Apache RTR 160-5500 Kms Ownership Review

[abhinav.s]

Apache RTR 160 - Put it on the main stand and watch the left profile of the bike from a distance. You will notice that the bike is so well designed, it resembles a sports bike in all aspects. Just walk around the bike and you will know how much of thought has gone into the R&D of the bike in terms of design. The sculpted tank, the seat and the perfect size of the bike make it all the more special to own.

Agreed that there are lot of opinions about the bike being small or short or suitable only for short people and not for the tall breed. But I am not here to take my RTR to the track for a race against any one. So here I will give you a 5500 Kms ownership review in terms of everyday usage of the bike as an automobile enthusiast.

I got the bike in Aug 2007, A fiery RED RTR160. With regards to the look of the bike, much has been said above so I will not touch that point again.
Started the bike with the ES and the exhaust note was really soothing and pleasure to hear. Off to the temple for the normal rituals of pooja and everything else. Then off I go into the sunset to enjoy my ride.
I ride 50 kms on the same day, roaming the entire traffic choked city of bangalore, well not entire but quite a few places.

I was first having light ache in the small of my back and a pain in the wrists and shoulders.... But 12 kms on the Odo and Viola!!! all pains are gone after a short pitstop of 5 minutes for ek garam chai.
So in theory it means you have to get used to the racer style seating for the first few kms for the pains and aches to vanish.

The first 1000 kms was very boring since there was so much power on the tap but was not able to use it. Kept it below 50 with great great difficulty since the run-in was the most crucial part of the bike.

During the run-in, everything was fine except for the notchy gear-box. The damn thing never used to get into gear with one press. The clutch though is very light and easy to use in traffic. And headlights, my my what a lighting it used to provide in the night. It used to light up my night rides in the city.

Well the first service happened without much fuss at the Tristar showroom in Indiranagar and I had complained about the gear to the supervisor. He said its like that in the beginning and going forward it would be fine. When the bike was ready, I went to collect it. To my surprise, they had it covered with a plastic cover so that dust would not settle on it. They had done all the regular things and in addition to that had done polishing and added Bardhal additive. So the bill came upto 550 with VAT & all. The bike felt smooth to ride and the gear shift was bit better but still used to get some false neutrals.

At 1100 kms on the odo, i opened up the beast in the machine. I opened the throttle on an empty, straight stretch of road. Had an eye on the speedo as well as on the road. It reaches 0-60 kmph quite quickly. The vibrations creep into the handle bar and foot pegs at 75kmph, but once you hit 86-90 kmph, zoooom!! You are in another world. I touched till 93-94kmph and was forced to slow down as i ran out of road. Did not want to hurt the bike as well so left the 3 figure speeds for later on.

Daily commuting with the bike is not a problem for office goers as well. Myth has it that since it only has a toe shifter, formal shoes get spoilt. But the reality is that the toe shifter does not scar or tear your shoes with repeated usage. Also since the bike is small in dimensions, handling the bike in the choked traffic is very easy when compared to the bigger bikes like CBZ-X and Pulsar.

But daily office commute is not what the bike is made for. Its for those insane traffice signal races and to teach the other bully bikers a lesson albeit in a very dignified manner. The bike just rares to go with a slight turn of the throttle. Since the bike is light when compared to others of the like, it has got wonderful pick up and handles very well at high speeds too. You do not fear that you might lose control at any speed.

At 2500 kms, got an oppurtunity to test the limits of the bike again this time on the outer ring road near Kormangala. The bike effortlessly touched 109 but the speedo stuck at 109 though there was still lot of throttle response left. I pushed it further and zoom it went to 115 kmph. At this speed i still felt in total control of the bike and stayed at that speed for nearly 4-5 seconds, but some cyclist decided to cut lanes at that exact moment. This was the real test for the petal disc brakes. I was left with no option but to jam my rear brake first and then the front and downshift at the same time since the cyclist was only about 10 seconds away from impact and there was cow to my right which avoided me from swinging right. Damn did i jam the brakes. The bike fishtailed a little and i lost the rear end. But only for a second and the bike was back in line and was back to 30 kmph within such a short span. The fishtailing was probably due to the TVS rubbers shod on the bike. Well i did not get to test the top end much after that.

There were no issues that i faced with the bike apart from that damn gearbox which i guess is tuned up apache 150 gearbox. No punctures or no replacement of any part. I had removed the rear view mirrors since they dont suit the looks of the bike and are also quite heavy as well. In conclusion, the bike was maintenance free.

The bike was being used at its limit most of the time and now with 3 services done and 5500 kms it was still raring to go. But due to an injury to my left arm, the doc advised me against using geared vehicles. So I had to sell my mini SBK at 5500 kms. Still miss my bike a lot. I am booking a Kinetic Sym Flyte today after reading all the opinions on T-Bhp.

But if you want a bike which is easy handling and FTD, then the RTR is the bike for you. Oh and thing that still did not get sorted was the notchy gearshift which did not get well even after 5000 kms on the Odo. So i think it must be an inherent problem with the Apache.
For the FE minded people, if I ripped my bike I used to get 40 kmpl, but if i was relaxed on it and took care to switch off at traffic signals and all that then I used to get 48kmpl which is amazing for such a powerful bike. I was waiting for the Yamaha R15 but looks like my dream of riding one will be short lived!!

Long ownership review and a first post in the forum apart from the intro, so please excuse me if i have missed out anything. I am happy to answer your queries from my ownership of the bike.

Cia everyone!!
Abhi

[kutlee]

good report. I too went for a test ride with my friend. He drove it and didn't like it. But i liked the revs of the engine and the looks and the size. Lovely bike and like the fit and finish and the paint work. Well what happened to the R15 plan?

[Jaggu]

Nice review, recently a friend also went and picked up one and i had a chance to have a very brief TD and the bike felt really crisp and agile. Yeah he was also in runnin in period and the notchy box was very evident, then again almost all bikes have this problem and things improve lots once you log in more kms.

[extreme_torque]

The apache RTR has a pretty huge speedo error besides the fit anf finish levels have actually gone down from the earlier Fiero days. The value RTR provides for the money is unbeatable... but for me the pick of the 150cc segment is the Hero Honda Hunk.... ridiculous name for a bike though.

[abhinav.s]

@Kutlee: Agree with you regarding the fit and finish and paint work. Well bro, the R15 dream has remained a dream since I am not supposed to ride a geared vehicle for more than a few kms in a week due to an arm injury. So the dream has stayed a dream. Since no one else in my family likes to ride a geared vehicle, thought it better to sell it rather than keep it as a dead investment at home. And thanks for reading thru!

@Jaggu: Thanks for appreciating my review. The bike is truly agile and crisp but one thing that works against it is the notchy box which did not sort itself out until the time I had to sell it. Thats what made me wonder if it was a long time problem. Because the ones on the Apache 150 were also notchy but became smooth after 5k to 6k kms. And a notchy box is a nightmare on our B'lore streets as you might be well aware.

@ExtremeTorque: Hey there ET, I would like to disagree regarding fit and finish but thats my personal opinion though. I had a test ride of the Hunk after I bought the RTR. Somehow that agility and nimble feel was missing in the Hunk. Also the punch was missing. But I must say the gearbox was damn smooth man. Wish it was there on the RTR as well. But the speedo error is something that i definitely agree. Coz even if its showing 115 on the speedo i must have been somewhere around 100-110 during that period of 5 seconds. But still its a feel in itself. My two cents.

Regards
Abhi