[RPRIME95]

LOLA - The name came from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D where the primary character has a red 1962 Chevrolet Corvette (Open top ofcourse) named, you guessed it, LOLA

Introduction - I am a resident of Palghar, a small city about 100Kms away from Mumbai for about 25 years now (entire life!). I was quite the nerd since a young age, dabbling in computers thanks to my father and remembering how the headlights of various cars looked just so I could identify them whenever I saw one. Years went on and I eventually completed my Bachelors in Engineering in Electronics and Communication despite my best efforts to get into Mechanical

The Journey - It all started in my first year of Engineering, when my father got me a Bajaj Discover 100T for my daily commute. I learnt to ride on my new bike (not advisable) as I navigated my way through 4 years of college. By the end, our dear Bajaj Auto had already partnered up with KTM to bring thier exciting machines to India. Naturally I was hooked. After college, came the corporate world. I was lucky enough to get a campus recruitment and hence began the job life. As with any teenager looking to splurge his new income, I too decided that I would gift myself a new bike.

The Slog - So 3 years passed since that decision was taken and i was still riding my trusty Discover to and from work. Boy did I change my preferences. All the bikes considered -

1. Suzuki Gixxer SF 155 (2018) - I always had a thing for faired motorcycles, and this being the cheapest but best option, my mind was made

2. Bajaj Pulsar RS200 (2019) - Due to some unexpected expenses, I postponed. By that time I has saved enough to look upward. And no choice made more sense than the RS200. Until......

3. Bajaj Dominar 400 UG (2019) - When the updated Dominar launched, well nothing came close. It had everything I wanted, except the fairing, obviously. My heart was set and I almost made the booking. But a house swap (I was living on rent in Navi Mumbai) meant that half of my savings vanished overnight and the plan was dropped

The Redemption - Circa December 2019, rumblings and spy shots of the BS6 RR310 started to surface. While not on my shortlist, I always liked how the RR looked but the tremendous amount of complaints and frankly the high price meant that it was never considered. Finally having saved enough I went to book my Dominar only to find the price now north of Rs. 2.40L onroad. Now this got me thinking, should I spend this much now or wait and see how the BS6 transition plays out ? Glad I decided to wait

In January 2020, TVS launches thier RR310 in BS6 avatar complete with a host of upgrades such as connnected cluster, ride by wire etc at a mere Rs. 2.40L ex showroom. Now compared to the Dominar, this was a huge upgrade for not that much more price.

February came and went by, still no test bikes. Having waited enough, I decided to atleast test drive the BS4 model to see how it felt like. And well, by the end, I was smitten. Since the engine was not going to receive a drastic overhaul, I was confident that this was more or less what I would get in the BS6. Inspite of the on-road price being Rs. 3.1L, I was fully comitted to get the RR310



The two tone black looked very nice but my heart was set on the Racing Red colour. I just wish TVS had done a different livery for the BS6 version
Then came the pandemic and all hopes of me getting the RR310 before the rains were gone.

The Purchase - After the unlock started, I had absolutely no plans to buy the bike in Rainy season. But that all changed during a visit to Vasai on 27th July 2020. I was there to pick up some stuff for my father and since I had some time to kill, I decided to go check out the BS6 RR310 at Magnus Motorcycles in Vasai

The upgrades were just cherry on the top of any already awesome bike. With a heavy heart, I enquired about the price. And boy was I surprised. The salesman there, Mr. Sakib, quoted me Rs. 2.86L onroad for the BS6 model. This was just before TVS announced a price hike of Rs 5000. I immediately booked the bike then and there by paying a booking amount of Rs 5000. Sadly though, I was given a waiting period of almost 2 months with a reason stating, 'Since unlock has just begun and Black colour is in much more demand so they are getting prioritised over Red bikes'. I did not understand that a bit since only the body panels were different and no special manufacturing had to be done for the Red bikes. But I waited paitently as my savings were maturing sometime around the delivery timeline and there was no hurry. In fact, I preferred a late delivery since I dont like to use my bike during rainy season.

Now up until this point I have not test driven the BS6 bike yet (not advisable) as no TD bikes were available. TVS needs to do more here.

The Upsell - Shortly after I booked the bike, the dealership called me up and asked if I wanted a Red BS4 bike they had lying around. Despite my best efforts to say 'No', they kept trying to convince me to buy it since Red BS6 was a 'long time' away. More on that later.

Almost 2 weeks went by and I again get a call from them saying that Red is delayed indefinitely due to production concerns surrounding Chinese imports and they had a Black BS6 in stock ready for delivery within 4 days. I distinctly remember them asking me 5 times to choose the Black. But the heart wants what it wants, right ?

