absolutely spot-on there payeng

Yes... it better be...

im sure it will be. Payeng, i wasnt impressed at all with the FZ16..compared to my RTR. The soul was lacking...the bike was dead in the midrange, ok yes, handling was great and that fat rear tire really helps. But other than that, nothing was there ..even i dont think the looks are that great and the FZ-S looks..well..ridiculous.

some views from a junior member


Dear Guys

I have been reading the thread after i posted my incident at melbourne... First of all the RTR was there coz the next day I saw testers from TVS there and had met them... so not only shooting of an ad as chicane pointed out they were testing it too... In fact i saw some guys from ARE of TVS PPG - Performance Products Group there.

... Secondly Payeng I have been reading your views above and the one preceding it... I think our
website is seen by manufacturers I think. We write a lot of stuff here which neednt be because they are our impressions and not necessarily the truth ... We need to be more responsible to be taken seriously especially people as knowledgeable and senior like u...

Sales Data for Feb

FZ - 7458 units
RTR - 8646 UNITS

Sales Data for March

FZ - 3854
FZ S - 3100
Total Fz - 6954

RTR - 9875 units

Now when guys from TVS see the comments we have made assuming FZ sells more RTR will end up in us being taken as over enthusiastic but not totally professional bloggers who speak facts and rate.

Secondly there are many aspects in which bikes appeal to different people for ex; while you like FZ looks and find it to be the reason to sell guys like Red Apple dont care about looks..they are outright Performance Enthusiasts .. After all wats the point riding a bike that looks amazing but doesnt do anything else too well and isnt involving for a rider one bit. While fatter tyres are liked by you I find them Tractor Like (Again Personal opinions)

Also p[lease be clear before we judge Bajaj coz they do 25k units a month with the pulsars still and are Numero Uno in that segment. Though I dont have a great opinion of the Product but I respect that brand much more than any Yam product which promise a lot but deliver sub optimal power output ... I thought the site is called XBHP.COM and not XSTYLEQUOTIENT.COM.

we are bike crazy guys but pl understand guys there see breathe n drink bikes... they ll know much more than any of us ... i was seeing the way Manan, Joel and Red Apple were interacting in rapt attention when that Arun Siddharth was talking... A guy like Joel knows a thing or two but even he was listening while engaging with Siddharth. Advise to TVS as mentioned by you is a little preposterous as we need to give them their due credit. A lot of trade off and pay offs have to be ascertained while selling by the manufacturers. n a market with our mindset is 10 % of entire market.

My humble appeal freedom to blog on a speacialist site requires moderation so that opinions and facts be ascertained and diffrentiated. Its easy to say bike must have new styling but styling can be ,ade to look new without too many changes with just Decals and change of elements of parts that are visual ... Again for Ex

1098 & bAYLISS Edition .. difference in premium for looks which is only decals in excess of 1000 Euros

1098 and Streetfighter are essentially the same vehicle without faring and with naked lamp.

In recessions no one will take huge tooling expenses of an entire change ... if i think right bAJAJ n TVS will bring out new styles entirely only after recession for that matter Fz and FZ - S will too not change for the next 3 years atleast except for parts such as Maybe a headlamp etc.

Well these are only my views thats all PLease take them in a right spirit!! cheers mates

@HotTread

well said mate. we guys here actually have a narrow mindset. We look at performance machines. Probably why I would not mind the uncomfortable stance of a R15 or RTR because we know what the bikes are meant to be-track tools. but thats only us. The average buyer in spite of all the moolah would still not understand those special tyres on R15 and and goes ahead and buys MRF Meteor.

So yeah. I agree with you when you say that as a manufacturer TVS or Bajaj or even Yamaha not only have to cater the enthusiast but also their accountants - by good sales. Payeng may be wrong with the data but he is right when he says that TVS needs to have some,say, 'bling-bling' to make the rtr180 more appealing, different and a segment up from the hot selling RTR twins. This will be appeal to teh masses, and for us performance junkies, we know that tvs will not disappoint.

@HotTread

There is no doubt about the fact that the FZ16 comfortably outsells the RTR 160 "Fi"... what I had earlier said was about the "Fi" version and NOT the regular RTR.


This is what I had ORIGINALLY said..

Reason for the comparision being both the FZ16 and the RTR 160 "Fi" priced very closely to each other.



Please do not crucify me, as I had never made my choice (between the two) public.. I have ridden the carb RTR 160.. and let me state that "impressed" would be an understatement from me about the RTR 160.. although I have never ridden the RTR 160 "Fi", I can safely assume that it can only be better.


But then my opinion hardly matters does it.. the "aam janata" is currently chosing the FZ16 over the RTR 160 "Fi"


Lets keep an open mind and accept that the FZ16 and even the CBF Stunner are actually case studies for our Desi Bike Makers.





P.S: By the way where can anyone tell me where to get the monthly sales figures of bikes sold in India.. that too with individual model sales breakup..??

Where did u get this data from ?

The RTR 180cc Thread is getting Hotter,Hold Your Horses This Time The TVS Won't Make Mistake(My view)

@All: Every One Is Speaking Of Performance Biking,My Advise Is Let The Indian Bikes Be As Indian Bikes(About This Should Discuss In Another Thread),If You Want Power Performance Save Some & Buy Your Own SBK & Rule The Highways

^^Noblest advice i had ever heard!!

Did you catch a glimpse of the bike?

There is a reason why Fi is selling less because it is still not available in proper numbers with most of the dealerships.
RTR Fi customers are more so the RTR buyers who can increase their budget when they see the colour of the Bike and the graphics which look really cool.
Maybe thats the reason they launched the RTR rd.

The Fi is still not available in rural markets and small towns which is a reason for the low demand.But here in Bhubaneswar, every 1 out of 3 RTRs are Fis.The bike is surely catching the fancy of the buyers.Even the FZ is doing decent numbers.

Response

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Quite true. The fi production daily production is roughly 1/6th the rtr production. I am not sure about this particular policy of TVS.

@Payeng, vehicle manufacturers and component manufacturers get the monthly sales break up of individual companies from SIAM, India. Probably you could write to them from your position as a autombile blogger and get the data .

@HotTread,

its cool bro.. I know you wish me well

TVS and Bajaj are two "desi" companies I admire as an Indian for whatever they have achieved or are striving to do..

If you happen to visit my personal blog, you will realize how not so long ago I had a negative attitude towards the Japanese makers operating in India (strictly because of the kind of products they were dishing out).. but of late I have been made to eat my words with products such as the R15, FZ16 and the CBF Stunner (regardles of the performance level of these bikes)..


But I am happy and confident of the fact that both BAL and TVS will work even harder now and come out with better products (they do not have any other choice).. maybe its just a matter of the economy becoming cheerful once again.


Waiting with high expectations till the RTR 180 is launched.




@SaiAce,

I doubt any manufacurer would share their sales data with me.. what can I possibly give them in return.. also my blog has been inactive for some time now.