[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Is it just me or does anyone else feel the powerdrift review was not as it used to be for other bikes? It felt like it was a TVS promo.

Even I felt same. Powerdrift rode the bike exclusively on track and then commented that it is far more touring friendly than RC. Now that part is pretty obvious since even a wooden log is more touring friendly than RC but is RR310 in the league of Ninja and R3?

I do love powerdrift for that amazing presentation and useful insights but this review felt like jumping to conclusions too soon.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by HighOctane

Did any one called TVS dealer to enquire bookings ?

I just stopped by a TVS dealer on the way to office. He said no specific details on pricing yet, they are still awaiting state pricing, and then need to do the calculations. Suggested a price tag of around 2.65 OTR or there about in Bangalore.

He kept calling it Akula and when i asked him about booking he said to come back and check in January. When asked when is the bike expected to be in showroom, he said please check back in January.

TVS can have a world class product, but how can they fix the sales network. Majority of them are happy selling TVS Jupiter and Star. This will be the next big challenge for TVS.

I will check with some other dealer, but seems like bike is not coming to showrooms till January, even if you are able to book one now, my guess would be, delivery in last week of January or early February.

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

Even I felt same. Powerdrift rode the bike exclusively on track and then commented that it is far more touring friendly than RC. Now that part is pretty obvious since even a wooden log is more touring friendly than RC but is RR310 in the league of Ninja and R3?

I do love powerdrift for that amazing presentation and useful insights but this review felt like jumping to conclusions too soon.

They did say it is more versatile then the R3 and a better overall package.

[swiftnfurious]

I checked with the dealer yesterday and they don't have the bike yet in showroom, nor they are asked to take bookings.

Some reports say the bookings are open from today. I had left my number with them, am in no hurry as I am waiting for the street review.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

I checked with the dealer yesterday and they don't have the bike yet in showroom, nor they are asked to take bookings.

Some reports say the bookings are open from today. I had left my number with them, am in no hurry as I am waiting for the street review.

I have the pricelist from Kawasaki bangalore, so i just did recalculation for a 2.05 lacs ex showroom priced bike, it comes to around 2.55 lacs. So i am guessing the final OTR in bangalore will be between 2.5-2.6 (kawasaki would probably have expensive Insurance)

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

but is RR310 in the league of Ninja and R3?

I do love powerdrift for that amazing presentation and useful insights but this review felt like jumping to conclusions too soon.

I don't think any conclusions were made. I am personally not a huge fan of powerdrift however, they did comment on the lack of feel from the michelins (unlike ex-autocar and current Zigwheels presenter Kartikeya singhee who actually went as far as to say that they performed fairly well on track. Michelin road tyres seriously?), they did say that the bike was too soft to be as quick on the track as the RC and that it generally was far from being the perfect track tool that TVS markets it as. PD even mentioned that the gearbox was notchy from cold start but eventually became smooth instead of singing praise like every other video out there they put it fairly realistically IMO and it was a well done sponsored video if any.

People talk about the 'league of Ninja and R3' what league? They have inferior chassis construction with the lack of either a twin-spar or a trellis frame, all they have is comfort, build quality and refinement due to their parallel twin cylinder engines, and PD never said that the RR310 is more comfortable or refined than them, just that it seemed to strike a more perfect balance between road and track characteristics) In every other foreign market, they are all considered to be in the same league both in terms of pricing and capability. It is only us Indians who see them as truly premium products. Honestly I can understand why we tend to think the R3 and N300 are premium. Even when I drive my 14 year old 1.7 lac km run used and abused wagonr running on mineral oil, after riding my RC390, the refinement just from the fact that it is a 4cyl, makes me think arre vahh! so refinement does add a certain premium feeling but let's be objective, that doesn't place the entire bike in a different league altogether considering all aspects.

At the end of the day facts are facts. The R3 in previous PD video was made out to be far from a good track tool not just by sagar but by apex racing academy instructors as well, the Ninja 300 may have a full fairing but Kawasaki themselves have dropped the 'R' monicker from it indicating that they know it is not as sporty as it might look. Facts about the RR310 are that it does have high clip-ons, it is jointly developed by BMW and TVS, it does perform well on track and due to the linear power delivery and not too comitted ergos, can it not be said that it will probably be great on the road as well? Another fact is that it does have the most aerodynamic fairing in the class. So why can't that put the RR310 in the 'league' of other 300cc champs? Me personally, although I love my RC390 to bits as the only thing I wanted was an outright sport-bike, I do have difficult times with it especially when commuting for long in the city or at slow speeds in the rain, however these hindrances have never made me regret the purchase since I rode the R3 and N300 and found them to be too touring-like. This RR310, though, if I see it in traffic, I will honestly be jealous

I know for a fact from the film industry that PD has major financial backing they need not be inclined to sing absolute praise about every aspect of a product just because a company is sponsoring them, unlike most other automotive journalists, PD doesn't 'need' TVS as much as TVS needs PowerDrift. They even said that a road test would have to be done to come to conclusions. So although it is always good to be wary, let's not jump to conclusions ourselves as PowerDrift themselves hasn't jumped to any conclusions either.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by AtheK

I have the pricelist from Kawasaki bangalore, so i just did recalculation for a 2.05 lacs ex showroom priced bike, it comes to around 2.55 lacs. So i am guessing the final OTR in bangalore will be between 2.5-2.6 (kawasaki would probably have expensive Insurance)

Maybe yes, bangalore having a higher tax slab than Trichy.

I am paying 2.32 ex showroom for RC390, which translates to 2.64 otr (+7k handling charges and accessories).
What is the otr price of rc390 in bangalore? 2.8 lakhs? That makes apache 25k cheaper than the rc390.

