New Bike First Impression

TVS are all set to launch the RTR 180 with ABS. Is the new safety feature good enough? Adhish Alawani tries to find it out on a track especially devised to test brakes
Photography: Adhish Alawani

TVS are all set to launch the RTR 180 with ABS. Is the new safety feature good enough? Adhish Alawani tries to find it out on a track especially devised to test brakes
Photography: Adhish Alawani

TVS had an RTR parked at their stall during the 2010 Auto Expo in New Delhi carrying a small sticker reading ‘ABS’ on the fender. It has been over a year since then and the curiosity to check out this new feature on the RTR had almost evaporated into thin air.

However, much to my surprise, the test turned out to be one of the most exciting ones. TVS invited  journalists to a track at Oragadam, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, that has specially been set up to test brakes. The facility has a long straight having a variety of surfaces such as regular asphalt, blue basalt and ceramic tiles. Once bathed, these surfaces simulate real world road conditions like spilt oil, first rain etc. with a wide range of traction, the frictional co-efficient varying from 0.8 mu to almost 0 mu. The task for the day was to experience braking with ABS as well as without ABS and judge if TVS had got the technology and gadgets right.

To start with, the demonstrators from TVS rode two bikes – one without ABS and the other equipped with the unit – on various wet surfaces. The RTR without ABS had an out-rigger with four support wheels to keep the bike upright whenever it lost traction. Without doubt, the wheels of the one without ABS were bound to lock up and skid and so they did. However, the RTR equipped with the ABS unit showed immense road hold even when a fistful of brake was applied.

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To test it myself, I hopped on to the bike with the out-rigger and went out on the various wet surfaces. First, with the ABS off, I slammed the brakes and experienced one of the most fearful things ever on two wheels – the front wheel got locked, the front end went down and there was no chance of recovery. This was on the regular wet tarmac. On the blue basalt it was bad and even worse on the ceramic. After getting a feel of what happens without ABS, I switched on the unit and went in again. To my extreme disbelief, the bike was amazingly composed and stable even with the brakes slammed. I even tried braking at the end of the wet patch and carrying the brakes on to the dry patch. What I found out then was that the wheels, of course, didn’t lock up on the wet. However, when they hit the dry patch, the ABS was still working, but now it knew that the bike was on dry patch and it immediately improved the braking and reduced the stopping distance. Mightily impressed by the ABS unit, I returned to the resting area admiring one of the best upgrades on an Indian bike I had seen.

Talking technically of the ABS unit, TVS have developed it along with Continental. During the development, the company says, there were various challenges that had to be dealt with, especially considering Indian road conditions. These included slow speed control, more braking per kilometre, people stuck with the mentality of using only the rear brake and wide variations in road surface etc.
Another issue was that the RTR is essentially a lightweight machine and hence placing the extra three to four kilograms perfectly on the bike was a tough job. The ABS system comprises the HECU (hydraulic and electronic control unit) that has digital valves, low-pressure accumulator and a pump. The HECU has independent control over the front as well as the rear brake. There are speed sensors mounted on each wheel that send signals to the HECU if the wheels are locking up and then the HECU guides internal valves accordingly. The system also has a manual switch near the instrumentation console with which you can switch off the ABS unit. Though it is a highly effective feature, it cannot be denied that it’s electronics and chances of a failure, though very remote, cannot be ruled out altogether. In such circumstances, a light will come on in the instrumentation console telling us that there is no ABS support available but that the conventional brakes are working.

TVS say that the ABS system was developed and tested initially at the IDIADA testing facility in Spain under all possible road conditions before fine-tuning it for the Indian environment. Also, the company has stated that when the ABS system was tried on professional racers’ bikes at the Madras Motorsports Club racetrack, they were able to cut down their lap times by over one full second, which showed that not only was the ABS effective in day-to-day use for the average rider, but also boosted the performance riding of the skilled ones.

As for the features of the ABS system, it comes with RLP (rear wheel lift-off protection), which avoids stoppies. Of course, those who are willing to have fun stunting on the bike will always have the option of turning off the ABS system and doing what they want to do.

The RTR180 equipped with ABS will appear in the market in March and will come with a premium of Rs 10,000 (approximately). An upgrade definitely worth the extra money!

