ON
A WINNING NOTE
9,300km report Winning admirers comes naturally to the reliable
Victor.
Since
its previous report, our long-term Victor GLX has once again
changed hands. It's now with our privileged vagabond, travel
correspondent Rishad Mehta who spends most of his time laboring
to put unheard-of distant corners of the country on the
pages of this magazine. When in town, his daily office commute
from home is pretty short. An enthusiastic biker, Rishad
is known to be notoriously tough on vehicles and seldom
fails to remind all around him of how no bike on earth matches
his very own rugged Royal Enfield Bullet 350.
Surprisingly, he is all praise for this TVS. He finds the
new Victor's big rearview mirrors very helpful as also the
conical beam headlight, though a whimsical flasher switch
and lack of a parking light are certainly negatives. Rishad
enjoys the frills our top-of-the-line bike came equipped
with — such as chromed bar end weights and a large
rev gauge set in an altogether pleasing instruments bay.
The Victor GLX shares a fault common to many TVS bikes —the
horn and ignition switch sometimes fail to work without
being coaxed.
The
124.8cc VT-i engine is a joy to live with, and oozes smoothness
in spite of its lack of any rubber mounts. One misses the
luxury of a self-starter on the test bike though. Smart
gear ratios make it easy to potter around city with a minimum
of gear-play and Rishad is quick to point out he is impressed
by a smooth and positive gearshift action on the Victor.
The light action clutch also helps to make threading through
the start-and-stop nature of crowded city traffic a breeze.
The single downtube frame uses the engine as a stressed
member and the GLX has always been well-mannered while also
offering plush ride quality. Handling is as adequate as
the tyre size affords and so too is the bike’s cornering.
Stopping power from the front disc is just what the doctor
ordered, neither feeling too sharp as to send the bike into
a skid, nor too weak as to make for underconfidence while
braking hard. Fuel economy remains more or less a constant
with the Victor still churning out a decent 52.2kpl on an
average.
Infallible proof of the bike's friendly nature comes from
Rishad's recent and strident proclamations that this comfortable
bike has finally cajoled him to use it regularly and leave
his trusted Bullet in the garage.
LOG
BOOK
Distance covered 9300km
Fuel consumption
Total fuel consumed 178 litres
Average fuel consumption 52.2kpl
No. of fillings (brimmed) 13
Worst 44kpl
Best 58.1kpl
Total maintenance cost
Company-paid services and engine oil Rs 479.
Running costs Rs 0.89 per km
Faults Horn and ignition switch work at will.
Likes Good handling, brakes.
Dislikes Flasher switch does not function well. |
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 STAR
COMMUTER
First
report Our latest fleet member is a good mix of economy
and rider comfort.
The
latest entrant in the Autocar fleet is the new steed for
sports editor Girish Karkera, who uses it for his daily
run into office and back. The single-cylinder 99.7cc engine
is geared to perfection. Smooth as silk, it belies its diminutive
size in being sprightly off the starting line and pulling
efficiently right up to its top whack in the mid-eighties.
It revels in Mumbai's signal-to-signal traffic with a pleasant,
yet soft exhaust note. Shifting gears is a delight, thanks
to a positive action all-up four-speed ’box.
Girish is content with the broad seat and says even pillions
have praised the rear seat. Ride quality is posh enough
to stand a rider in good stead over long distances, and
the Star's handling and cornering manners are as good as
on any commuter bike. The brakes could be better but are
just as good as on any other entry-level bike. Switchgear,
however, could have been better.
Fuel economy lives up to expectations and the Star is delivering
a fine average mileage of around 57kpl. Our test bike has
been for its stipulated visits to the TVS-authorised showroom
and is quite a novelty there, due to the bike having only
just been launched in this part of the country. The niggles
faced and cured under warranty have been a clutch lever
return spring failure and a magneto failure when the bike
was overenthusiastically pressure-washed at the service
centre.
The Star is yet to put on serious mileage but what’s
clear is that it's a capable city commuter. Rishad Cooper
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 Log
book
Distance covered 3800km
Fuel consumption
Total fuel consumed 67 litres
Average fuel consumption 56.7kpl
No. of fillings (brimmed) 4
Worst 52.9kpl
Best 61.4kpl
Total maintenance cost Company-paid service, engine oil,
clutch spring and magneto assembly replaced — Rs 188.
Running costs Rs 0.82 per km
Faults Failed clutch spring, magneto assembly.
Likes Smooth engine, large fuel tank,
Dislikes Bland styling, poor switchgear.
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source  May 2005 |
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