The Twist - Around 20th August, I get a call from Mr. Sakib saying that they have secured an allocation of 4 Racing Red bikes and my bike is one of them. Needless to say, I was ecstatic but also in disbelief How did they get 4 bikes when the Red one was indefinitely delayed just a week back ? I guess we will never know.

Around 4 days later, Mr. Sakib sent me the very first photos of my bike from the godown.



Oh that Red looks so good!

The very next day I completed the payment and submitted all the required documents for registration and insurance. Now it was time to patiently wait for the delivery.

To be continued......

[RPRIME95]

The Delivery - Finally the day came. 2nd September 2020. Over 3 years in the making. My new bike was about to come home.
We set out for Vasai early in the morning as my father had some business to take care of first. We reached the showroom at around 12pm. Collected all the documents and riding gear along with parking cover. Then we set off to Virar to actually collect the bike as my registration number had not been alloted yet. So I had to collect the bike from Magnus Motorcycle's Virar workshop.

Post lunch we reached there at about 2pm and after completing delivery formalities we had to wait about 10 mins as they were washing the bike. Frankly should have been done by the time we got there as they were informed already. Anyway, they got the bike and parked it up just in front of the showroom. There she was



I fully inspected the bike, looking for any loose parts, rattling noises etc. But in all the excitement, forgot to check the underseat area and later realised that the toolkit was missing (The dealership mailed it to my address later, no worries). Satisfied with the inspection, we snapped the customary photo and collected the complimentary helmet & keychain. Then I did the basic pooja of the bike and we were off, heading back home

After an hour long journey along city roads and highways, Lola is finally here



What a looker she is !!!

[RPRIME95]

Initial Review - I was prepared to be intimidated by the bike as soon as I found some open roads and tried to accelarate. But kudos to TVS for tuning this just right. In normal city conditions, you would be forgiven to think this is a 300cc bike. It rides just as nimble and smoothly as a 150cc commuter. Even highway manners are commendable. The bike never sways from windblast and even heavy crosswinds have very little effect on the stability of the motorcycle.

Overall was very impressed with the power, ride and handling of the bike.

Pros -
1. Smooth engine
2. Seating position
3. Suspension setup
4. Fuel economy (surprising)
5. Build quality
6. Exhaust sound (it purrs sweetly) - Not everyone will agree but I like it

Cons -
1. Engine gets gruff after 4k RPM
2. Vibrations in foot pegs after 4k RPM, handlebars after 5k RPM
3. Extremely twitchy throttle response
4. Clunky transmission - False neutrals are abundantly available
5. Riders seat is not properly designed. Leaves gaps at the top. Water entry possible
6. Single sided grab handle - Come on TVS, you already sell the part. Just have it as standard fitment.

Seat Gap Issue


I had not setup the connected console with my phone, so have not added it here to any list.

One Month review - I covered about 650KM in the first month riding mainly early morning and the weekends. As I started to ride more and got myself familiarized with the bike, found a lot of quirky details. The first and most noticeable was the cold starts every morning. It never starts in the first crank if the engine is cold. 2-3 cranks minimum. The only saving grace is that it happens automatically. Ride for a bit and then try and start, first crank works like a charm.

Engine - Torque is spread evenly across the range and it never feels as if you need to rev the engine to get moving. A slight twist of the throttle is all it takes. But it is very gruff. And as I realized later, the more you use the rev range, the better it gets down below. For example, i used to ride upto 5k RPM only since the bike was new. During a spirited ride, I went upto 6.5K RPM and upon slowing down, realized that the roughness I felt leading upto 5k RPM was now gone. So the next day I went upto the 7k RPM limit (run in period) and the bike was even smoother below 6k RPM. So I set a precedent to use the available rev range, if the road conditions allow it just so I could run in the engine better. A critical point to note here is the fuel used. Initially I did not give it much thought as all fuel stations had upgraded to BS6 fuel. But one time, my preferred station did not have regular fuel, so filled some 'Speed' fuel. It is rated at 91 or 93 octane rather than 89 for normal fuel. For about 2-3 days, i did not feel any change but that was mostly due to me having some old fuel left over in the tank. On the 4th day, as I started my ride, boy it got smoother. The bike went from a being gruffy to gentle smooth. And it kept improving as I continued to fill high octane fuel.