 

 

Yamaha have brought their street weapon to the showrooms in our country. We find out how this new entrant fits in the Indian scene

Story: Adhish Alawani
Photography: Sanjay Raikar

Yamaha have brought their street weapon to the showrooms in our country. We find out how this new entrant fits in the Indian scene

Story: Adhish Alawani
Photography: Sanjay Raikar

The motorcycle market in India is expanding at an unimaginable rate and the big bikes have been contributing their mite to this expansion. Though not through sales figures, the variety of motorcycles available in the market has gone up considerably: from supersports to hypertourers and entry-level cruisers to muscle bikes. However, the most suitable in all these for India are street bikes. Most of the big bike players in India introduced their urban street machines long time ago and the one who had missed out on a strong contender initially has offered one now. Yes, we are talking about the Yamaha FZ1 – the naked, litre-class urban machine.

Though the bike was introduced late last year, we didn’t get a chance to ride it then. The moment we got our hands on one, however, we didn’t feel like giving it back! I have reviewed as many as five V-twins of late and the feel of getting back on an inline four had to be unique.

To start with, the FZ1 is a beast that makes an impression right from the first glance. The meaty tank and the sharp, angular headlamp sitting at the front make for a masculine façade. The naked part of the bike exposes the huge 998-cc engine beneath the solid twin spar frame. The mighty front tapers drastically towards the short and stout tail. The big, plain black exhaust is the only part that fails to impress on the styling front. The earlier version of the FZ1 used to have a silver tip to the exhaust and without a doubt it looked more striking than the current one. The bike looks gorgeous with its frame and engine painted in matte black, topped with a pearl white tank. Look at the FZ1 from any angle and the one thing that makes itself highly noticeable is the compactness of this machine while not taking away the aggressiveness that certainly makes its presence felt on the streets. The short wheelbase (1,460 mm) and a tall seat (845 mm) take the credit for this compact look.

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Essentially, the FZ1 is powered by a 998-cc motor that comes from an older generation R1 that was being sold from 2004 to 2008 before the engineers at Yamaha came up with the crossplane crankshaft. No doubt, the engine has been detuned, but not so much as to give one the feeling of lack of power. Basically, different camshafts have been used in the FZ1 from what were given in the R1 and this has also brought down the rpm at which the peak power is produced. With 150 PS of peak power and an extremely impressive 106 Nm of maximum torque, the FZ1 has a lot to offer. However, leave aside that top end power and look at what the bike offers for typical Indian road conditions. It was nothing short of  mind-boggling to see the kind of response and drive the bike offered from the lowest possible rpm. The FZ1 quite literally pulls from as low as 1,300 rpm in as high as the third and fourth gears to offer perfect rideability in the crowded streets that force one to vary riding speeds all the time. The bottom end of FZ1 is unimaginably strong and that is what makes for its biggest plus point. At the same time, it’s not as violent as its competition. The front stays planted even under abusive opening of the throttle all the way until the red line. It wasn’t feasible to do high speeds during the short period of time the motorcycle was with me, but it still was enough to make me realise that the lack of a quarter fairing or a windscreen will make long highway journeys tiring due to wind blast.

One major update for the FZ1 came in 2006 when its tubular frame was replaced with a twin spar one that offers excellent handling. The riding position is fairly comfortable without taking away the tiny bit of sportiness offered by the slightly low-set handlebar. Though we didn’t get enough time to exploit the handling capabilities of this bike round the corners, whatever we experienced was impressive. The bike is happy to lean and comfortable even while powering out of corners. Though the bike shares its engine with the R1, it’s not as vicious in the higher revs, but instead feels a lot more user-friendly all round the rev range and through the corners.

On a concluding note, I would say that the FZ1 is a very practical machine considering its tremendously strong bottom end. The upright posture is good and easy on the palms. Light clutch lever action makes it an easy bike to ride around the town. The only place where the FZ1 might suffer is on fast highway rides where wind blast might be troublesome for the rider at speed.

All said, the FZ1 comes with a price tag of Rs 10 lakh (OTR, Pune), which is much lighter than that worn by its competing litre-class street bikes. Our take? It came late, but it came strong!

The long wait is finally over. Though the big bikes arrived in the country long time back, the affordable options were still absent. So, what Kawasaki and Bajaj do? They brought in the Ninja 650R – a pure sports tourer machine with a tag of Rs 4.57 lakh (Ex-Delhi).

