TVS bikes in India (21)

The Honda Unicorn and SP160 you are considering are mechanically near identical, sharing their engines, chassis and quite a few features. Where they differ is in their styling and riding position, so choosing between these two will come down to your personal preference for which bike you and your pillion find more comfortable. 

The TVS Apache RTR 160 2V is a proven machine, but its older engine can't match the smoothness and refinement that most modern peers in the segment will offer you, and we'd instead suggest you look at the 4V version of the Apache for a better experience. You should also consider the Bajaj Pulsar N160, as that is another competent machine in this class and comes with a single-piece seat on some of its variants, which will meet your comfort requirements nicely. 

All of the aforementioned bikes have mostly flat and wide single-piece seats, which should be conducive to rider and pillion comfort, and to make an informed decision, we'd recommend a thorough test ride of each with your frequent pillion.

On the test ride, do a 15‑minute two‑up loop; have your pillion check knee bend, seat comfort, and grab‑rail reach. Also, ride over some speed breakers and rough patches to test suspension comfort thoroughly. 

All three options you have shortlisted are actually very well-rounded EVs and are frontrunners in the electric scooter market in terms of sales, long-term reliability and brand recall. Therefore, picking between them will boil down to personal preferences toward design, comfort, real-world range and features. 

The TVS iQube S and Bajaj Chetak 3501 are undoubtedly more VFM here because they come with larger battery packs, thus, longer distances before you need to charge them. You can easily expect a real-world range of over 100km, even when ridden quite aggressively, which the Ather Rizta 2.9 will not be able to match because it has a smaller battery pack. 

When it comes to boot space, it might seem like all three are evenly matched, but the real-world picture is slightly nuanced. To recap, the iQube S has 32 litres of underseat storage, whereas the Ather Rizta has 34 and the Bajaj Chetak has 35. Now, on paper, it's a negligible difference, but the TVS' boot is much shallower than the Bajaj and Ather scooters. It means you'll have to be smart with how you pack your belongings in it. Plus, an imported ECE-certified helmet will not fit inside the TVS, in case that is a consideration for you. 

When it comes to after-sales experience, all three are largely good to live with, although it will vary depending on where you're located.

Take an exhaustive test ride of all three before you make a decision. All three are straightforward, practical, reliable EVs, so no matter which one you choose, it's likely you'll be happy with it. 

Since you've said that your commute has bad roads, replacing your Jawa 42 with a scooter wouldn't be our recommendation. While they are innately more practical than motorcycles, scooters have their smaller wheels and shorter, thinner suspension units. It won't really enhance your comfort, at least not to a great extent. 

Instead, we would advise you to get a practical 160cc commuter like the Honda Unicorn / SP160, TVS Apache RTR 160 4V or Bajaj Pulsar N160. These are comfortable, fuel-efficient and peppy machines perfectly suited to city use. To make an informed decision before you go ahead with your purchase, ensure to take a test ride of all three to see which one you gel with the best.

If, however, you want to go with a scooter as your next purchase, consider the following options. In the family scooter space, the TVS Jupiter 110 / 125 and Suzuki Access would be our top picks. If you want something sportier feeling and looking yet comfortable enough for daily usage, then the TVS Ntorq 125 & 150 are what you should be looking at. 

Again, a test ride of all of these is imperative before you make your decision. Make sure you intentionally go over bad patches of road and make tight, lock-to-lock U-turns to see if the handlebars foul with your knees, since you are a taller rider.

From a strictly technical standpoint, the higher grade 10W40 oil should theoretically help in hotter climates like ours because it will retain its viscosity at higher temperatures better than 10W30. Thereby being better suited to cooling the TVS Ronin's air/oil-cooled motor. However, this will likely void your warranty if it isn't recommended by TVS. We would advise you to stick to whatever the owner's manual and service advisors recommend, especially if your bike is still inside the warranty period. 

If your manual or service advisor strictly specifies 10W30 only, or you ride mostly in cooler weather, consider switching to a fully synthetic 10W30 oil from a different brand instead to keep cold‑flow performance optimal. 

But before you do all this, we'd first recommend a trip to the service centre to ensure that idle RPM is set as per the manufacturer's recommendation. Also, make sure to clean the engine’s as well as the oil cooler's fins and airflow path. Then, use the bike for a few weeks as you normally would to see if that has solved your problem.  

Since your daily running is quite low, you should look at a petrol scooter - preferably brand new, for the peace of mind and the manufacturer's warranty it will come with. We'd recommend looking at the base variants of the Honda Activa 110, Suzuki Acess and TVS Jupiter 110. All scooters will be friendly for a newer rider because of their low kerb weights and approachable seat heights. 

If, however, your budget doesn't permit you to go for a new scooter, then a pre-owned Activa or Access would be our recommendation. The Activa and Access are some of the most popular scooters available, and finding a good example will be fairly straightforward. 

Because of their popularity and widespread service network, sourcing replacement parts should also be quite easy. 

If you are looking for the best comfort on a petrol scooter, the TVS Jupiter 110 and Suzuki Access are the best options. The Jupiter has 12-inch wheels at both ends, which will also help round off bigger bumps more nicely. It's also got a winged preload adjuster, which will easily help you adjust preload when carrying a passenger and luggage. 

If you are looking for something in the EV space, then you should look at the TVS iQube, Bajaj Chetak, Vida VX2 Plus and Ather Rizta. These scooters have spacious riding positions, comfortable suspension setups and come from reputed manufacturers with widespread and proven service networks. 

Take a test ride of these scooters before you decide. 

In our experience, neither the Yamaha Aerox 155 nor the Hero Xoom 160 have proven to be comfortable, especially over broken roads. Instead of these two, we'd recommend you give a long, hard look at the TVS Ntorq 150. On paper, it might seem like a step down compared to the Yamaha and Hero with its 12-inch wheels and air-cooled engine, but in reality, it is the better product. 

With plush suspension, a spacious underseat storage and peppy performance, the bigger Ntorq makes for a compelling sporty scooter that doesn't sacrifice practicality. In our routine tests, we also found that - when ridden gently - it can be surprisingly fuel efficient. 

Do take a test ride of the Ntorq 150 to see if it resonates with you. 

Since you're looking at just a small upsize in your tyre sizes, you can go ahead and replace the tyres of your Jupiter with 100-section units from the stock 90-section ones. It will help give you more sure-footed handling as well as a slight improvement in ride quality. 

The flip side to this change will be that wider tyres will increase rolling resistance, which is going to have a small but noticeable negative impact on fuel efficiency. 

Another point to bear in mind is that the scooter's steering will feel heavier in general, but especially at slower speeds. 

Between the three bikes you've shortlisted, all three are comfortable for city use, but they all sit at very different price points, and it wouldn't be right to compare the TVS Apache RTR 160 4V with the Honda CB350RS and Triumph Speed 400. If you want a straightforward commuter, then sticking to a machine in the 150-160cc space like the aforementioned Apache, Bajaj Pulsar N160, and Honda Unicorn would make sense. 

These bikes will be lighter and easier to manage within the city (which is where you'll spend most of your life), as well as be fuel-efficient and comfortable. 

If instead you do want to look at something more premium, the Honda and Triumph you have shortlisted are also good options. You should also look at the Royal Enfield Classic / Bullet 350 in this segment. These bikes will be larger and more spacious than the 150/160cc options mentioned above, with better build quality, road presence and pillion comfort. 

However, they will demand a little more effort at slow speeds and will also not be as fuel-efficient as the commuters.