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Desire on Fire
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DESiRE ON FiRE |
“First impression is last impression” is an old saying. The first impulse one gets on setting eyes upon TVS’s latest offering FLAME, is an inflammable desire! I must have it! This is exactly what I want! It has radical looks with turn indicating blinkers on the fuel tank flank and a red-and-black color combination that sets desire on fire.
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| FEAR THE BLACK |
In keeping with the “”FEAR-THE-BLACK”” theme, the engine block is all black. In fact the black theme is all pervasive. Starting from the front end, the front wheel is all black as are the lower legs of the twin-fork, though the disc brake isn’t black. The front mudguard is two-tone: red above and black below. Going backwards, the leg guard is black, as is the engine, though the belly-pan under the engine is red. All
fittings on the 76 cm wide
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| FLAME |
buff-metal handlebar are black including the end pieces. The only chrome parts around the engine are the rear brake pedal & kick starter at RH and the gear shift lever at LH.
The fuel tank is black, with red side cowls on which FLAME is written in silver on a black background. The devil-horn shaped rear grab-rail is black and so are the devil-ear shaped rear view mirrors which have a wide three foot field of vision (very safe). The black (what else?) seat is 25 inches long and 11 inches wide at the centre.
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| Very Convenient Lockable Dicky |
And talking of dimensions, there is a dandy rigid lockable top-loading compartment in the fuel tank which is 12 cm long, 11 cm wide and 19 cm deep. I find this a very useful place to keep riding glasses, sun-glasses, gloves, bike papers and other bike-specific things. It is very practical. No need0 side carrier.
TECHNiCALs :
The 124.8 cc pot of the FLAME with Bore X Stroke == 54.5 mm X 53.5mm, is the same which powered the erstwhile TVS Victor GLX125 and TVS Victor Edge125 bikes, but that is where the similarity ends. While both the GLX and EDGE were functional bikes built for the traffic conditions of that time, FLAME is superbly built as per the requirements of today’s STYLE and traffic conditions. Looking at the bike, the STYLE part is quite evident, what with the BLACK-HAWK-DAWN devil-horn, devil-ears Delta-Edge inflammable looks. What is not so evident is the size of the chain cover, specifically the rear sprocket size which is much larger than either GLX or Edge, to enhance the Low End Tork of this bike.
This bike is an excellent example of double engineering. With engine bore being ONE mm less than the stroke, it is a short-stroke engine, more suitable for high end performance, which today’s youth wants, which FLAME delivers. Yet the traffic-clogged city roads of today, be it Bengaluru, Hyderabadu, Pune or Chennai, demand high doses of Low-End-Tork, which this bike also delivers.
The engine with a Ucal Mikumi VM20 carburetor breathing thru a foam filter element at a compression ratio of 10 produces 7.7 kw (==10.3 bhp==10.47 PS) at 7500 rpm and develops a Tork of 10 Nm at 6250 rpm. The engine idles at 1400 rpm. The 4-speed transmission having all-up shift configuration operates thru a wet multi-plate kluch. Elektrik start is standard while a front disc brake is optional.
Chassis is of twin bone tubular delta type with a wheelbase of 1320 mm and a ground clearance of 165 mm giving a seat height of 780 mm. The bike having kerb weight of 123 kg is suspended on twin forks at front and 5 step adjustable shock absorbers at rear. The bike I have rides on 90/90 X 17 tyre front and 90/90 X 18 rear tyre. However in the owner’s manual that I have, it is written: 18 inch tyres, 2.75 front and 3.oo rear. Maybe there are two versions or maybe I am a popat idiot like Beetle Bailey, goofing off ! The Fuel tank capacity is 7.5 litres and a low fuel warning tell-a-tale light on the dashboard reminds you of this when fuel quantity in tank drops to less than TWO litres. 12 volt elektriks power the 35 watt headlight as well as 5-watt tail lamp and 21 watt brake light. Engine oil capacity is 900 cc which is exactly the size of the recommended TVS TRU4 engine oil bottle which costs Rs.160/-, so that there is no wastage.
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Digital Console |
The LED instrument panel is digital. The Speedo is a circular analog dial while the rest of
The displays are digital. As can be seen in the photo, there are two buttons at the extreme right of the rectangular dial. The upper button is the MODE button, while the lower one is the SET button. The methodology of setting the odometer, trip meter, Instantaneous Mileage Indikator (IMI) and digital klok (==clock) is given on page 18 & 19 of the Owners Manual. Read it carefully and set the display to whichever mode you want.
ROAD BEHAViOUR :
As soon as you switch on the ignition key, even before pressing the starter button, all displays including all the tell-a-tale lights & dials light up, the speed0 needle goes to max (140) and after two seconds returns to zero and all other illuminations except the relevant (green=neutral indicator) ones get switched off. Now press the starter button, press heel on the heel-toe shifter and release the kluch lever. The bike moves on. Shift thru gears as traffic demands. The gear shifting is smooth and slick. If traffic is fast, you can quick-shift to top gear and move at 60-70 with the fast traffic. If the traffic is slow, you can slow-shift to top (4th) gear and amble along at 20 in top gear. No matter what the traffic pattern is, the mileage hardly ever drops below 65.
This bike is ideally suited for city traffic. Low End Tork is very good, so the number of times you need to shift gears is very less and pulling from 20 kmpH in top (4th) gear is the done thing if you are not in a hurry. Thus city driving is effortless. Night driving too is quite safe because headlight beam quality is very good. Handling is pat and road-holding is on par with the best. Power is adequate and pick-up is in league with the 125 cc class. Top speed I could do on this bike was 86 kmpH. I have not been able to measure the panic braking distance (sixty to zero) yet bcoz the roads are wet due to non-stop rain. Obviously this test can only be done on a dry road. I shall do this test and add the figures to this report in a few days.
S.No |
Test conditions of TVS FLAME |
Distance Covered (km) |
Fuel Consumed (litres) |
Fuel average (kmpL) |
1 |
Very heavy trafik. 39 gear changings, thrice down to 1st gear. Speed mostly @ 30. Max speed below 45. One stop at trafik light. Enjin off. Self start & move. |
4.2 |
0.070 |
60.0 |
2 |
Self-start from rest. Steady 40 in top (4th) gear. No braking. No gear changing. |
2.6 |
0.0375 |
69.33 |
3 |
Speed mostly 40 kmpH, max 45. No braking. No gear changing. |
3.2 |
0.050 |
64.0 |
4 |
Two brakings and two gear changings. Two overtakings at 55-60. Speed mostly 40-45. |
2.1 |
0.038 |
55.3 |
5 |
Down slope + plain road. 14 gear changings, 4 times down to 2nd, 10 times to 3rd. Seven brakings. Speed mostly @ 45. |
7.0 |
0.100 |
70.0 |
6 |
Overall Fuel Average |
19.1 |
0.2955 |
64.64 |
KonK-Loo-ZioN :
A look at the above conditions of the fuel test shows that this bike is built for CONSiSTENT FUEL ECONOMY. Add to this the powerful Low-End-Tork, excellent headlight beam quality and attractive delta-edge looks, this is the ideal bike for 90% city commuting and 10% for weekend long rides. Costing Rs.52,251/- for the front drum brake version and Rs.54,819/- for the front disc brake version ON ROAD PUNE on 20 August 2008, this bike is REAL value-for-money in the 125 class. |
