India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh we would have crossed at least 7, 000 km of mountain roads and the Apache handled so well on curves that we felt as if we were gliding in an aeroplane and not on the road. The suspension is too good and there has been no back pain whatsoever so far.
Clutch and gears. this is one area where I have a few complaints. The gear shift is little too tricky and unless one gets used to the bike it is difficult to attain proper shifting of gears especially when one wants to rapidly shift down from 5-4-3-2. the bike falls into false neutral and complicates things. The clutch operates with a clacketty noise sometimes which is quite irritating.
Fuel economy is perhaps one of the best features of the bike. In all kinds of terrain the Apache has returned an average of 57-62 km per litre even on roads of Nepal and Bhutan which are completely mountainous terrains.
Riding comfort is not too good. It is a little too hard on our bottoms.though the seatng position is pretty good. the cushioning is not so good. Indian bike manufacturers need to improve in this aspect. I have ridden almost all the bikes and none of them except Enfield, Eliminator have been comfortable.
Throughout our tour of 18, 000 km we have crossed through the bad roads of BIhar, MP and North East India. There has not been even a puncture on the bike. Mechanically the only problems were loosening of the speedometer and rpm meter cables. Apart from that there has been no problems at all.
Power wise this bike leaps like a cheetah, from 40 km per hour to 90 km per hour it will climb in just 4-5 seconds and there have been instances when we overtook Toyota Qualis, Innova and even Honda citys. especially on Ajmer-Jaipur road, Agra-Delhi road etc. On the Kolhapur -Pune road we rode circles around Pulsars and Discovers and those guys couldn't do much but swear and curse us. This goes to talk about the Apache's handling and perky engine.
