I'm also confused like all other people about making a choice between ZMR and RTR 180 ABS.

1. Which bike stands longer if giving average maintenance ( in terms of years ) ?
2. Please let me know the mileage of both of them too?
3. Spare parts of ZMR are costly no doubt but how often do you need them?

Please reply quickly because i don't have much time to make a choice.
thanks in advance

Here's your "quick" reply ..

- ZMA is more specifically for Touring,RTR is for City Fun.
- Longevity of any bike depends on how well it is maintained. All bikes are designed to provides years and years of service.
- RTR 180 should provide you mileage of around 40, depending on your driving habits

Hope this makes it simple for you to choose.

Yeah, dont forget to take a test drive of both and then YOU decide and do not ask anyone else, since you'll be riding the bike!

Enjoy !

reply in bold letters..

Thanks, ya he sure is honest. By the way went to showroom yesterday and had a last minute fight with him over phone about which one to buy, R or ZMR. Interestingly he was forcing me to buy ZMR but I was adamant towards R . Ya I know, generally it's the opposite way with other father son duos. But I couldn't convince myself to spend 22K more of my dad's hard earned money for a fairing and few other gadgetry. So still my bike remains unbooked.

if you'll add up the price of individual things which added to ZMA to make it ZMR then that price is worth..specially this PGM-FI & if you are a tourer & love to ride on places of high altitude then its lambda sensor will come handy there plus you'll get rear disc for better braking..clip ons for better handling..better cooling..arguably best digi console among Indian bikes..fairing mounted RVM's..TT tyres..better(crisp) pickup & slightly better topend..better mileage figures..fresh look which isn't outdated at all..better power from its dynamo to support more electrical needs of your bike..

still ZMA-R also is a good option if you won't like to have those extra features..

Thanks for your inputs. Around Bangalore I don't have any high altitude place to go, no plans for Leh Ladakh. Regarding Reard Disc, AFAIK rear discs are more prone to locking as during breaking the bike weight is transfered to the front part(that's the reason for making it smaller than front disc). So without ABS rear disc is better avoided IMO. TT tyres, well I any way plan to upgrade to Pirelli or Michelin TT tyres which are better than MRF TT tyres. Digi console doesn't provide any extra info above ZMA-R, A gear indicator as in Suzuki GS150 would have been really helpful.
Ya so I will weigh these and other points and see.

if you are fine with those points which you explained above & which you skipped as well then you are good to go with ZMA-R..
one more thing is ZMR got better pillion comfort as well due to its iGRS..just for sake of an info..rear disc doesn't lockup every time you press it..it locks only if you press it in wrong manner or you can read it as suddenly in nervousness..

Ya I know, and yes I am going to get nervous very easily as this is my first bike.
I have driven bikes before but not much in dense city traffics.

that shouldn't be much of a problem..once you'll get ANY bike, you'll get used to it soon..

thanks for your quick reply.....

just one last query ... i have heard a lot from my friends about the vibrations that RTR give on reaching 60 or above...

the vibes in new RTR is pretty much less almost no vibes mine is just 6 months still know no props rock solid it really fun
and both RTR and ZMA are different bikes why dont you try RTR ABS

The vibes

The vibes will be there... but its more like something that needs you to rev even more. In a 160 it takes place between 55 and 65, so a similar range would be there in 180. People might shout all throughout their lives about vibes in RTR but thats what gives it a brusque, rough character.

Either you love an RTR or u hate it. You won't come across many who would say its an "okayish" bike.

There are more important quality issues which u shoul be aware of in RTR. The rusting in exhaust pipe and/or chain. RTR is light so performance takes a backseat with a pillion.

In quality of build and touring performance, Karizma is a better bet, but RTR is completely worth the money.

My friend owns latest apache rtr 180 april 2011 batch he loves every thing about the bike except the heavy vibs my god the handle vibs too much changed to castrol power one just a few days back still the vibs didnt dissapeared and one more the apaches powerdelivery becomes too weak with pillion i know with pillion every bike looses its power due to the weight factor but apache180 is too weak to deliver good amount of power with pillion.

My vote goes to zma but now a days finding the spares is a very big issue

Zma vs rtr 180

Now the real take after nearly two years of RTR 180 ownership and one hardcore Leh trip, flying nearly 3 feet in the air over a milestone lying in the middle of road.The bike returning to me back after nearly 1 and half month of my Leh trip because of the cloud burst and no roads available to come back from Leh. Using the bike for touring in ghats/plain stretches of good roads.

I shunned away ZMA for the thrill of owning a RTR 180 which makes your heart throb at the way it accelerates and handles. Do i regret the decision? The answer is NO.
I took a calculated risk of not going for ZMA inspite of knowing ZMA is better in touring aspects.Do i regret the decision? The answer is Yes and No both. Yes because touring becomes a pain with the RTR 180's sporty posture and cramped seating position.(I am going for a RTR 180 handle lift modification, will talk about it later once I am done with it). No because I thank TVS for not giving a huge fairing like ZMA which is extremely prone to damage. Thanks TVS for hard as rock tubeless tyres which did not even leak air pressure in complete Leh trip. And want to seriously slap the TVS designers for selecting the worst hard compound tyre available on earth which has nearly no grip in wet. It was a horrible experience with it in Leh. Spoiled the entire fun of riding in wet conditions during Leh trip.
Still love the bike for its riding experience in city and on twisties.
Rear disk brake pad didnot last long just 6500 kms might be due to Leh ride. Front disk brake pads got glazed during a Konkan trip heavy braking in twisties. Had to replace the front pads at 8k kms but lost all the braking grip levels which the earlier pads used to produce. New ones are Nissin pads. Had a fall with my wife,due to bad hard compound rear tyre and also due to the more rounded profile of the tyre which leaves less contact patch in straight ahead wet driving.
I am left now with a vibrating rear mud guard as its stiffener was not able to withstand the load of the bracket which i fabricated to shift the rear turn indicators more backwards to accomodate the saddle bags.
I have a oil seal leakage at the gearbox shift lever shaft.(I heard many Apache's are prone to this)
I spoiled my rear disk by not changing the disk pad in time inspite of it making metal contact noises.
I am still getting 40 kmpl. I got an average 43 kmpl in my Leh trip.
Some one lifted my bike during truck transportation with the front petrol tank fenders( styling plastic parts) and one of the screw has broken and is vibrating.
The vibrations have increased but never been a source of pain/headache to me but yes the grinder noise the engine makes in that particular rpm range is irritating.

For Long term use, Touring.

The ZMA Is winner.

I had done comparison with many other Indian bike.

The Engine of ZMA is a real winner