[abhinav.s]

Wow! An update after 4 months.. Really nice!

1 year and 1500 kms.. Slowest 1500 kms ever on a bike i guess

[sammyboy]

Lol, yeah but I cant say that I didnt expect it. I was pretty sure that I would do an average of 20kms per week only so am more or less on track.

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

1 year and 1500 kms.. Slowest 1500 kms ever on a bike i guess

Originally Posted by sammyboy

Lol, yeah but I cant say that I didnt expect it. I was pretty sure that I would do an average of 20kms per week only so am more or less on track.

I'm with you on this bro. I just crossed 30,300kms on my Suzuki Fiero in 9 years. but thats still over 3k kms per year on an average. Join us on our weekend rides and you'll see the odo climbing significantly.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Join us on our weekend rides and you'll see the odo climbing significantly.

At the rate at which you are going on the Ninja, it would probably be where the fiero is in about 2-3 years time

And dragging Sammyboy along might make his RTR touch 5k by the 2nd year

[Abhay]

1,000 -1,500 was quick sammy!

That said our Bajaj Spirit moped has done 4k in 5 years now so you probably will beat it some-where in the future

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Join us on our weekend rides and you'll see the odo climbing significantly.

Yeah man, would love to do that. Will plan for one sometime next month for sure.

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

And dragging Sammyboy along might make his RTR touch 5k by the 2nd year

Originally Posted by Abhay

1,000 -1,500 was quick sammy!

That said our Bajaj Spirit moped has done 4k in 5 years now so you probably will beat it some-where in the future

Hee hee probably the only 2 wheeler in the world which can possibly try to compete with my RTR :P

[Technocrat]

Well that ways, my father's Activa has run for 23xx kms in the last 3.5-4 years, so you are definitely not alone

[amit_purohit20]

I have a RTR180 and would strongly recommend purchasing one. Mileage it gives is upto 45kms/litre if driven below 70kms/hr on highways.I have just completed my visit to Leh,Ladakh and I had zero problems from a improperly,incompletely run-in RTR180. The comfort is very good ie. suspension is quite good. Only problem is that the tyres are having a more round profile so you need to be careful on wet surfaces. Rest Dry road tramac grip is decent not very bad as many people exaggerate. I had driven a TVS Victor for past 7 Years and had virtually no problems with the bike so I again purchased a TVS Apache RTR180 and I am least disappointed.About Vibrations between 4.5k to 5.5k rpm-its not so much fuss as people make it.Once you cross that the bike is again smooth. About the too sporty seating position.Its only a matter of time when you get used to it.I have ridden my bike for more than 14 hours in a day and had no back pain.Even I was too much worried about this point.Braking is excellent and I used it most during my Leh ride on smooth twisties to the maximum-Very confidence inspiring. Weight of the bike is less so gives you that additional advantage of a lighter and more powerful bike.The throttle response upto 80 is mindblowing and beats all the other bikes.On highway she is quite good and very fuel efficient.On corners its-WOW. Only general complaint is that all bikes except Unicorn are bad for roads in Leh due the bent forward position which puts more stress on the wrists on bad roads especially on downhill.(I am talking only about Ladakh roads)

[Technocrat]

Congrats on buying the RTR 180 Amit, its a great bike.

Only problem is that the tyres are having a more round profile so you need to be careful on wet surfaces. Rest Dry road tramac grip is decent not very bad as many people exaggerate.

Its not about the round profile but the hard compound which makes the grip poor. Besides depend on what you call as exaggeration a lot of us speak from our experiences with different bikes in same class, also most of the complaints have been for RTR 160, some of these issues may or may not apply to the 180.

I had driven a TVS Victor for past 7 Years and had virtually no problems with the bike so I again purchased a TVS Apache RTR180 and I am least disappointed.

Of course you wouldn't get disappointed, you have done a good upgrade. Have you ridden other bikes in same/similar price/cc range e.g. ZMA, P220, P200, P180 etc?

About Vibrations between 4.5k to 5.5k rpm-its not so much fuss as people make it.Once you cross that the bike is again smooth.

IIRC that's the range where people would mostly ride in the city traffic & hence they find it annoying.

About the too sporty seating position.Its only a matter of time when you get used to it.I have ridden my bike for more than 14 hours in a day and had no back pain.Even I was too much worried about this point.

