Today i had taken my bike for a long ride(~200kms), maintaining the 50-55 speed range. The ride was good, bike is stable on the highway but what it really lacks is a sixth gear!! (!!R15!!)
Because in the fifth gear 55-60kms speed is fine, over that the engine strain can be felt.
The shocks absorbed all the minor potholes on the road. It drew a lot of attention from onlookers;-) Finally it has given a great mileage till now(>40) not to mention(touchwood!!), before the first service. I'm planning to give it for service tomorrow.

[QUOTE=Scorcher .abt the sparx rebel helmet ,was it the the only one design they had ,did they hav gp1 helmets too

how to properly run-in?

Hi, i will be buying an Apache 180 within the next 1 or 2 weeks. I wanted to know how to properly run in the bike. I searched for this topic but couldnt find any proper threads so had to start a new one. I cant risk the Motoman's technique so plz dont suggest that.

Query Merged.

Everything with regards to a proper run-in will be mentioned in the manual that you would get with your new bike, I am sure.

And congratulations for choosing the A-180!

A Test Ride Report - RTR 180, by Samarth 619.

Guys, 15 days ago I tested the RTR 160 and what a damn fast bike it was, quite close to my Pulsar 180 UG3 ... & an hour before, I was test riding the brand NEW Apache RTR 180 on the Ajmer Dholabhata Fly overs, with my younger sister...

I tried noticing every aspect of the bike in detail. Firstly, the showroom guy wanted to be with me. I refused and decided to go with my sister.

After my Pulsar 180, what a feeling it was to ride the RTR. Sharp Pointed RV Mirrors, Rear Set Footpegs, Close Clipons, small size, tank extensions and the racy white tachometer, all reminded me of the R15 Test a few months back, and literally dragged me into a mood to race! But, this was road, so I set off slowly...

The machine is very punchy and the gears are well spaced. The Silencer grunt is similar to RTR 160 (read punchy). I noticed that upto 4000 rpm, it behaved like a damn smooth machine...

Beyond 4000, vibrations started creeping in slowly to the handlebars & footpegs, right all the way upto 7000 rpm. However, these were quite improved compared to the RTR 160 I ridden earlier (160 was a real vibrational Attyachaar! Even more vibrations than my Pulsar I'm sure)

Also, I was surprised to see that around 5000-6000 rpm, the tacho itself began to vibrate slowly. The good news is that the vibrations ended at 7000 rpm. However, let me tell you that I took it upto 7500 rpm only...

Still, RTR vibrates noticeably less than my Pulsar180 UG3. Just a mild tingling in 4-7 krpm zone, and you can live with it easily.


Frankly speaking, this machine is not meant for low end punch. And it has not improved noticeably over 160 in this aspect, maybe a little but that's about it.
However, the mid range did seem stronger, and this bike is damn eager to raise hell, with the mid end!

Speedo-meter was very responsive, It updated like 3-4 times per second or so.

Tyres are NOT grippier guys, not even comparable to my Pulsar's stock MRF. Maybe, they are a bit better than RTR 160, but that's it! Some serious MRF's will give you courage to lean hard, as the suspension and chassis seem quite planted compared to my Pulsar. Believe me guys, a new set of tyres will unleash this bike's braking, cornering, etc. by a huge margin. What good is that 270 mm disc without grippy tyres, I ask?

Halfway through the ride, the fuel was empty, and before my sister could lay some girly abuses to my sorry face, I took the bike immediately to a nearby petrol pump, and filled Rs. 30 worth of petrol, and took it back to Service Station.

In all, This machine is going to face tough competition from Pulsar 180, and I DARE SAY the new Pulsar 220 too ... I mean, RTR's ex-showroom is 65900, barely Rs. 4000 away from 220cc bike which is now much better than its iteration... What makes more "VFM & Performance" sense? RTR 180 (66k) or P220 (70k)? You answer that ...

Finally, if I had to say something to the RTR 180, it would be "Dear RTR, I salute your fighting spirit. Still, Wishing you the Best of luck, as seriously, you're going to need it! For sure" ... Thanks guys for reading. Any Comments?