Instrument Console - I strongly believe that this is the most advanced system ever designed and executed by an Indian manufacturer till date. If the older console was a revolution in terms of information offered, this is the evolution of that system to the next level. There is no additional information over and above the old console but the difference is the way it is presented and how accessible it is to the user. The navigation buttons along with the TFT display just enhances the experience altogether. But the real power of this system lies in the TVS Connect App. The sheer amount of data you can pull from each and every ride is something which is not seen in bikes several segments above. Here are some screenshots from the app -

Ride details


Detailed Information


Gear usage and distribution


No system is free of bugs and this one too has some teething issues. For one, the connection is highly unstable unless the TVS connect app is allowed to run in the background all the time. Even when it is allowed, sometimes the bike simply drops the connection altogether. Secondly, the navigation is good but has two major problems, first is the spotty connection and the other is the terrible maps offered by MapMyIndia. TVS should have used Google Maps since MapMyIndia is very inadequate.

Headlights - The weakest link in the chain. Now I know not everyone will agree but I feel the headlight performance in usual conditions is woefully inadequate. The performance in the rains is well, disturbingly bad
Following are my main grudges -
1. The beam spread is good enough for two lanes at best. You have no visibility outside of your field of vision.
2. Low beam is useless once you cross 45-50kmph. I almost ran into a stationary cow in the middle of the road. Thank god for the brakes.
3. The headlight alignment from the factory is rather bizarre. Low beam is too low and the high beam is just for pissing off oncoming drivers. It has no use during riding. It only points to the oncoming lane and hence even with them turned on, the visibility stays the same as with just Low beam
4. The focus point of the headlight is very very short. Beyond that point the beam just disperses so rapidly that it becomes unusable.

Here are some photos of low beam shots at night (taken after adjustment post first service, sorry was not able to take before shots during rains)

Low beam at night on road


Low beam at night on a wall


Focus issue on high beams

[RPRIME95]

First Service - Having completed 1134KM at the end of two months, it was time for the first service. I took the bike to Magnus Motorcycle's workshop in Vasai for the service. In the month leading up to this, I had managed to secure a double sided grab handle for Lola from a TVS service center elsewhere. The workshop inspected the part and agreed to fit it for a charge of Rs.300 which I am not at all happy about. I could possibly understand the cost had it been a special part requiring a lot of manpower, but for a 10 minute swap, this is too much. Other puzzling costs were chain lubrication and consumables, costing Rs.400 and Rs.250 respectively. This is just plain ridiculous. Moreover, I asked other guys who were there for servicing and apparently this is standard practice.
Lack of authorized service centers is compounding this problem since the next nearest one is an extra hour and half away.

So total damage done was Rs.3364. Breakup as follows -
1. Engine Oil (TVS Tru4 FS 1.7L) - Rs.1800
2. Oil Filter (TVS) - Rs. 254
3. Chain Lubrication - Rs.400
4. Consumables - Rs.250
5. Fitting charges for Grab handle - Rs. 300
Plus GST

It was not like I did not know the ownership costs going in, but this is astronomical even for a 300cc class bike !

Couple of days after first service



Fuel economy very nice for spirited riding



Problems faced - Headlight alignment, Scratching noise from front disc (dust lodged in/on pads), Photo sensor quite slow to detect changes in light intensity (takes around 3-4 minutes to change from Light to Dark mode)


Overall Review -

The Basics

Dealer - Magnus Motorcycles, Vasai (W)
Ex-Showroom Price - Rs.2,40,000
On-road Price - Rs.2,86,000
Accessories - Parking cover
Freebies - Helmet
Usage - 600KM/Month, Mixed between City and Highway

The Smiles

1. The best motorcycle produced by any Indian manufacturer till date. Absolutely the best looking bike in the segment.
2. Instrument console is better than bikes several segments above
3. Seating comfort and riding position
4. Ride and handling balance
5. Gem of an engine - Performance available across the RPM range
6. Heat management is awesome
7. GTT+ (Glide through traffic) is the best thing that has ever been equipped on a vehicle anywhere in the world

The Frowns

1. Build quality and quality control still not upto the mark
2. Bi-LED Headlamps quite disappointing
3. Connected system is still glitchy, not expected from someone as good as TVS
4. Vibrations still not under control. Mirrors are useless past 110kmph.
5. Smaller fuel tank than it appears to be. Only 11L. Reduces range quite a lot.
6. Wind protection not suitable for tall riders

The Nitty Gritties

Engine - The RR310 runs a 313cc Single cylinder DOHC Reverse Inclined motor with Fuel Injection and Ride by wire system. What does all this mean ? Basically it means that you have a lot of power available everywhere in the rev range, but not intimidating. Overall NVH levels could be better but TVS has found a balance here. The best feature is the riding modes. Now what I have observed is that, TVS has smartly capped the max power by simply rev limiting the engine. No engine maps have been changed here (as far as I know). Urban & Rain modes have a rev limit of 9k RPM whereas Sport and Race modes can rev freely upto the 11k RPM limit. How do I know this ? Having used the bike, there is no power difference in any mode in lower RPM band. The bike behaves just the same (Except GTT) and you only get that remaining power once you cross 6k RPM.