Yes once you get used to the posture you dont feel any discomfort

Braking is excellent and I used it most during my Leh ride on smooth twisties to the maximum-Very confidence inspiring. Weight of the bike is less so gives you that additional advantage of a lighter and more powerful bike.The throttle response upto 80 is mindblowing and beats all the other bikes.On highway she is quite good and very fuel efficient.On corners its-WOW.

Yes the braking,handling & power to weight ratio for the RTR 180 is spot on & its great on corners.

Only general complaint is that all bikes except Unicorn are bad for roads in Leh due the bent forward position which puts more stress on the wrists on bad roads especially on downhill.(I am talking only about Ladakh roads)

Yes Unicorn has soft suspension which helps, IIRC even FZ16, p220 & ZMA would be more comfortable than the RTR

[sriramv.iyer]

That's cool update! Glad to see you piling kms in your odo, though in a gradual pace

Best way to do it is to do weekend trips as suggested by many! Sun early morning drives always put a smile in the face (and are best done without pillion - don't tell your wife that I said so!)

[amit_purohit20]

First of all Thanks Technocrat for a great reply (as usual) and I respect your opinion bcoz you have driven both ZMA and RTR180.

Its not about the round profile but the hard compound which makes the grip poor. Besides depend on what you call as exaggeration a lot of us speak from our experiences with different bikes in same class, also most of the complaints have been for RTR 160, some of these issues may or may not apply to the 180.

I totally agree with the rubber compound explanation but if you take the print of a wet RTR180 tyre on road and any other bike tyre having the same width you will note that due to the round profile of the tyre the actual contact patch width while driving straight is quite small as compared to the whole tyre width. I know all motorcycle tyres are made round to add cornering to more or less some extent but just compare and you will know what I want to say.For wet the tyre sucks really it slips a lot.Out of 4 times I passed the Jawahar tunnel I slipped 3 times but luckily I didn't fall.

Of course you wouldn't get disappointed, you have done a good upgrade. Have you ridden other bikes in same/similar price/cc range e.g. ZMA, P220, P200, P180 etc?

While purchasing bike I had kept only two options ZMA or RTR180.Somehow I dont trust Bajaj bikes for reliability so P220 although a potential mean machine was out. ZMA is a good bike with a relaxed engine but nothing great to talk about the Throttle response we get from it.I nearly booked ZMA but at the last moment I again took a test drive of RTR180 and was amazed to see the Throttle response of RTR180 was far better than ZMA.For me the Throttle response upto 80kmph matters most.(I very rarely drive above those speeds).To add to it I didnot like the ZMA fairing-a big pain while parking in Pune(scratches,plastics breaking apart if the bike topples from the side stand).

IIRC that's the range where people would mostly ride in the city traffic & hence they find it annoying.

Engine Vibrates (makes noises and a bit of vibration) like its knocking.I dont feel any vibrations on footpegs or Handle bar.Do you feel the same?Yes I agree with you on the point but I think one can compromise on that point to get a good throttle response. Yes smoothness is the forte of Honda and Apache doesnot come close to it but its not as harsh as my Victors Engine.Infact I like the Apache's exhaust beat.

Yes Unicorn has soft suspension which helps, IIRC even FZ16, p220 & ZMA would be more comfortable than the RTR

I would like to differ on this point. I felt that for a single rider Unicorns suspension is quite hard as compared to RTR180(rear suspension setting was on soft side).Only point I wanted to make is that the Handle position and the foot peg position is great for Victor,Unicorn and GS150.Rest all other bikes we have to bend a bit forward. Any bent forward position puts a lot of straing while coming down an incline on bad roads as you have to grip the handle more harder and at the same time there is weight transfer which puts strain on your wrists. Even karizma has a bent forward position so more or less I feel there would be strain on the wrists.So its all about ergonomics.But yes RTR180 was not meant for bad Leh roads.Its a mean racing machine but I cannot afford two bikes-one for Leh one for Pune city.

[Technocrat]

Amit, sadly I have never ridden an RTR 180 but yes I did own a ZMA, P180 DTsi V1 & an RTR 160.

but if you take the print of a wet RTR180 tyre on road and any other bike tyre having the same width you will note that due to the round profile of the tyre the actual contact patch width while driving straight is quite small as compared to the whole tyre width.

Oh I get it what you mean, it has lesser contact patch than other tires of same profile. Yeah that too could be a reason for relatively poor grip

To add to it I didnot like the ZMA fairing-a big pain while parking in Pune(scratches,plastics breaking apart if the bike topples from the side stand).

