CITY CENTRA-L
15,500km report A year and a half into its tenure, our well-performing Centra is now showing a few signs of ageing.

Since arriving at our Mumbai office in January 2004, our long-term TVS Centra has switched numerous hands en route to racking up 15,000 kilometres.
Mumbai is notorious for its vehicle-gnawing humidity, yet the matter-of-fact styled Centra has coped fine with the coastline city, not having lost much of its original sheen. While the paint and build quality does not provide us reason to complain, the elements have taken a slender toll on the control switches and ignition key — these worked well until recently, but now require a tad more force to operate.
The Centra’s smooth VT-i engine remains a focal point to this bike, and still runs with a crisp exhaust tone. It’s an engine that starts with a light kick each morning and then goes on to delight through the day with its precise and tidy all-up shifting pattern gearbox. Performance is as respectable as any Indian bike that displaces similar capacity, and other than its fair share of oil changes and routine servicing, the Centra’s air-cooled engine is performing respectably.
The Centra boasted excellent ride and handling from day one, and this remains a solid point even today. Its riding position is spot-on as well and makes for comfortable daily commute to the office. We once changed the front fork oil when they had begun to feel a tad limp, and since then the damping is back to its well- mannered ways.
An area where improvement is surely possible is the tyres —15,000km down the road, they have begun to noticeably feel worn-down, with frequent punctures a routine part of life. The rear tube has needed a change, twice, and overall we do feel the tyres should have lasted slightly longer considering the Centra is strictly used as a commuter. Braking remains as good, or bad, as the rest of its segment.
Fuel economy figures have remained nearly the same as the day the bike arrived — an average 61.7kpl through dense city traffic. In spite of its newfound grey areas, one thing is certain — were we sifting through this segment for a bike, the Centra would surely feature as a very strong contender.
Rishad Cooper