Chassis & Suspension - The RR310 has a split Trellis frame with a separate tail piece. In conjunction with the reverse inclined engine, it gives the bike a very balanced center of gravity along with a long swingarm that improves stability at all speeds. The suspension is provided by KYB (Kayaba) on both ends, with a non-adjustable upside down fork at the front and a 7 step adjustable monoshock at the rear. The setup is firm but not hard and provides a comfortable ride even over mild bumps without affecting handling prowess in any way.

Gearbox - One word. Clunky. Although it feels good in the higher gears, the first and second are just clink-clank. Plenty chances of false neutrals. The slipper clutch is well, very very surprising. It does not seem to work very well. Only the clutch action feels light. Rest functions do not appear to work at all moments.

Brakes - The RR310 comes with a 300mm front disc and a 240mm rear disc. They both provide good stopping power for the weight of the bike, however, the initial bite could have been better.

Build quality - This is one area where I am disappointed with TVS. As FURY_44 reported, the squeaky panels are still there and I have confirmed this with other BS6 owners as well. But in many areas, quality control seems to have been forgotten.
Cases are as follows :
1. Washers missing from key areas like body panels, windshield and front tyre fender
2. Screws missing from rear tyre hugger cum saree guard
3. Gaps between rider seat and body panels
4. Radiator is fully exposed to dust, rocks and other potential hazards
5. Heat management is fine but the exhaust pipe is un-shielded just as it exits the engine. So if you are in traffic wearing shorts and crossbreeze comes along, your calves are going to feel all the 33BHP of that engine
6. Mirrors start vibrating past 100kmph. Starts with blurry number plates and goes upto blurry cars as the speeds climb
7. The rear brake pedal has some free play. Now it is not an issue in and of itself, but coupled with a vibey engine and feather sensitive brake light switch, it turns out that just resting the top of your foot on it can cause the rear lights to come alive and stay like that all the time. The brakes do not engage thankfully, so that is a saving grace.

Tyres - The Michelin Road 5 tyres are simply awesome. I took a corner on the highway at around 110kmph and I still felt the tyres had more to give. Overall very impressive and are the perfect choice for this bike.

Conclusion - After almost 3 months of ownership now, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, the performance of the bike, feature set and just drop dead gorgeous looks are just things that you will never get tired of and be continually impressed by them. On the other hand, build quality of panels, NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) levels and headlight illumination are some sore points which are hard to ignore. The biggest chink in the RR310's armor is the absolute lack of quality control. If not for that, the other issues come down mainly to fine-tuning and customer preferences. To me, this means that such a fantastic product is let down by little gremlins that can be easily avoided with minor efforts on TVS's part.

The fact that TVS has failed to learn from their initial launch issues is just dis-heartening to witness. To their credit, they do fix each and every problem but it should not have to continue that way.

Nevertheless, it has been a wonderful and trouble-free experience for the last 3 months and 1400KMs, looking forward to many many more years of adventure with Lola
Special Thanks to Pawan Bhai (Magnus TVS) for being patient with me and solving basically all of my solvable problems in the first service itself.

One of my favorite photos:



P.S. - Special thanks to FURY_44 for the inspiration and quite honestly the framework to write an ownership review. Wish you many many happy miles on FURY

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[nitinkbhaskar]

Wow.
Finally the review is out !!
Lola looks just amazing. Though I had my heart set on black but red has altogether different charm.

The smiles and frowns have succinctly captured the major points.

I am just surprised at the build quality points. Was not expecting this from the 2nd major iteration of the flagship product from TVS. Anyways, those are something which can be tended to and sorted with help of FNG and a good mech. The main point is that this is a great machine and with that well spread-out engine, I am sure that you are going to have fun for long time to come

[RPRIME95]

Originally Posted by nitinkbhaskar

Wow.
Finally the review is out !!
Lola looks just amazing. Though I had my heart set on black but red has altogether different charm.

The smiles and frowns have succinctly captured the major points.