You would be surprised to know that the fairing of ZMA is quite strong & it will take a lot more than a fall or minor crash to break it.

Engine Vibrates (makes noises and a bit of vibration) like its knocking.

I think you are referring to the tappet sound but that is not associated with a fixe rpm range in which case are you lugging your engine as in picking it up in a higher gear from a lower RPM, if yes then please dont do this, this puts load on the engine.

On the RTR 160 you get vibrations around 6.5k rpm which can be felt on foot pegs.

Even karizma has a bent forward position so more or less I feel there would be strain on the wrists.

No, its not true, ZMA has the most upright sitting position after the bullet in currently produced bikes. This makes it a very comfortable tourer (which also makes it boring in city ), Also ZMA has bigger wheels (18 inch against 17 of RTR) which makes it even more comfortable.

All said & done RTR 180 is brilliant piece of machine(unfortunately I haven't ridden it), have fun & keep us posted

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by amit_purohit20

I have a RTR180 and would strongly recommend purchasing one.

Hey amit, I agree with you completely - The Menace is an awesome bike.
Its fantastic to hear that you took it all the way to Leh. How about a travelogue ?

Originally Posted by sriramv.iyer

That's cool update! Glad to see you piling kms in your odo, though in a gradual pace
Best way to do it is to do weekend trips as suggested by many! Sun early morning drives always put a smile in the face (and are best done without pillion - don't tell your wife that I said so!)

Hey Sriram, long time bro . I would love to do early morning rides but I am just not a morning person, hate getting up early ...hee hee
But yeah, maybe one day...when the Ninja comes .

[amit_purohit20]

Amit, sadly I have never ridden an RTR 180 but yes I did own a ZMA, P180 DTsi V1 & an RTR 160.

If we meet in pune you can ride mine but it seems now you are in NY.

I think you are referring to the tappet sound but that is not associated with a fixe rpm range in which case are you lugging your engine as in picking it up in a higher gear from a lower RPM, if yes then please dont do this, this puts load on the engine.

No Friend, I am not lugging the engine, as you accelerate you reach a band 4.5k-5k where strange noise comes from the engine. The noise is like a piston slap.When the piston is loose in the cylinder and you accelerate hard you can hear the piston slapping against the cylinder.I used to have the same noise in TVS Victor too when tried to accelerate hard.Although I know this is not piston slap but it feels so.In Victor this used to come at higher revs and used to continue till the time i reduce the throttle while accelerating hard.But in RTR180 its only between 4.5k to 5k. I dont feel vibrations at handle or footpegs though.This cannot be a tappet noise as tappet noise should be throughout the operation band of the engine.Once 5k crossed this noise subsides.This band is the most used band even while driving in Leh and so had to live with this noiseThe bike feels weak in this band and once crossed again starts accelerating smoothly.I feel this is the resonance band for the bike.

No, its not true, ZMA has the most upright sitting position after the bullet in currently produced bikes. This makes it a very comfortable tourer (which also makes it boring in city ), Also ZMA has bigger wheels (18 inch against 17 of RTR) which makes it even more comfortable.

No doubt Karizma is a better tourer than RTR180 but for a person like me who is upgrading from Victor I felt even karizma has a bent forward position.All 150+ bikes have bent forward position except Unicorn and I think GS150.I think you upgraded from Pulsar so didnot feel so. But the spine cannot be perfect Vertical in Karizma.Passion,Victor,Honda Shine,Unicorn,GS150 are the bikes where you can have a bend at the elbow easily and keep your spine perfect straight.I think Thunderbird too should be the same,but no way ZMA can keep the spine perfect straight.We have to bend a little.Although one can easily adapt to this position so no issues...

Hey amit, I agree with you completely - The Menace is an awesome bike.
Its fantastic to hear that you took it all the way to Leh. How about a travelogue ?

I am not having a net connection presently at home so my travelogue getting delayed.I will try to post so surely.

[shyn]

@amit purohit20, where does your odo reading stand as of now and what fuel economy does she return(city and highway)?
i'm planning to buy an RTR180 but the only thing stopping me is the quintessential question, "kitna deti hai?" my college happens to be 17kms(through city) or 22kms(through highway) from my house and i'm allowed only one liter liquid gold per day.so should i go for the 180 or settle for the 160?