New TVS Victor review, test ride

110 forever

The Victor comes with a four-stroke, 109.7cc, single-cylinder engine that is air cooled, with button start. It’s a three-valve powerplant dubbed '3V Ecothrust' in TVS marketing parlance. Twin inlet ports are fed by a CV-type carburettor – a novelty for this segment of commuter bikes. The new Victor comes with larger airbox, and TVS' R&D has spared no effort to ensure torque output is class benchmark. The new motor is good for a power output of 9.5bhp available at 8,000rpm, while maximum torque available is 0.96kgm, put out at 6,000rpm.

The new engine immediately succeeded in conveying a nice, refined feel, with snappy throttle response, and flawless character. Power delivery is always smooth and buzz-free, even when riding fast, pulling revs higher than required on a commuter bike. The powerband is wide, with a reasonable spread of bottom and mid-range performance always available.

The gearbox is smooth-shifting, via a heel-and-toe lever, and the motorcycle clutch feels light, with just the right progression dialed-in.

A highlight to the new Victor engine is TVS having spring loaded the rocker arms. We immediately put this to test, hammering the bike at high revs for a couple of laps around the TVS test track at Hosur, then getting our helmets off and training our ears on the engine, to listen in for any tappet noise, common on small-capacity, air-cooled engines. The springs do work, for as hard as we tried, we couldn’t get the Victor to make any tappet clatter.

Performance feels just as quick as expected from a 110cc motorcycle, and very close to even some more upmarket 125cc bikes.