The long wait is finally over. Though the big bikes arrived in the country long time back, the affordable options were still absent. So, what Kawasaki and Bajaj do? They brought in the Ninja 650R – a pure sports tourer machine with a tag of Rs 4.57 lakh (Ex-Delhi).Now that is what we call as the smartest move one could have made in a market like ours. Here’re the first ride impressions of the Kawasaki Ninja 650R that has blown us off with its potential and price!

To start with, the bike looks stunning in green and black combo. It’s typically Kawasaki. The offset monoshock and underslung exhaust are unique design features that will distinguish this bike from anything else on the road. Single seat looks old school but serves the purpose when riding with a pillion – comfort at its best!

The Ninja is powered with a 649cc motor that pumps out 72 PS of peak power and 66 Nm of peak torque. These figures translate to superb 0-100km/h acceleration run – just 4.56 seconds. The maximum speed we could read on the speedometer before running out of road was 198km/h (true 191.8km.h), which sounds more than sufficient for the Indian highways. The bike can cruise easily at 120km/h with the engine spinning comfortably at just 5500 rpm. Adding more to the highway and touring abilities is the full fairing and wide windscreen at the front. With no windblast troubling you whatsoever, this bike is a serious touring machine.

Put the bike around corners and the handling of the Ninja will continue to impress you. Though the softer suspension doesn’t give a solid feel when leaned over, it doesn’t make the bike nervous in any case. The monoshock is seven-step adjustable for preload giving you an option for a slightly stiffer ride too. Also, with the monoshock connected directly to the swingarm without any linkages, there is hardly any flex.
If that is the story on highways and twisties, the Ninja 650R scores maximum points when it comes to city rideability and practicality. Strong bottom and mid range make sure that the bike can be ridden around crowded streets effortlessly in higher gears without any hint of knocking. Thus, not only is this sports tourer a fantastic bike on highways and outskirts of a city but on the urban scenario too. It’s a perfect package with best of all the worlds and then at a price that is super competitive.

Our say? The Ninja 650R is the perfect machine priced so appropriately that there is hardly anything that can challenge this bike. The competition definitely needs to pull up their socks if they have to survive in a market where Kawasaki is rolling in the good times!

Words: Adhish Alawani

Ducati’s Multistrada is supposed to be an all-rounder. Adhish Alawani swings his leg over one to find out how

 

Photography: Sanjay Raikar

Ducati’s Multistrada is supposed to be an all-rounder. Adhish Alawani swings his leg over one to find out how

Google translate tells me that Multistrada in Italian means Multipath in English. While christening a bike Multistrada, Ducati must have thought a zillion times as to how the end consumer will perceive it. For a brand that is typically a sportsbike and a street performance oriented one, bringing out a machine that is supposed to be strong enough to attack multiple paths or surfaces is a challenge in itself. But that is something Ducati must have worried about a few years ago when they introduced the Multistrada for the first time. Over the years, they have gone on to improve the bike every now and then, and today, what we see as the current edition of Multistrada is sheer excellence of mechanical and electronic engineering put together.

At a first glance, this Ducati looks a little weird; difficult to suit my taste of styling. I love the way Ducati styles their bikes otherwise. In fact, why me, the whole world loves them. The 916 revolutionized motorcycle designing. And of course, we love the new age 1198 or the Monster or the Streetfighter. But the Multistrada is something whose styling has not been talked about much; and there are reasons for that. Being a dual-purpose machine, it definitely is tall with long suspension travel, raised handlebar and high seat – which is all perfectly fine. But look at the front end and the beak coming out from under the cross-eyed headlamps. It’s ugly. And weird. At the rear, is a sharp tail topped with grab-rails that double up as a base platform for your luggage. The twin slim exhaust pipes on the right hand side look a little small for the size of this bike. Actually, the Multistrada, as a whole, isn’t a bad looking bike. It’s good, but does not live up to the standards of art that Ducati has otherwise set and that’s mostly just because of that front end which reminds me vaguely of Uncle Scrooge from Duck Tales.

