We first met TVS spanking New Apache RR 310 on a racetrack and there it
impressed us hugely but now we are getting to spend some quality time to
the RR and we are throwing it the biggest test that it needs to deliver it
and that is the real world
the RR 310 it looks cool doesn't it and actually what we have to find out is
does it run cool or not TVS made a huge rua about the
special vans and a fairing which helps to keep the heat off the riders legs
while commuting so there's only one way to find out whether it works or not
commuting when you're traveling at slow speed on any performance bike the heat
is impossible to escape as the engine heats up the radiator fan kicks in and
sends hot air straight towards the riders legs but the RR has chimneys with
suck hot air from the radiator and shoot them down while the rearward inclined
cylinder does emanate some heat the overall impressions were clear
bottom line the RR 310 works as advertised which means even in stock go traffic we
don't get the heat wash on to your legs you don't have to take our word for it
we're going to show you
you what we're gonna do with it here's how we've set up the RR it's been
standing at idle for about 20 minutes now which means the temperature is nice
and I 107 degrees on the readout here and this is how we're gonna use this
this is my palm we're going to take the temperature there we go we get a nice
laser spot on it to see where it's aimed at once we have that readout this is
going to be our control so it's hovering at about thirty four point four to
thirty yeah that's about it thirty four point five degrees we're gonna place it
where usually the air comes out from and hold it there for about ten seconds and
take a measurement there we go straight away there's a jump right from the start
point in terms of overall temperature
gonna move to the down here where once the fan comes on it's such the air from
as 36.5 so that's about two degrees more than what we saw earlier and now we're
gonna move to the down here where once the fan comes on it's such the air from
where the radiator and exits it out from here from this chimney so when I place
my palm here and get a read out let's see this again starts off at a much
higher level and this is just in about ten seconds that is going to this level
we know what that feels like right scales your thai in this case my palm 46 degrees about
burning up over there and prolonged exposure to this kind of air force yeah
we know what that feels like right scales your thai in this case my palm 46 degrees about
friendly and the RR 310
cause for concern because that could mean that it isn't all that Street
friendly and the RR 310
the basics in case you have forgotten the RR has a 312 cc single-cylinder
liquid-cooled engine and it makes thirty four PS of power but what matters here
is the torque you'd be surprised with the RR in
traffic as you can carry a gear even to higher than what you might imagine even
in fifth it'll cruise along in the city so while
the peak talk of 27.3 newton meters is made at seventy seven hundred rpm the
action starts right from two thousand rpm in our measured roll-on deaths the
RR was surprisingly fast almost enough to keep pace with the more powerful KTMs
this also helps with a fuel efficiency that the RR returning 31.1 km per litre in the
city also keep in mind that the clutch lever is light enough and the gear
shifts are precise although a bit clunky
we said it before we'll say it again this motorcycle has a whole lot of
torque coming in at low rpms which is why it's great for commuting you can
just dawdle around in third gear at 20 kilometres an hour even with the pillion
onboard open the gas and it will get going and that's not all while it is
very talky and responsive at the same time it won't feel slow open the gas it
is properly peppy as well
so the heat management asked for commuting the performance from the
engine up for commuting but what about the suspension and the ergonomics
the hardware is a top spec trellis frame with 41 mm upside down forks and the
front and a monoshock at the rear while this is sporty in
terms of spec the RR is tuned for street use and it just glides over bumpy roads
potholes and speed breakers there really isn't much to faulted for yes it takes a
little getting used to in the way it just suddenly tips into corners but
after a quick adjustment you'll find that making you terms or riddling
through traffic is a breeze even the seating position is good for all sizes
of riders tall short or wide well as we all expected the seating position is a
bit sporty but not sporty enough to tire you out while commuting in fact if some
of you feel that you get a bit of pain in your wrists after adding the RR in
the city I've got a small tip for you as standard the levers for the brakes and
the clutch are set a bit flat all you need to do is loosen these bolts turn
them down a bit and then your arm and your fingers will be in one line and
that will help relax your posture significantly
one thing's clear this suspension setup is meant to flatter bad roads you can go
over bumpy sections over speed breakers it smoothly in fact the rear can be
stepped up in terms of stiffness for sportier riders but the front overall is
set on the softer side kind of the focus of this motorcycle maybe but don't get
me wrong if you wanted to ride hard and faster on a set of corners the RR we've
shown you that before can do that pretty well and what about the pillion seat we
need to stress this that
this is PD and with our weights combined the RR was really being put through a
stress test and couple of things became very clear to me even with the pillion
onboard this apache didn't feel wobbly or nervous to steer at low speeds and
despite the additional load the engine pulled without any stress and asked for
the billion seat yes you do sit high up and worst of all the seat is very hard
so
well the pillion seat our advice don't stress test it yeah it needs petite
people for company maybe with not so than generous
proportions in length or width and they'll be better off on shorter
distances because that seats really isn't all that wide and well the foot
pegs are quite up so if you actually break it does load up a lot and this
bike unlike the bikes that is talked doesn't
have the grab handle on one side which you do need for the pillion it's no
surprise that in terms of seating position the RR feels comfortable
on the city but what is impressive is that this small little screen provides
significant wind protection even upwards of 100 kilometers an hour and that is a
big plus when you're clocking a lot of kilometres
on the open road the RR wind tunnel design shape proves to be very effective
even at triple digit speeds it keeps the wind off a five foot six inch rider very
effectively also the fuel efficiency of 35.9 km per litre for this class of
motorcycle but this is where things start to go a bit off firstly the engine
actually the wipes try cruising at triple digit speeds and you're sure to
be left with tingling palms and feet between six and seven and a half
thousand rpm the buzz becomes quite apparent through the seat through the
tank panels and even through the pegs the vibrations if you're crashing it out
on the track are something you could deal with because you're constantly
moving around but touring long distance is just sitting in the saddle and having
nothing much to meditate on other than your motorcycle or the surroundings that
buzz can kill the buzz of the road trip a bit but having said that if you stay
below about 90 kilometres an hour you'll find the going nice and smooth
what else well there are a few other areas where the RR feels a bit annoying
toggling through the on-screen menus is a bit taxing and the throw from the
headlamps while good didn't feel as impressive as we expected and well
that's it everything else is top-notch look at the
switchgear the mirrors the paint finish the decals and the beautiful fasteners
for the ferry the overall design is properly head-turning and at two lakh
rupees the RR is walking the line between sensible and
exciting really quite well we were expecting a lot from the RR 310
too much maybe but let's sum it all up as we saw today be the ergonomics the
suspension or the engine this is a very commute friendly motorcycle and yes it
could be a little bit better on some fronts for instance for higher speed
long distance travel the buzz from the engine the panels in the seats can get
quite annoying and that aside the sport riders would have wanted a more focused
suspension setup better bite from the brakes but then aside you look at what
the Apache RR 310 has to offer and you realize that this has come
pretty close to striking that sweet balance between being sporty and
practical on the whole we still hold what we sell at first this is a very
impressive motorcycle