I am just surprised at the build quality points. Was not expecting this from the 2nd major iteration of the flagship product from TVS. Anyways, those are something which can be tended to and sorted with help of FNG and a good mech. The main point is that this is a great machine and with that well spread-out engine, I am sure that you are going to have fun for long time to come

Thanks for the very first comment ! I always wondered what will you say about the review

Regarding the build quality issues, I too was most surprised. But the reality is, you only notice these things living with the bike. Many do not notice this during a test ride, since we are primarily concerned with how the bike feels to ride. Very few actually pull out thier thinking caps and magnifying glasses to inspect the bike fully

I am going to post some remedies for some issues which I have planned already. After I am sure it works, I will post the solution here.

[ast.ggn]

Congratulations for the bike and excellent review.

That's quite a bit of information they have packed in that console, wow. A bit overboard in my opinion but still that is lot of analytical data.

Service charges are high definitely, Rs. 400-500 for chain lubrication is superbike category. Drop a mail to TVS and see what they say.

[FURY_44]

Great review RPRIME95, your review is the first one for the BS6 RR310 on TBHP.

I am really disappointed with TVS's effort here, whatever cons you have mentioned is almost close to or similar to my bike which will be 3 years old Feb 2021, what did they improve in the BS6 bike then?. A fancy TFT, ride by wire and an app so that you don't concentrate much on the bike.

You are spot on about the quality issues, no one will notice it unless they live with the bike. Press the tank and you hear a creak, press the tail you hear a creak, move around the rider's seat you hear a creak.

Wish you had chose the Titanium Black instead of the Red though, happy riding, sorry for the rant, I have just given up.

[AtheK]

Congratulations mate, the RR still. Looks as beautiful as it did when I got it few years back, indeed it is the best bike in its segment.

Disappointed that even after so many feedbacks we gave about the bike to TVS some issues ares till not sorted. Hopefully it does not hinder your experience too much.

Wish you many more years of safe riding on Lola.

[ameyfire]

Congratulations! That bike is quite a looker no doubt. Lola is a very cute name too. Your review is quite comprehensive and will serve as a guiding tool for prospective RR310 buyers. Good job mate!

On a side note, having owned the outgoing BS4 model, I can totally relate to the issues you've mentioned. But I'm used to them now and they're quite livable.
One issue about the bike that I was really upset about was that it used to stall suddenly while riding, especially while disengaging the clutch. Thankfully, during my latest service TVS pinpointed the issue to ECU; updated it and it's rectified.

This bike will fetch you a lot of attention from strangers on road, especially little kids. Get ready to bask in it! Safe riding!

[Naparajito]

Let me clarify a few things :

Problems faced - Headlight alignment : Is this a problem?

Photo sensor quite slow to detect changes in light intensity (takes around 3-4 minutes to change from Light to Dark mode) : Again, is this an issue? More like how it was designed to be.

1. Washers missing from key areas like body panels, windshield and front tyre fender : Why do you require washers? Any specific reason?

2. Screws missing from rear tyre hugger cum saree guard : Pics?

3. Gaps between rider seat and body panels : It is by design. Else paint would be damaged. Check on Yamaha R3, you can stick 2 fingers inside.

4. Radiator is fully exposed to dust, rocks and other potential hazards : I guess nobody gives you a radiator guard, moreover this is not an ADV.

5. Heat management is fine but the exhaust pipe is un-shielded just as it exits the engine. So if you are in traffic wearing shorts and crossbreeze comes along, your calves are going to feel all the 33BHP of that engine :

6. Mirrors start vibrating past 100kmph. Starts with blurry number plates and goes upto blurry cars as the speeds climb : OK.

7. The rear brake pedal has some free play. Now it is not an issue in and of itself, but coupled with a vibey engine and feather sensitive brake light switch, it turns out that just resting the top of your foot on it can cause the rear lights to come alive and stay like that all the time. The brakes do not engage thankfully, so that is a saving grace : There always freeplay on every single bike. This is not drum brake, this is a disc.

[mak.prasada]

Congratulations on Lola! I have been an admirer of the 310 for a time now and it seems like a fun alternative in a Bajaj-KTM dominated space. Wish TVS would focus on QC and advertise it properly.
Lots of happy motoring ahead!

[Stribog]

The Harrier in cars and the RR310 in bikes tell us that Indian companies too can come up with stunning, timeless, head turning designs.

Lovely review.

Do you plan on doing something with the headlights? The throw seems horrible from your pics.

[refaircargo]

Congratulations for the excellent precis. One small issue came to my mind, maybe out of ignorance. How much of this bike is Made in India and how much in R.O.C. ..? TVS is probably importing a CBU and labelling it with just the commercial profit in mind. Hence the detailed attention to minor QC glitches is missing from the "factory". Best of luck for a safe and economical drive.