10 Bike History/Timeline: TVS Victor [2001-2007 (?)]. Why did the TVS Victor fail?

A study in retrospect to understand why the "Victor" brand from TVS had failed..

According to an article published in Business Today:

"Victor, its (TVS) first indigenously developed product launched in 2001, did brisk business initially (selling as many as 40,000 units per month) before a multitude of problems such as rusting of the exhaust pipe, seepage of water into the petrol tank, malfunctioning of the lock, etc., surfaced and sank the product"

In that article senior R&D guys from TVS Motors have admitted that it was quality/durability issues which led to the TVS Victor’s demise. But is it really so?

Even the Bajaj Pulsar which was launched just a couple of months after the TVS Victor has had its fair share of quality issues in the past. Despite that, the Pulsar has now become a legendary brand among Indian Motorcycles.

Could there be some other factors which might have led to its demise?

Although the exact reason for the failure of the TVS Victor brand will remain unclear, posted below are a few of my hypothesis on what could have led to the demise of a once promising brand.

6 TVS to relaunch Victor in India..??

Autocar India says that the TVS Victor might be brought back to life in India..

Trivia. Name the first indigenous motorcycle of India

Ans: Its NOT the Bajaj Pulsar (Nov, 2001) but it was the 110 cc, TVS Victor, which was launched in Aug, 2001 a couple of months before the Bajaj Pulsar..!!

After its "Scooty" brand, the "Victor" brand probably was the most sucessful for TVS..

Back in those days I had to travel nearly the entire stretch of the country from my home in Assam to my Engg. college in Surathkal, Karnataka; and if I can try hard to remember, the TVS Victor did manage to make a decent splash back in those days.

But after a couple of years the Victor lost steam. TVS got busy with its Centra (failed), Star, Apache and Flame series of bikes and before the decade ended, the Victor had seen its last in the Indian market.

The June 2011 issue of AutocarIndia magazine carries a small story that TVS might resurrect the Victor in India. The magazine has published a spy photo of a bike shot from its rear three quarters. The bike looks strikingly similar to the Victor model of yesteryears. The photo seems to have been taken in Chennai, the capital city of the home state of TVS Motor.

13 Updated Yamaha R15 sighted.. Once again..!!

Spy pics of the updated Yamaha R15 caught being tested.. once again..!!

Posted below are the latest spy pics of the updated Yamaha R15.

[Photo Source: xBhp.com]

This is the fourth time that photos of this bike has made its way on the Internet.

First Time: It was in December 2010 when photos of what looked like an updated Yamaha R15 being tested on the roads of NCR (National Capital Region) found its way on the net. The Indian cyber world went into overdrive with crazy speculations.

Second time: International auto publication/sites like Visordown and MCN posted grainy black and white photos of a bike which according to them is an updated Yamaha R15.

Third time: This time a clearer photo of the same bike found it's way to the net. In the photo the bike looked almost production ready and seemed to have been clicked at a production/assembly facility.

Fourth and the latest one: Now the same updated Yamaha R15 has again been sighted on the NCR roads by the same guy "Vaibav Saigal" who had first broken the news of this bike back in December 2010.

But now I have a feeling that the excitement for the updated R15 is losing its novelty. Enough of these spy pics.. It's about time for a proper launch.

26 Kawasaki Ninja 650R for India, Ride Review

Ride Review of the Kawasaki Ninja 650R..!!

Foreword: I am not someone who regularly rides the so called exotic “big bikes”.

This review therefore is basically from the point of view of an Indian “Biker Next Door”. Someone who has been so far limited to riding basically the so called “sporty” commuter bikes.

Couple of day’s back, just before the Kawasaki Ninja 650R was being launched in India; I received an invitation to ride the bike. Unfortunately I could not match my schedule with the ride experience that Bajaj was providing to a couple of prominent Indian auto related sites. However on the day of its official launch, I did get the opportunity to take a couple of laps on the Ninja 650R at the Test Track of Bajaj Auto at Chakan, Pune.

I’d like to thank MG_Biker from xBhp.Com for taking a couple of snaps (posted here) as I rode the bike around the track.

3 Coming Up Next: Kawasaki Ninja 650R Review..!!

Coming up soon.. Review of the Kawasaki "Green Goblin" Ninja 650R..!!

Ride review of the Kawasaki Ninja 650R by me.. coming up soon along with exclusive photos..!!