[nkrishnap]

Introducing the TVS NtorQ 125



I was looking for a new scooter as wifey had started to use the Jupiter on regular basis. I needed a scooter as the bike was not serving the purpose of dropping and picking up daughter from school. Increase in trips to nearby shops and errands did not help either, the necessity of a 2nd scooter was increasing. Early February came across the news that the TVS is launching the NTorQ 125 cc scooter. Being familiar with the TVS and the pricing ensured the decision making was easy. However choosing the color was not.

TVS launched this scooter with 4 colors initially (now 6 colors are available). However, white was not available, Red, Green and Yellow were available. Initially was checking with Bharath TVS, then with Prakruti TVS and finally ended up buying it from Solar TVS. I will come to the dealer experience in a separate post.

I have completed a little over 1000 kms as I pen down this review.

Likes

• A fresh design with a few tastefully done design elements
• Matte Color themes
• Exhaust Note unlike any scooter out on sale
• Good torque to move briskly
• Ride is balanced, not too soft nor it is too stiff
• Nimble Handling and good brakes
• Speedometer with host of features
• App based features - a showoff stuff

Dislikes

• Build is iffy and some of the elements are poor
• Fuel tank is not so easy to fill to the brim
• Foot-well a bit narrow
• Average paint quality
• Lack of DC headlights
• Average Switch-gear quality
• Fuel lid opener not integrated in the ignition switch control

[nkrishnap]

The concept was showcased in 2016 and TVS has done a decent job of keeping the design elements into the production version. The scooter looks best from the front 3 quarters and the rear.











Nice looking petal discs, standard on the scooter



Console and Switch gear



The Switch-gear quality is average, the ones of Jupiter are of better quality and has the crisp feel about it.





Nice Classy Touches like CF wrap texture



Fuel lid and Grab Handle - Note the classy red stitching on the seats and CF texture.



Rear Section is designed well with classy elements like an after burner

[nkrishnap]

This scooter gets a new motor with a 3 valve head. The motor generates 6.9 KW (9.3 bhp) @ 7500 rpm of peak power and peak torque of 10.5 NM @ 5500 rpm. This motor has strong low end torque and helps in the start stop city traffic conditions. Even with two on board, it pull away effortlessly. The scooter accelerates to 80 kmph post which the progress is slow. TVS claims 95 kmph as the top speed and it is very much achievable. The motor is smooth with slight vibes at high rpms. Up to 75 odd kmph you would barely notice any vibes. Top speed run is still pending to verify the top speed claim and to check how the motor fares with respect to the vibes. However, all is not ok, the plastic panels do flex quite a bit over bad roads and few creaking sounds do emerge.

What improves the experience is the balanced ride and handling. The suspension set up is soft enough to soak the bumps and potholes, at the same time stiff enough for you to exploit the handling ability. In comparison Jupiter has very plush ride but wallows over bad roads whereas the NtorQ holds composure much better and you can carry much better speeds. On the corners, NtorQ just holds it line. you can point and shoot and the scooter does the needful. With the wider tyres, there is ample feedback to tell you what the tyres are doing.

NtorQ gets a 220mm single piston disc brake at the front and the rear gets a 130 mm drum brake. The combination does a good job of reducing speeds without much drama and the TVS Remora tyres do not lock up and skid that easily. However, the bite/feedback could have been better from the front brakes. The rear brakes are spot on for a drum brake. However, like all TVS vehicles the drum brakes makes noise when the moisture seeps in. This can be fixed by frequent cleaning of the drum brakes.

The fuel efficiency has been around the 35-45 kmpl mark. NtorQ gets auto choke which makes the cold start easy, but at the same time drops the fuel efficiency in case of frequent cold starts. The fuel efficiency varies a little too much if there are too many cold starts and short distance rides. However, get the scooter warmed up nicely and it responds pretty well to the fuel efficiency needs. The guage has 6 bars and this is how it goes with the capacities and equivalent mileage. The reading from top. (Fuel guage is certainly not linear)

1st bar - the first bar disappears around 13 kms (on the trip meter) when there are frequent cold starts, and goes up to 19 kms when there are no cold starts and the engine warms up nicely. The fuel tank takes upto 400 ml to fill back to the brim once the first bar disappears

2nd bar - the second bar disappears around 26/27 kms (on the trip meter) when there are frequent cold starts, and goes up to 36 kms when there are no cold starts and the engine warms up nicely. Fuel tank takes in about 850 ml when the 2nd bar disappears.

3rd bar - the third bar disappears around 68/69 kms (on the trip meter) when there are frequent cold starts, and goes up to 83 kms when there are no cold starts and the engine warms up nicely. Fuel tank takes in about 1.8 litres when the 3rd bar disappears.