Getting on to the bike is a tough task for any one who is less than say 5’ 7”. At 850mm seat height, it’s fairly alright but the broad seat makes it tough for a short rider to reach the ground with both feet. However, for shorter people, there is an optional 25mm lower seat accessory. The posture is upright with raised handlebar and front footpegs. Knees tuck in fairly well behind the side panels. The seat is comfortable and the rear step seat provides an excellent support to the rider’s waist. Not being used to riding enduro or dual-purpose bikes much, It took me a little while to get used to the motorcycle’s overall tall character. But once on the road, instead of worrying about the tall, upright riding posture, I was enjoying hundreds of other things that grabbed my attention and how!

The Multistrada 1200 is powered with an 1198cc 90-degree v-twin engine borrowed from the 1198 superbike. The difference is that this one is detuned to 150PS from 170PS of the 1198 – now that’s not much of detuning and for a dual-purpose bike, it’s a lot of power too. With 150 horses available for unleashing at the twist of the right wrist, the Multistrada was getting to be a lot more fun than expected. Manoeuvrability through the city traffic was easy but the v-twin was irritating a bit with its jerky response every time the throttle was opened or shut. I knew about the electronics that govern this motorcycle and decided to play with them a bit to see if this issue can be addressed. Going through the big, white backlit digital instrumentation console, which displays a lot of data, I reached out to the ride mode setting. Toggling through the modes, I shifted from Sport to Urban and experienced something that I hadn’t imagined. I had read a lot about the greatness of the electronics on the Multistrada but experiencing is believing and it was really very hard to digest the kind of change these electronics had brought about. The throttle response got retarded and power came gradually enough to give a very smooth ride in the city traffic. The sudden engine braking on throttle roll-off disappeared.

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The Multistrada had become way more sane and manageable now. So how does this work? Basically, the Multistrada has four riding modes – Sport, Touring, Urban, and Enduro. The ride-by-wire engine management offers four different mappings for these four different modes. The throttle response is quickest in the Sport setting and goes on decreasing gradually in the consecutive modes. To make it even more complicated, the maps vary the throttle response all the way through the rev range and also with the gear selection and engine load. The peak power output in Sport and Touring is the same at 150PS but it has been slashed down to as low as 100PS for Urban and Enduro modes. And it doesn’t end there. The Multistrada comes with DTC (Ducati Traction Control). Of course, there is an option to switch the DTC on or off. But the real fun is in the way the DTC synchronizes itself with the modes that we discussed earlier. For the first three modes, the DTC works on the same setting. However, in Enduro mode, the DTC modifies itself in a way so as to allow you the slides in the dirt to some extent without completely switching itself off. It’s like an optimum balance between letting you slide the bike without the electronics losing control over the bike. Impressive to the nth degree. 

Talking of DTC, it was another big thing that took me by surprise. With DTC switched on and the bike in Sport mode (to ensure full power and throttle response), I started attempting wheelies. In a normal course, a bike with 150PS of power and 118Nm of torque would pop power wheelies effortlessly. But with DTC on, one might as well forget about it. In fact, one should not even think of the clutch wheelies for that matter. As soon as the DTC senses the front wheel popping up in the air, it cuts off the power just enough to keep the bike planted on the ground. The DTC also senses rear wheelspins and manages power delivery to the rear wheel accordingly so as to make sure that you don’t lose traction. Switch off the DTC and you have all the access to the stunts you intend to do.

Moving away from the electronics of this bike, there are various other things that enthralled me in every possible way. The Multistrada is very impressive when it comes to handling. Personally being more of a sport bike rider, I took some time getting used to the way this bike behaves at corners but once in sync, the Multi delighted me even when leaned over. The frame design combines steel tubes that are typically seen on Ducatis with a central section of die-cast aluminium, plus a rear sub-frame whose steel tubes are reinforced by a techno-polymer section that contributes to its strength. The suspension comprises 50mm USD Marzocchips up front and a multi-adjustable Sachs rear shock with a remote preload knob. The higher version of Multistrada, that is the 1200S, replaces these with Ohlins, which are completely electronically adjustable suspensions giving you an additional option of raising or decreasing the ride height as suited for the road and ride conditions. The Multistrada comes equipped with Pirelli Scorpion Trail tyres that have been developed specially for this bike and are suitable for road as well as dirt. However, they aren’t good enough for hardcore off-roading.

