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BHPian prajwal_ recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Greetings fellow motorheads,
This is my first post on teambhp though i have been reading other posts for more than an year now... I'll talk about my purchase decision as well as how my bike has fared in these six months.
Coming back to the topic, I was a proud owner of Honda Hornet CB160R which i purchased right after graduation. Drove it for 3 years, took it everywhere on my road trips... Chennai-Coimbatore, Chennai-Bengaluru. And one fine day in June 2022, my dad called me and said your brother has an idea, he's planning to buy a used motorcycle to take to his college (Only once a week on Saturday i.e. very low usage). Why don't you give yours to him and we buy a new one for you since you use it a lot. I jumped on it and had lots of ideas, but were quickly shot down by my dad. He said that I can't control how fast you go but what i can still control is the size and type of engine you get for your new bike. He had a strict cap on no bikes above 25hp and 250cc. And post discussion this was the final criteria of my bike search.
These were my shortlist:
Though an amazing machine i ignored R15 simply because the riding position won't suit my long rides. Also ignored all KTM/Husq bikes since i needed a proper two seat so that my friends/brother/girlfriend can join me for city travel.
A quick short pros and cons for each:
+Looks really beautiful.
+ I had first hand experience on how smooth and refined Honda engines were.
- After riding it around, i didn't feel it was a significant upgrade to my current Hornet, the 20cc bigger engine though felt more powerful still felt familar and nothing awe inspiring. So kept it as backup option.
+ Engine felt really peppy.
= Not a fan of Gixxer looks but VStorm looked really nice.
- VStorm still got Gixxer tyres, an all terrain tyre like on the impulse would have made it amazing option.
- Felt a bit shorter for my height (I am 6'0) and i had to crouch my legs a bit more than usual.(Gixxer).
- Despite all good points, it's looks didn't make me feel like, "Take me home" (Subjective Personal Opinion).
+ Rev loving engine, felt amazing.
- Age old cluster and zero electronic add ons.
- For some reason, the showroom model had a White bike with White coloured chassis and White wheels. It looked like a politician version of bikes (I cringed a bit honestly).
= Looks were average, VStorm had the best looks so far
+ Rev loving engine.
+ Bunch of tech/ mech features, TBT Navigation, Emergency Crash Calls, Ride logging, Adjustable Suspension, Adjustable Levers - Being an engineer... I loved it when a sub 2 lakh bike had these features.
So i decided and went ahead with the RTR200 4V because other than the average looks, there were no major negatives according to me. Me and my dad booked it at SBM TVS in Chennai. They said due to part shortage, color availability is severely hampered. Since i wanted it for my Birthday i.e. July, i told them either Black or Blue is good with me provided it's the first bike you get in the showroom. Though they didn't promote delivery in 2 weeks, they still tried their best. Repeated production delays meant we didn't get the bike for my birthday and on July 20, i got a call saying that a Black colored bike is being allotted to your name and will be shipped from factory by EOD. Received the bike by July 26 post all registration formalities.
Moving to the short term review:
Post delivery, I felt that the front suspension was softer but rear was really hard. Since they are adjustable, i asked if they can help me with adjusting rear suspension. But they were clueless at SBM. Typical TVS issue since no other TVS bike except RTR 4V twins and RR310 packs these features and these were low volume items for them. So i chose to get it done in Bengaluru instead.
I stay in Chennai but work in Bengaluru, Hybrid work meant I spent few months on either cities. For the break in period, TVS recommends keeping the rpm below 5k. But I was shocked to learn that at that rpm itself i could do 80. So decided to use the bike itself for travelling to Bangalore as 80 is a decent cruise speed. The highway ride was smooth but still the suspension issue was there. I took the bike directly to the service centre as it was time for my first service after 500 kms. The people at Trijal TVS Marathahalli however were familiar with the option and informed me that they'll set it up for me. After the service the bike felt amazing. The suspension was perfectly configured for me now and small bumps didn't even creep through the body. It was a notch better than Hornet's suspension.
Few features I noticed after purchasing and living with it for six months:
So in a nutshell the RTR200 4V gave me a even bigger smile after living with it for six months now, more than i was expecting. For 1.8 lakhs on road, this bike makes the perfect sense as a daily commute bike on urban mode for the weekdays. And come the weekends, switch to Sport mode and it becomes a different beast. Few snaps of my new found love below:
Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.