Jan 29, 2009 02:04 AM
5098 Views
Below review is my experience of TVS Apache RTR 160 on features I have rated and is not influenced by any other review or advises from other persons:-
Fuel Comsumption:-
I am getting mileage of 40-45 kmpl after 3500 kms in Pune City. I was advised 50-55 kmpl.
Comfort:-
I am 6 ft tall. This is my first bike which I had bought and after buying TVS RTR 160 I mostly drove this bike and ocassionaly pulsar 150 and 200(my friend's bike). After using for last 6 months I m now experiencing back pain. I am not sure either it is because of bike seating posture(TVS RTR 160) wherein I need to bend forward or it is because of bumpy roads of Pune. But I am sure of one thing that seating is more comfortable in Pulsar 150.
Pillion seat is not very comfortable.
I felt pressure on my wrists and arms within initial 2-3 weeks of riding and not after 3 weeks of riding.
I had drove over 180 kms(Mumbai - Pune old highway road including mumbai city and pune city drive length) stretch twice once with pillion rider and once alone with two breaks of approx 10 mins each. With pillion rider it was not very comfortable for seating. Without pillion rider it was a pleasure to ride for gud stretch of kms(forward seating posture didn't caused any problem for this longdrive).
Reliabilty:-
Till now I didn't had any problem with my TVS RTR 160 bike. Maybe I would be able to comment on this part after few more months of riding.
Handling and Control:-
Bike is ok in handling and control. Gears are bit sticky, frustating at times. Rear drum brakes causes this bike to skid in case sudden brakes are applied. My friends suggested that this is case with all rear drum brakes bike(i never drove any other bike with rear drum brakes so not sure about other bikes). Pickup is good but while driving in city I have noticed pickup of pulsar 150 is better than this bike.
On my longdrive for over 180 kms(Mumbai - Pune old highway road including mumbai city and pune city drive length) as mentioned above, I was able to attain 96 km/hr with pillion rider(the fastest I drove for first time) with some amount of vibrations(around 85 km/hr without vibrations) and without pillion rider I could attain 108 km/hr with some amount of vibrations. But once I reached 105 km / hr it was very very very difficult to race further untill I was on straight road for sometime when I could see bike speedometer going above 105 km/hr to 108 km/hr(i did't had chance to ride bike over a long stretch of straight road and but still I feel it will be difficult to race this bike above 110 km/hr). One more thing I would like to specify is while driving on above longdrive, I could experince that bike starts shaking based on strength of wind blowing sometimes at 75 km/hr or sometimes at 95 km/hr.
Looks:-
Looks are very good but I think for person with my height this bike seems to be bit smaller while riding. Else looks are very impressive for person with height of around 5 ft to 5ft 5 inches.
Overall:-
I don't think this bike fits into racing bike style category. For guys around 5 ft heightr this would be a good buy if looking for decent bike and doesn't wants to have common bike( this is only with reference to pulsar since it is very very common maybe because of its performance) but yes not recommended as a racing bike.
