[drive_angry]

Some more pics. All credits to xbhp

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

The headlamp design revealed in the above pics suddenly make the whole bike appear like a Daytona clone. Still early days to judge the design though.

But the tail lamps are extremely interesting. Like two opposing shark fins.

[Pratzgh1]

It looks like a modified pulsar 220 Also, TVS has managed to make it look like a much larger motorcycle than it actually is. Would love to see this in its production avatar. If this one comes in all black, it would look amazing with those inverted gold coloured shocks and gold handlebar knobs.

[aravind.anand]

Okay, so after Yamaha, its TVS Motor's turn to up the game. Look at that pillion seat - that looks like it would be placed even higher than the one on the R15 V2.0 !
Come on guys, sports bikes abroad might be nice track tools or entertainment on wheels. Here in India we would have to use that to office, buying groceries, dropping one's sister, giving a lift to an old man and lots of other crazy things. Being a manufacturer from India, I thought TVS would know that.

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

Come on guys, sports bikes abroad might be nice track tools or entertainment on wheels. Here in India we would have to use that to office, buying groceries, dropping one's sister, giving a lift to an old man and lots of other crazy things. Being a manufacturer from India, I thought TVS would know that.

Add pillion carrying cylinder as well to that. .For those needs they offer Apache/Jupiter et al.

I dont think that's the target customer for this one. With this the target audience is/would-be from the R15/RC category IMO.

[Latheesh]

Actually raised pillion seat is a good thing especially in cities like Bangalore. Traffic here is so horrible that, with raised pillion seat he has a better view of traffic situation ahead and can guide the rider to take alternate routes!

[AtheK]

Ya the target customer is definitely not the one who will give some old man a Lift :P

Where in i am not a fan of such high seats, this is a bike i am buying for myself, and it should just put a smile on my face, rest of the world please get your own source of happiness.

BMW G310R would be suitable for the other lot of scenarios you mentioned. I personally think TVS has hit the design spot on, i just hope they don't detune the engine.

[dZired]

NDTV Auto reports that the Apache RTR 310 (production-spec model of the Akula) will likely be launched in India in the month of July this year. TVS hasn't revealed an official launch date yet.

Link to Team-BHP News

[Alfresco]

Why doesn't TVS revive the Shogun name? Better than Akula and you have instant recall of its pedigree.

[AtheK]

Hopefully that is the case, been waiting for quite some time for this bike. Thanks for sharing, as i was about to go book Duke 390 this weekend, i guess since i have waited so long i will wait a few months more.

[Avinash_R]

Originally Posted by Alfresco

Why doesn't TVS revive the Shogun name? Better than Akula and you have instant recall of its pedigree.

Maybe because "Shogun" belongs to Suzuki and not TVS. I am just guessing. TVS though did borrow the "Fiero" brand name.

[//M]

TVS Akula 310 has been spied at a dealer stockyard without any camouflage.

Source: Rushlane

The fully digital IC is completely new, and is not the same unit which is installed on the BMW G310R.

Other features on offer incldue USD front fork, rear monoshock, split seats, larger fuel tank, disc brakes, projector lamps, LED taillgihts, LED side blinkers, LED DRLs, windscreen (white for blue colour bike and black for matte black bike), clip-on handlebars, full fairing, and a fully digital instrument cluster. It is powered by a 313cc, single cylinder, liquid cooled petrol engine develpoed by BMW Motorrad. This engine will offer 34 hp peak power at 9,500 rpm and 28 Nm torque at 7,500 rpm mated to a 6 speed manual transmission.

[IshaanIan]

Must say I can imagine it looks smashing! should finally push TVS up to the top amongst Honda, Bajaj/KTM and Yamaha in terms of brand acceptance, sales and desirability factor.

Kawasaki definitely needs to do something about their Ninja 300 unless they only plan on attracting buyers who are fooled into thinking a parallel twin cylinder N300 is a more "premium" offering.

