Test Ride of flame and its comparison in 125 cc. Review on TVS Flame

Dear Readers, I did a long test ride of 220 to 250 kms(Pune to Shivtharghal a place near Mahad via Varandha Ghat where 30 kms there is no village nearby) on 125-150 cc bikes including a flame 7000 kms done.The bikes were HH Glamor, Yamaha Gladiator, XCD 125, Flame, Fiero FX and Pulsar 150 and my Victor GLX.Everybody drive one bike for 40 kms each and would give his comments.But I will highlight features of 125 cc bikes currently in production and in market in this articleAnd also I did small test ride in Congested city traffic conditions in Pune during evening and peak hoursHere are some features

City Riding Conditions:XCD 125 and Glamor prooved better in city riding conditions because of their torque.They can be ridden at 15-17 km/hr in 4th gear with pillon rider and yet they can accelerate very quickly from that speed of 15 at 4th gear without scribbling noise from engine.Flame managed to be driven around 20-23 km/hr in 4th gear smoothly.Same with Gladiator.But Gladiator has advantage of its fifth gear on highways.

Pickup:XCD, Glamor, Flame all managed 0-60 around 7-8 seconds But Gladiator is better in this terms Gladiator comfortably races to 60.Flame is next to Gladiator in terms of pickup because of its 10.5 bhp power.

Smoothness and free rev of engine:Glamor and Gladiator are well ahead here.Their engine seems to be more refined.Flame and XCD are also smooth but at speeds above 60, their firing became rough.Gladiator had no vibrations till 90 kmph speed on highway and reached 100Glamor reaches 0-60 quickly but struggled to reach around 90.Same with XCD but this things are quite normal because these bikes are made for comfortable cruising in congested cities hence their top speed is somewhat less.If you gain something, you have to loose somethingFlame managed to reach till 95 max.Here this bike needs 5th gear because it started vibrating after 60.

Mileage:Here are some mileage figuresFlame: 58 kmpl(City) 70 kmpl(Highways with speed of 45) 47 kmpl(Speeds between 70-90 kmph)Glamor: 61 kmpl(City) 77kmpl(Highways) 43 kmpl(Speeds upto 80 kmph)Gladiator: 55 kmpl(City) 72 kmpl(Highway) 37-40 kmpl(Speeds between 80 -95 kmph)XCD: 60 kmpl(City) 75 kmpl(Highways) 45 kmpl(Speeds upto 80 kmph)

For City Riding Glamor is best, followed by XCD then Flame.

For Highway and long rides of 150 kms+Ofcourse no doubt, Gladiator is best, followed by flame, next Glamor, XCD

For Riding in hilly areas:The Place called Varandha Ghat near Pune is having 40 kms of hilly areas with up and down slopesHere, I would like to mention that engines of Glamor and XCD behaved like a tired horse.I can say that the new Passion pro and star city 110 cc also surprisingly performs better here inspite of less power than xcd and glamorGladiator and flame had no problems due to the extra power they had.

Headlight beam for night riding on highways:Flame scores in this section because of its dense and good quality beam.Basically all TVS bikes are safe to ride during night on highways.TVS has done superb in their geometry regarding headlight beam focus.The beam quality and focus is most accurate but not the best like Victor GLX.I have driven Victor GLX in this ghat many times during dark nights without any problem.I can see upto 100 meters distance clearly.Glamor has irritating headlight beam.Lower beam is not good and upper beam of glamor is focussed towards sky /straight into eyes of other drivers(Typical Hero- Honda and Honda bike characteristics found in pleasure, CD delux, Honda Shine and Activa/Aviator).XCD light beam is also ok.Gladiator had poor beam not good for night riding.

But considering spare parts availibility, service network our Indian manufacturers like Bajaj, HH and TVS are quite ahead of Yamaha.Remember that out of total market share of two wheelers in India, HH accounts to 50% followed by Bajaj with 27% then TVS with 15% whereas Yamaha is just 2% so spare parts are costly and less available for Gladiator.Only big cities have Yamaha service network

Flame, Glamor are value for money Indian bikes.Flame has little bit upper hand because of price, spare parts availablity, power, consistent mileage like HH products.(My Victor GLX 40000 kms done still gives me 60+ kmpl mileage whereas my Splendor+ after 10000 kms started giving me mileage of 50-55).I am not recommending XCD because after 1 year, Bajaj stops the model, then later on stops spare parts production and after that, the customers have to depend on grey market for spares.So if your bike works well with those spares, then you are lucky and happy with your bike otherwise you are frustrated if things not go right.Instead of XCD, The new Passion Pro and Star City is a good option.

Performance wise Flame is just below Gladiator.If you are a city cruiser, Glamor, New Passion Pro and Star City 110 are preferred.For City and long travel on Highway conditions:Gladiator and Flame is bestHence Flame is good and I recommend to go for it because its performance prooved to be in the range of above average to excellent.