By Jiljith C.P.
I only had 3 rounds around my office building (which includes the basement parking lot too) on a badly maintained RTR 160, so this review can’t be very useful. Nevertheless, here goes.
The bike seemed small even to a guy like me who is just 5’ 4". I cannot imagine how a bigger person would feel on it. The seating position is rather extreme. My neck began to hurt after just 3 rounds on it! You do feel wrapped around the bike though. It corners well. It brakes well. It accelerates well. The engine is ’ok’. I have heard people comment that the bike can be used to zip in traffic. I don’t think that has much to do with the handling of the bike - it must have more to do with its size. The bike as such seems to lack character. It is ’ok’ in most categories - perhaps even good in some; but it seemed like it had no distinguishing trait. It holds its line well too. It did remind me of the Fiero though; and there were times when I felt somebody had installed a powerful engine onto a small frame on purpose.
It is not really what I would call a nice commuter bike, though - yes, it would not be out of place on the track. The bike lacks sophistication; it is too lean to look good; if you pay money for this bike, then you are paying for the performance more than anything.
I wasn’t very impressed - looking at it from a commuter’s perspective; not very unimpressed either. It seems like a good bike that has been engineered well. It leans more on the performance side. It seemed like many aspects like braking, cornering, power, had been taken into account well; but the bike as a whole had been left out.
Unless you’re a TVS fan or one of the so called race-bred boys on a budget [ignoring the R15], you would be better off overlooking this bike.
Apache RTR 160 FI:
Would a rear disc brake and Fuel injection change the character of this bike? --naa...I don’t think so. It is already good in those areas. If it needs the attention of the commuter it will have to improve on some of the other areas.
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