A particular bike shapes a generation, a fact very true even for India. The two epoch-making bikes of the mid-1980s were the Hero Honda CD100 and the Yamaha RX100. The former had a stranglehold on those intent on saving money while the latter was for the mad maxers blowing it up on a Performance-filled existence. The CD100 made way for the Splendor but a replacement for the RX100 was a tough one. Many tried and only TVS-Suzuki came close with its firebreather of a Shogun.
  
However, unnoticed and immensely successful was yet another two-stroke motorcycle which helped its maker bridge the gap between the Splendor and the Shogun. That was the Suzuki Samurai, a 100cc two-stroke motorcycle that had enough versatility, strong acceleration, a killer mid-range, decent top speed and fine Fuel Efficiency. The stylish Samurai sold in large volumes until emancipated by the stringent exhaust emission legislation.
  
TVS-Suzuki might have replied with the Suzuki Fiero (OVERDRIVE's Bike of the Year) but thanks to its positioning, it was always placed in a higher category premium segment. What TVS needed most was a modern day substitute for the Samurai. And the bike which is the subject of this road test is hopefully the answer - the designed by Indians, in India, for Indians, TVS Victor. I am not even waiting to let you get to the end of the feature to tell you what I think of this machine: great effort and surely destined for the big time, probably in an even bigger manner and scale than the Samurai!
  
I have nothing but the highest respect for the boffins at Hosur who are nothing short of wizardry when it comes to motorcycles and motorcycle development. Having chronicled their achievements in bike sport and also plotted the techniques they employed to develop firebreathing bikes for use on road and track and trail, my respect they command is not owing to their racing efforts alone but also the way they use technologies, parts, processes and such which are a direct fallout from the lessons they have learnt in the heat of competition. Their bikes might not always be the ones in the winners' circle but the praiseworthy fact is that many a time they are the only ones running; it is always a learning exercise for them race in and rally out.
  
So pray what racing has TVS done to associate with the new 110cc four-stroke Victor? The answer is, enough racing to know what quick witted thought and logic can do for the even tougher task of making a bike do many things for millions rather than just get about the task of making it first past the chequered flag.
   
TVS-Suzuki's boss man Venu Srinivasan is a gem of a person not because he wholeheartedly sends his boys into the big bad world of Indian bike sport but because he is a motorcyclist to the core. There is a certain passion emanating from Venu for motorcycles, something which I have always hankered to see in certain other companies. For many years the search continued and even today I can only think of only one such passionate person in another bike company. Just think, two persons only with biking passion in their veins heading two of India's largest two-wheeler companies when the situation could very well have benefited from more.
  
Venu has always run a very tight outfit at Hosur and the men in the racing department are today at the helm of product development in the company. Men like Vinay Harne, vice president in charge of R&D, Arvind Pangaonkar, boss of the competitions department, P V Kulkarni, a seasoned veteran involved in product planning and development, even retired stalwarts like M N Murlikrishna and Captain Mohan Ram (the list is endless), continue to play the same successful roles in the company they have over the last decade and a half. This has made for a phenomenally cohesive and dedicated team which has seen good days and bad and come through with their character, and that of the organisation, enhanced and strengthened.
  
As such when the brief was given to develop a four-stroke motorcycle indigenously, I for one was always convinced that they could never get it wrong. Precisely the reason why they tripped over with the Spectra - no prizes for guessing their prowess at scooter designing and development didn't match their wizardry with bikes.
  
Immediately after the August issue of OVERDRIVE was put to print, yours truly travelled to Bangalore for an exclusive session with TVS to try out their new baby in actual operating conditions with a view to learning more about the product and also to ride it back to Pune. The two-day test went very well in and around Bangalore but thanks to the vagaries of the rain gods, it was decided to truck the bike to Pune and run the same over our test route. This obviously meant a nine-day interval but when I was reunited with the same red Victor in Pune, it was time to make sweet music together. So let the boogie begin...