[QUOTE=anirudh fz1;235905][QUOTE=Scorcher .abt the sparx rebel helmet ,was it the the only one design they had ,did they hav gp1 helmets too[/QUOTE]
They (Balaji) have a good collection including AGV but dont know about the GP1.They have other models of Sparx also, but generally not kept for display, you have to specifically ask for it.
@All;
What model of K&N filter can i use for my A180? And where in Bangalore can i get the best price???

Nice writeup dude. LOL at taking your sister so that the showroom guy can take a hike!

vibes will not completely disappear as it's still an oversquare, single cylinder in a high state of tune.

and there's no way tvs tyres will come close to mrfs. in fact i broke my leg due to tvs tyres but that's another story!

Can't believe this... you are actually praising MRF?? The Zapper Y on my CBZ-X is probably the worst tyre I'v used. Fishtails like nuts even if there is li'l sand or water! In fact even if there is nothing, it will happily fishtail on hard braking! MRF tyres seem to be most hard compound... bad grip and long life. Even Dunlops have better grip.

Thats just my experience. It may be that some models like Zapper Q are better (at least on tarmac). No experience with them personally though.

Ride a RTR with TVS tyres.....u'll change ur opinion

+1 Do you know how I felt leaning on the flyover turn with the new RTR?

You wouldn't believe it, my balls were shivering in fear ...!! Well, almost.

---
@ julian paul: Thanks ... Well, it was still quite refined for an Indian Bike. Oh, I know those Srichakra's don't do justice to 270mm's disc, but you broke a leg due to it! Well, Hope you recovered quick ...

Well TVS tyres aint really that bad to be totally written off. I never faced any problem with cornoring with those tyres. My only problem was with wet patches and gravel.

Otherwise i have'nt had a single problem coz of the tyres in all the 33k kms i have done! (execpt for a small skid on a wet patch while cornoring @30-35kmph)

But i heard tht 180 tyres are bettr than the 160's!

Yes, u r right!

Didnt u replace your tyres even under warranty?

Front i already changed by myself @ 28k kms and the rear was changed during the last service......they could'nt find a new tyre so they put in a tyre used by TVS stunters(heay burnouts). I dint object as i'll anyways be changing to another tyre in a few days

^ Maybe I got too used to my Pulsar's grip. My bad ...

Of course, 180's tyres are better than 160, especially at the rear... I felt it noticeably.
The size changed but nevertheless, it seems the tyre compound didn't change.

Somehow, I couldn't gather enough guts to corner hard. I might have leaned on the RTR, say 50-60% of what my pulsar was capable of. I might raise it to 80% with more time, that might be it...

you're absolutely right. the zapper-y is the worst tyre in india. as bad as the tvs ones. back in the day of cbz (classic) and karizma the zapper-y was the bone of contention with the dunlop geo-cruiser (it was called something else back then) emerging clearly superior. partly due to the centre groove and partly due to a better tread and compound. not that the cruiser didn't last. best indian tyre of all time hands-down.

but the new mrfs are a world apart man. the ones one the r-15 are probably the best tyres in india today and looks like the new p220s are gonna get the same compound too. dunno about the Q personally, but the zapper-c which is doing duty on all the pulsars these days is another marvel. not as good as the geo but probably the 3rd best indian tyre.

quick ??!! how about 2 months on crutches, and six years later my leg still reminds me about the crash (partly my fault for not removing the two steel plates and about 15 screws four years ago) !

but more than tvs i'd blame adil j. d. for calling those tyres "probably the best tyres in india today" in a review, which lead me to blindly go and buy them. guess we learn some things the hard way (a little too hard in my case!)

the 180s rear tyres probably just feel better because of the extra mm. nothing else.

satish, i've had my stock FI tyres for more than 10k km now (way too long!) and i too can say i've had no problem. but what we are talking about are how the damn tyres keep you from pushing the bike to its full potential. heck most turns i used to take atleast 5kmph faster on my boxer ! (with mrfs)

it is a HUGE shame how bad the tyres are, anyone who hasn't changed them simply doesn't know what the rtr is capable of.