4th bar - the fourth bar disappears around 99/100 kms (on the trip meter) when there are frequent cold starts, and goes up to 114 kms when there are no cold starts and the engine warms up nicely. Fuel tank takes in about 2.4 litres when the 4th bar disappears.

5th bar - the fifth bar disappears around 132 kms (on the trip meter) when there are frequent cold starts, and goes up to 149 kms when there are no cold starts and the engine warms up nicely. Fuel tank takes in about 3.3 litres when the 5th bar disappears.

6th bar - the fifth bar disappears around 158 kms (on the trip meter) when there are frequent cold starts, and goes up to 169 kms when there are no cold starts and the engine warms up nicely. Fuel tank takes in about 3.8 litres when the 5th bar disappears.

The reserve is approximately around 1.5 litres until then the fuel guage has no marks lit up and the orange low fuel lights goes bonkers. Filling the tank to the brim is a challenge thanks to the fuel tank design. You need to shake the scooter a wee bit and tilt it to the right to get ride of the air locks/bubbles and fill it to the brim.

A look at the specifications and Capacities.

Specifications





Capacities

[nkrishnap]

Bharath TVS was the first dealership I approached as I regularly buy spares and the first bike (Victor) was bought from them. Their response was pathetic and they did not want to sell the NtroQ and gave suggestions that dont buy this as the mileage is poor. Gave up after a few follow ups and checked with Prakruti TVS, they were no better either. Their response was like book the scooter with 5000 bucks and get lost. We will call you after 30 days to tell you how long you need to wait. Now this was getting a bit frustrating

With my old contacts I figured out that the Solar TVS owner was known to me, however, I was not aware that he was running a TVS dealership. A quick call to him, I dropped in to the Mysore Road branch to book the scooter. Booked the scooter with a promised delivery in 5 days (subject to the green color which was booked initially lands from the factory). However, it turned out that TVS had decided to ship only yellow color with only 2 units of Green colored ones. Both the green colored vehicles had a mild damage thanks to the shipping. However, in these 4 days gap, saw quite a few yellow ones and it actually swung my mind towards yellow. The lack of green colored ones also ensured that I had an option to change the color. The Solar TVS folks obliged and I asked them to invoice the scooter and go ahead with the Delivery process post I checked and selected the scooter. Delivery took about a couple of hours (for PDI and washing the vehicle). Took delivery and headed straight to the temple for the customary pooja and headed home. Daughter liked the yellow color very much and the family too liked it.

TVS has to pull up its socks to ensure they can give a consistent experience across dealerships. Else they should not bother launching any premium products and stick the mopeds and scooters. They have a long long way to go make it a pleasurable experience for the customer.

[nkrishnap]

Service Experience

First service window opens up at 500-750 kms or 2 months from date of sale whichever comes first. The first service was done around the 700 kms and it was simple procedure of setting the idling, cleaning up, torque all nuts n bolts, clean brakes, clean the air filter and change the engine oil & transmission oil.



Brakes cleaned Caliper greased with heat resistant grease (not too common among the two wheeler servicing to use heat resistant grease)





Engine Oil drained and changed to the NtorQ specific oil. To be frank, I could not make out any change between the regular TVS Tru4 Scooter oil and this one in terms of specifications.





The service bill was 446 bucks including taxes and cost of consumables.

2nd Service is scheduled at 2500-3000 kms or 4 months from the date of sale (this service does not involve an oil change)

3rd Service is scheduled at 5000-6000 kms or 8 months from the date of sale. (this service requires an oil change)

4th Service is scheduled at 8500-9000 kms or 12 months from the date of sale. (this service does not require an oil change).

There after every 3000 kms or 3 months whichever comes earlier, with an oil change every 6000 kms.

The service costs should be reasonable. However, with so many panels around (21 separate panels), the repair costs may be higher in case of a crash.

Issues Faced

1. Noise from the Forks/T Stem - There is a bit of noise (creaking noise) when going over the pot holes. Fork bolts and the T stem were tightened and adjusted and the issue has been fixed.

2. High Idle - The scooter had idle set at 3000 rpm from factory which was sapping the fuel efficiency. The idle rpm was set to 1600 rpm and now the issue is fixed.

3. Fuel evaporation Issue - Facing a weird issue about fuel evaporation issue. When you keep the scooter idle for about 48 hours, you will lose about 180 odd ml due to the evaporation. I have checked this by filling the tank to the brim and letting the scooter sit idle and check it after 2 days. this has been done twice and it lost about 180 on first instance and 190 ml on the 2nd instance. I have reported this issue to the dealership and TVS wants to check this. I have not had time to give the vehicle to them to have this rectified.

