Not up to my expectations. Review on TVS Star City

I bought a Star city cvti ES version on July 2009 from Mahalaksmi Motors, Chennai . I am not a rash driver but well experienced. I choose star city for its good looks, its mileage and for the TVS brand.

But from the day one, I am facing many problems because of this bike. But it has many Pros also. First I will list down the pros of the bike(and in brackets again its cons).

1. Mileage - Simply fantastic. Once I achieved 92 Kmpl. That is the top mileage. In average, I am getting 65+ mileage.(But mileage is fluctuating heavily. Once 92 Kmpl, once 45kmpl, once 60kmpl. I do no what is the reason for this fluctuation)

   
   




2. Design - The design of the vehicle is superb. It is huge and gives a feel of a 125 cc bike. The petrol tank is massive and holds 16litres of petrol which even many 150cc don't.(But there is no proper knee rest in the tank. Knee position while riding is not that much comfortable).

   
   




3. Comfort - The bike is even comfortable for tall riders like me(6.0 ft). The pillion rider also feels comfort in long rides.(The seat might have been little broader.)

   
   




4. Shocks - The shocks do their job good and it works good in bumpy roads. I have changed the front suspension spring with a heavy duty one for better performance. (The front suspension spring provided by TVS is not good. There was always a sound from the front shocks. When I asked about this to service centre guys, again no response. So I spent 200 rs and replaced the ordinary spring with the Heavy duty spring. Rear shocks also is not working as good as it worked before after 8 months. Waiting for replacing it).

   
   




5. Headlight - The beam quality is very good and we can easliy ride in night without street lamps. The switches are also neatly placed and it can be easily operated.(The beam quality depends on the engine RPM. Low Rpm, low beam; High Rpm, high beam).

   
   

I have listed the problems that I have faced and still facing because of this machine.

1)  While driving it the bike switched off some times when I applied breaks by holding clutch(when fully releasing the throttle). I thought this problem occurs because its a new bike. But to my dismay, the problem continued even after 3 months. But no response from the dealer. I could not forgot many incidents that occured due to that. Once in the busy chennai road, I just applied breaks by holding clutch. My bike turned off and a MTC bus is approaching behind. Thank god due to the heavy traffic, the speed was around 20 Kmph. The driver applied sudden breaks and scolded me in some good words. Then I took it again to the service centre. No response. I shouted at them and mailed to TVS and after that I got that problem solved. They told me that the problem is due to the air filter and the Carb. So they just cleaned it(But not replaced). Now this problem is temporarily solved. And now my vehicle switches off very rarely.

2) I could not turn my Handbar fully to its right. It turns fully to its left, but it does not turns fully to its right. I also attached a picture of it for reference. See the gap between the handbar and the tank when it is turned to its right and the left. When I asked about this to a service centre guy, this response was given. "We generally turn our vehicle more to the left side than the right side. So it is designed in that way. This is common in all star city bikes". I do no whether its true. Star city owners, please check your bike and reply me.

3) Facing heavy vibrations problems and engine sound. The engine sound is not smooth. I am getting some noise from the engine which the service centre guys said as tapping noise. They could not rectify it. I could feel heavy vibrations at a speed or 60 Kmph. And the pick up was very low that I will be the last vehicle(even after TVS XL) in a signal. I took it again to service centre but no response. I spent 3000 rs for rectifying it from my mechanic(during warranty period itself). He rebored the engine, checked the valves and replaced the timing chain. Now I could reach 70 Kmph in ease with some very minor vibrations. There is also some vibrations near the battery holder if I switch on the lights. Again no response from TVS dealers. I asked my mechanic to rectify it. He said that the problem is due to the coil and has to replace it. It costs around 1000 Rs. Till waiting for changing it.

4) Gear shift is not smooth and some knocking sound occurs while downshifting gears. While in cold start, the vehicles jumps and switches off when we put the 1st gear(as if the clutch is not being used). Many star city owners reported the same problem to me and the service centre guys could not rectify it yet.

5) Braking is not effective. Brakes should be applied very carefully and in wet roads it skids off easily. I always apply brakes with extreme caution but by friends who rode my vehicle reported skidding and 2 of them even fell off and contributed some scratches to my vehicle.

For each problem, the service centre guys are not responding properly and each time I have to register a complaint in TVS website and they will call the dealer and in turn both of them calls me and then I have to take the vehicle to the service centre for repair. TVS is not kind to its customers. Service is not good as I expected. Being rode my friend's TVS Victor for past 7 years, I expected the same thing from TVS Star city. But great disappointment. Star city is nothing when compared to Victor. A huge disappointment for me by purchasing star city. Nearly spent around 10000 rs for its repair in warranty period itself. TVS should take more care in service than just selling the bikes.

UPDATE: Sold the bike after riding just 3000 kms. I cannot bear with it any more. Sold it just for 27000 after using it for 8 months. No resale value also. A guy sold his 1 year passion plus along with me for 35000. My god. I could not believe that Honda and hero Honda have such a resale value.