On the highway, the bike munches miles so quickly that it becomes a little tough for the rider to cope up with it. The credit for this goes to two aspects – the extremely powerful motor that can do 200kmph at 7,000rpm in the top gear (so cruising at 140–150kmph is just too easy on the engine) and riding comfort that doesn’t make you feel uneasy even at that speed for hundreds of kilometers. The front windscreen is adjustable for height and manages to keep away the windblast from the rider’s chest to a great extent. Off the road, the bike is brilliant too, with 170mm suspension travel and traction control that allows you slides but keeps the bike well under control. The 189 kilos of dry weight is on the lighter side on tarmac but is slightly heavier for Enduro riding. Maybe, that’s also because I am personally not used to doing a lot of off-roading.

All said and done, what was the impression at the end of the day? I must say that there are innumerable amazing motorcycles in the market today, which will impress every one in many possible ways. However, I have to admit that the Multistrada manages to amaze me in a very unique way. This Ducati has achieved a versatile state where it can deliver you the sportiness, touring abilities, off-road fun and most importantly an all-round usability with hardly anything to complain about. Multistrada is here to cater to your every need. That also makes me wonder whether motorcycles will be the same tomorrow as they are today. This motorcycle is a very good example of what we are going to see in the future from production bikes. Ducati has started it. No doubt, the future is already here!

Captions:

1 The two knobs on either side of the windscreen let you adjust the screen for your convenience

 2 The design of the Multistrada is something that doesn’t live up to the standards the Ducati has already set

 3 The rubber tops on the pegs are removable. That leaves the pegs with metal spikes to give better hold when you wear off-road boots

 4 The high tech key with a proximity sensor doesn’t need to be inserted anywhere except for refuelling. The bike starts with ignition button only when the key is around

 5 The easily accessible knob for rear suspension lets you adjust the shocks to suit the riding conditions

 6 Apart from the basic info like speed, rpm, odometer, tripmeter and engine temperature, the digital console displays a lot more like average speed, fuel consumption (instantaneous and trip), ride time, air temperature etc. You can also toggle through different riding settings and traction control from the menu of the console

CBR250R finally rides the Indian roads

The CBR250R had started creating ripples in the Indian bikers’ minds since it made its debut in Thailand last year in October. The curiosity of the enthusiasts was reaching a new height every day as there were new updates coming up every now and then. The official launch in India got delayed with the tragic tsunami in Japan. Production in the country also got delayed with certain parts not coming in due to the natural calamity. But as things started coping up, the first lot of preproduction bikes rolled out of the plant, got loaded in a truck and came straight to Mumbai where BIKE India’s Adhish Alawani reached to take the delivery of the long term testing motorcycle that Honda willingly handed over to him. With a few hundred kilometers planned, it was time to experience this most awaited machine from the Japanese stable on the Indian roads. Read further to get Adhish’s first impressions on the CBR250R as he rides it from Mumbai to Kashid and then back home to Pune.

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Getting out of Mumbai, starting from the over crowded streets of Andheri, was a task in itself. But the CBR250R started making its point clear right then. With amazing midrange, this bike is a dream to ride around the traffic. Ample torque all through the revs made the ride through the traffic easy, as pulling away from fellow bikes and overtaking cars in tight spots looks so much like a child’s play. With over 30 kilometers clocked in the city, it was time to challenge the highways and the CBR250R continued to make me smile inside the helmet. The 25 PS power starts showing its goodness as 100 km/h comes up in 3rd gear itself if pulled all the way to red line in each cog. As I got a straight, open stretch, the bike succeeded in clocking 146 km/h in fifth gear with a few revs still on offer to be exploited. On a long straight, the better side of 150 km/h is more than just achievable.

The twisties came next as we advanced closer to Kashid. The amazing pro-link setup impressed me in the corners as I dared to lean the CBR around the bends, trusting the 140mm section rear rubber to its fullest. Giving gas at the apex and coming out of a corner strong enough to build adequate speed before the next corner is an awesome feeling and CBR delivered it flawlessly. The ride went on for the next few kilometers to Kashid and continued the next day on my way back to Pune. With 350 km already on clock within 30 hours of getting the bike, I was happy and smiling at the very thought that my own CBR250R is on its way. Till then, I am going to enjoy the fun of quarter-litre from our long-term test bike; not to mention the stardom on the streets of Pune too!

Words: Adhish Alawani