This bike should definitely shake up the game and offer something to those in the market for a sportbike who want something more powerful than the CBR250 but minus the aggressive supersport ergonomics of a KTM and cannot justify the premium carried by imports like the Ninja300 or R3. Looking forward to seeing more of these on the highways

[Porschefire]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Must say I can imagine it looks smashing! should finally push TVS up to the top amongst Honda, Bajaj/KTM and Yamaha in terms of brand acceptance, sales and desirability factor.

Kawasaki definitely needs to do something about their Ninja 300 unless they only plan on attracting buyers who are fooled into thinking a parallel twin cylinder N300 is a more "premium" offering.

This bike should definitely shake up the game and offer something for those in the market for a sportbike who want something more powerful than the CBR250 but minus the aggressive supersport ergonomics of a KTM and cannot justify the premium carried by imports like the Ninja300 or R3. Looking forward to seeing more of these on the highways

I got a whatsapp forward yesterday with Motoroids claiming that this will not be branded 'Akula' but will be a sobered down Apache RTR 310.

In all honesty, looks will only get you 10-20% of the bookings and the rest is down to the package as a whole. Competing with the Hondas, Yamahas and the KTMs is no small task. They have been dealing with 250-500cc market for donkey's years now and have a fine understanding of the market. For TVS to give a decent fight to these manufactures, it will have to pack quite a punch, which I'm sure it will. But, I've a few points to consider before I proclaim this as a serious alternative to the R3s, N300s and the 390s -

- Where is the RTR200 FI version, TVS? It has been more than a year since the carb version is launched. So much for the lethargic attitude or did you know that there will be a BS3 ban and that is when you can launch the FI version?

- I've only seen images of the G310R and the GS310. There are no confirmed reports anywhere in the net about the exact launch date of either motorcycles.

- It could be a case of getting the TVS Apache RTR 310 first and then launching the G310R as a BMW. But this doesn't make any sense to me.

- Both TVS and BMW do not have any expertise on mass produced 250-500cc motorcycle market that I know of. BMW branding might increase the service cost while TVS branding, well service isn't its repertoire is it?

- Competition is so good that many skilled riders from the supersport/liter class do not mind downgrading to the 250-500cc class. TVS better be aware of this and pack in everything it possibly can.

Due to the above points, I feel that it will be an uphill task for TVS/BMW to even be a competition to the big names. But is it impossible? I certainly do not think so. Going by whatever reviews I've read about the 310R, it seems to well built, practical motorcycle for the mature rider much like how the Dominar is to the new 390.

Should be an interesting launch this!

PS: Have you ever ridden a N300 my friend? Well I've and I also happen to own a 4 year old N250. While the pricing might seem in the beginning, it is only when you spend more time with the bike that you realize why Kawasaki commands a premium. I can say from my experience that it is built fantastically well, rides well, stops well and as a package it just works in almost all the aspects. I couldn't have invested my hard earned INR 3.5L anywhere else. But of course, the A.S.S is a different story altogether.

[Haroon]

From the way BMW & TVS have moved forward on this bike and as per the very early press releases from BMW/TVS after they signed the agreement, looks like the TVS bike would be the bike that would be for Indian market as well as Latin American, African, Asean markets etc as they have an already well established large dealer & after sales support network esp for a bike they want to sell in bigger volumes and compete with KTM, Honda and others.

While the recent news of BMW Motorrad establishing showrooms in India is a positive development, knowing how the BMW Motorrad works, its going to be a big task for these handful of dealerships looking at covering a huge market for volume sales of this 1 or 2 variants of the 310 bike. Infact Bajaj had the ready made convenience of a huge dealer network which also introduced KTM in India, whereas for BMW to look for large turnover (profits), the TVS route may be better. Therefore, the bike can be sold at TVS prices and not premium BMW prices and more importantly, if you know BMW labor costs for service it has some points system thats fixed in the BMW dealer system worldwide for each task and that will work out to a ridiculous amount for the service of the bike. Ofcourse, BMW knows that better and may perhaps have a different system specific for the 310, but these are my thoughts. Lets see how it goes.

On a lighter note, an Indonesian friend of mine who owns 5-6 big Harleys was saying that in Indonesia the general terminology among riders is the regular Harleys are called 'Harleys', while the Street 750 is called the 'Indian Harley' there......so now maybe an 'Indian BMW'