2018 TVS Ntorq 125 long term review, third report

The theme for this month’s report is fuel. The Ntorq is a delightfully quick number, but if you aren’t reserved with your throttle hand, you will find yourselves getting very friendly with your neighbouring fuel-pump attendant. I cover about 40km a day on the scooter and typically hold speeds between 50 and 80kph. At this speed, and with generous throttle openings to quickly overtake anything that comes my way, the Ntorq has never returned more than 35kpl. I don’t mind this because I enjoy the pace the Ntorq can so comfortably carry. Of course, if you ride at slower speeds and lazily flow with the traffic, the scooter becomes a lot more efficient, but I just can’t seem to get myself to do so. Nevertheless, this isn’t the scooter for those who love to squeeze every possible bit out of the fuel tank.

Keeping with the theme, the Ntorq’s digital fuel gauge isn’t very accurate and it almost always drops two bars within just 15km of filling up. The bars stay in the mid-range for a long time, and then the final two bars fall as quickly as the first two.

Another quirk appears at the pump, where the external fuel-filler cap refuses to stay open when the scooter is on the side stand. This is because the cap is hinged on the opposite side to the side stand, which means it drops shut when the scooter is leaned onto the stand. Finally, the neck of the fuel tank is very narrow towards the top and despite warning the pump attendant, some fuel almost always spurts out the top when the tank is filled to the brim.

Recently, the engine was starting to feel a little rough and the throttle hesitant, but the last service addressed all those issues. The rear brake had also gone soft a couple of times in the past few weeks and TVS replaced the drum shoes at the service as well. This was at around the 4,000km mark, and while I do tend to use quite a lot of rear brake on a scooter, it’s still too quick for the shoes to wear out, so I’ll be keeping an eye on the new ones.

In the last report, I complained that the Ntorq’s mirrors distort quite badly around the edges, which gets distracting. TVS sent a pair of replacement mirrors across that are much better, and while they still warp the image a little towards the edges it’s no longer an issue.

If this report sounds negative, I must remind you that all the Ntorq’s plus points remain intact. The performance, comfort and convenience are still enjoyable, and segment-leading. We’re nearly one year down the road with the Ntorq and the daily commute is still something I enjoy.

Also see:

2018 TVS Ntorq 125 long term review, first report

 2018 TVS Ntorq SXR video review