Other than these, the scooter is running absolutely fine.

[nkrishnap]

The scooter comes with the smart features which they name it as smart connect. It can connect to your Phone via bluetooth and provide the stats, navigation assist, call reject with sms feature, high speed alert. Apart from these, the odo gets the engine oil temperature gauge, fuel gauge, two trip meters, sports mode with last lap, best lap features, top speed gets recorded too. Low fuel indicator and smart connect indicator to provide an indication of an incoming call and sms

A few pics with the available features.













How to switch between different modes



Navigation Assist Features

[nkrishnap]

The cooler fan and rear shock absorber is red in color. Not all colors get this red, some get it and some don't. Dont understand this logic from TVS. Note the 3 Valve sticker on the air-filter cover.





Headlights





Rear View Mirror - Note there is no standard disclaimer of "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear"



Silencer/Muffler neatly designed with a raspy exhaust note



Want to disconnect the odo, disconnect this connector, simple isn't



Storage Compartment - It does not take in a full sized helmet like LS2, AGV or others



Start up



Post moving the vehicle, the fuel waste indicator comes on if you idle the scooter for 20 seconds. Post startup without moving the scooter it starts blinking post 120 seconds.



High Speed Alert



Service Reminder



Flimsy Panels





I will continue to log the details as when the kms pile up on the scooter. Completed 1000 kms mark yesterday.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the 2-wheeled Section. Thanks for sharing!

[sukiwa]

Congrats!
How is readability of console in day & night, is that a backlit display?

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Bharath TVS was the first dealership I approached as I regularly buy spares and the first bike (Victor) was bought from them. Their response was pathetic and they did not want to sell the NtroQ and gave suggestions that dont buy this as the mileage is poor. Gave up after a few follow ups ...

Congrats on the new scooter! Nice review, it was helpful. I am predicting that our family will be in a similar situation as you about a year down the line, needing to have 2 scooters. I was seriously considering the NTorq, but not too sure because that will mean having 2 TVS scooters (want to spread the risk) in the household - we already have a 3-year-old Wego!

Your experience with Bharath TVS was exactly the same as mine. They were pretty fantastic when I bought my first 2-wheeler from them in 1992, but I guess ownership/management has passed on to the next generation, who are behaving like spoiled brats. First, they tried their best to dissuade us from buying the Wego. The only thing that stopped us from walking out (like you did) was an older gentleman who pacified us and took the booking. Post that, we received cold shoulder treatment from the rest of the staff until we took delivery. When we gave frank and honest feedback to TVS, the owner called my wife saying "how dare you give poor feedback".

[ghodlur]

Hi Krishna,

Congrats on the Ntorq.

Can you post some pics on the fuel filling lid opening? Also does the scooter have a utility hook, few pics of the footboard would do?

I find the main headlamp on the scooter body a bit awkard knowing that the throw would not be in the intended direction when turning. Did you have this in mind when buying the scooter?

Happy riding and drive safe.

[adneeraj]

Great review here!!
I believe the bluetooth feature is very useful in today's times. Wish it's offered on many more bikes soon.
Btw, did you check on the Aprilia 125/150? How did you find those in comparison?

[hemanth.anand]

Congratulations nkrishnap!
I must say your daughter picked the best color. This yellow shade in matte looks beautiful especially with the tasteful red touches given by TVS.
I always felt that the tail lamp of the NTorq looks very similar to transformers logo.

Very nice and detailed review too. Thanks for sharing. the GIFs along with the pictures (The opening picture is beautiful) will serve as a good guideline for prospective buyers, especially since there are no TBHP Official reviews of 2 wheelers. Wish you a long and hassle-free ownership with this one!

On another note, Off late I've seen this scooter with a lot of boys who do wheeling and stunts on streets. It's seems like the Dio has been replaced by this and to a certain extent by Aprilia SR 125 and Aprilia SR 150.

[PrideRed]

A nice little Scoot out there. Ntorq has a perfect balance, got great style, good power and balanced ride. Icing on cake is the feature list and price. Grazia in comparison is too bland and feels commuter and the Aprillia is too focused on performance and comes with terrible ride. I remember reading current series of Ntorq comes with LED headlights, is this true?

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

I will continue to log the details as when the kms pile up on the scooter. Completed 1000 kms mark yesterday.

Loved the crisp and concise review!

Is putting the scooter on the main stand as easy as a Wego/Jupiter? That and the external fuel filler will decide how popular this scooter becomes among the ladies

Wish you a million miles of safe and happy riding!

Cheers,
Vikram