[nkrishnap]

A good product out from TVS again, just that they need to ensure that it hits the showroom floors before the market forgets it and deliver with little lead time. Else what is the point in designing and engineering something when you cant sell them.

As far as I am aware of, the Apache 310 will not be sold through all the TVS dealerships. Only a handful will get to sell it and 3 in Bangalore.

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Maybe yes, bangalore having a higher tax slab than Trichy.

I am paying 2.32 ex showroom for RC390, which translates to 2.64 otr (+7k handling charges and accessories).
What is the otr price of rc390 in bangalore? 2.8 lakhs? That makes apache 25k cheaper than the rc390.

Karnataka carries the 18% LTT for bikes prices above 1 Lakh. Straight difference of 12K on the tax. High road taxes and insurance cost are driving it up in Bangalore/Karnataka.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Maybe yes, bangalore having a higher tax slab than Trichy.

I am paying 2.32 ex showroom for RC390, which translates to 2.64 otr (+7k handling charges and accessories).
What is the otr price of rc390 in bangalore? 2.8 lakhs? That makes apache 25k cheaper than the rc390.

Not sure of RC390 price(But i guess it does cross 3 lacs or is thereabout), but the major hit in Karnataka is Road tax, it is already higher as compared to other cities in the country.

On top of it, if you buy a bike above 1 lac, you have to pay 18% road tax instead of 12%

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Not sure of RC390 price(But i guess it does cross 3 lacs or is thereabout), but the major hit in Karnataka is Road tax, it is already higher as compared to other cities in the country.

On top of it, if you buy a bike above 1 lac, you have to pay 18% road tax instead of 12%

Thats bad!

Just checked RC390 price in Bangalore. It is 2.93 lakhs OTR

And yes, with the dealer demanding 7k more for standard accessories and handling charges, it does cross 3 lakhs!

Now the apache is 45k lesser than the RC390.Damn!

[theredliner]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Thats bad!

Just checked RC390 price in Bangalore. It is 2.93 lakhs OTR

And yes, with the dealer demanding 7k more for standard accessories and handling charges, it does cross 3 lakhs!

Now the apache is 45k lesser than the RC390.Damn!

When I bought the RC 390 in 2016, the road tax was 12%. So the OTR was around 2.5L in Karnataka (ESP was around 2.2L). I'm happy that I saved around 10-15k of my money from going to the ultra corrupt govt kitty. I did not buy any accessory at that time. I didn't pay any handling charges either (The dealer had managed to sneak in about Rs.500 worth of charges along with registration which I didn't bother to contest). I suggest you shop around or shoot a mail to KTM that the dealer is charging handling charges and you can get it removed.

Coming to the PowerDrift video, I seriously doubt that the RR can do 0-100 in 6.2s. TVS themselves are claiming 7+ s in their brouchure.
They had put out unbelievable figures for Yamaha FZ25 too IIRC.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by theredliner

Coming to the PowerDrift video, I seriously doubt that the RR can do 0-100 in 6.2s. TVS themselves are claiming 7+ s in their brouchure.
They had put out unbelievable figures for Yamaha FZ25 too IIRC.

Very true!

I guess they went by the speedo indication instead of VBOX readings. Why would a company claim slower figures?!

Their FZ25 figure was a good 1 second lesser than the rest.

[Cartik5477]

Originally Posted by AtheK

He kept calling it Akula and when i asked him about booking he said to come back and check in January. When asked when is the bike expected to be in showroom, he said please check back in January.

I will check with some other dealer, but seems like bike is not coming to showrooms till January, even if you are able to book one now, my guess would be, delivery in last week of January or early February.

I just reached office coming from TVS Shelar Pune(Taware) and booking the bike, I was the first one to do so(they made a big deal about it) and they are expecting all details next week. They're possibly getting bikes in the last week of December with an expected OTR in Pune INR 2.5L tentative. Also, the showroom guy told me that the first lot is expected to be about 10,000 bikes all over India, but one of the friends in TVS Racing tells me to expect the first lot of 250 bikes, to say the least. And yes they all call it Akula.

Reasons that helped me decide:

1) Fit and finish looks top notch
2) Although same BMW engine but they have done all the design in-house
3) Looks fantastic, but that's objective.
4) Loved the tricolor on the visor(which apparently is the 25th or 15th design as per TVS), if Italians can do it so can Indians.
5) Seems that TVS has made a world-class product(but too soon to judge).
6) 35 years racing decals.
7) Wind tunnel testing(not sure if other Indian manufacturers do it).
8) Ram-Air Intake.
9) Attention to details on the bike is IMHO at par with if not better than European bikes.
10) Plus point for heat dissipation tricks and patent pending designs.
11) USD forks

Bad:
1) Too much talk of it being a track tool(the seat isn't as committed at RC390)
2) As mentioned 130Kg max payload
3) Michelin tyres
4) TVS dealers not ready for premium products, one guy asked me if instead of waiting would I like to go for 200.
5) The suspension is on the softer side

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by Cartik5477

I just reached office coming from TVS Shelar Pune(Taware) and booking the bike, I was the first one to do so(they made a big deal about it)

congratulations, regarding the 10,000 bikes, that is the TVS target of sales for the entire year. So the 250 number sounds about right.

How much was the booking amount and is it refundable, in case you don't like the bike after test drive.

[Cartik5477]

Thank you.

Yes, the amount is refundable, showroom asked for INR 5000 for booking amount.

[bhavik.1991]

If KTM launches RC250 & undercuts rr310 by 5-8k, TVS will have hard time selling the bike.