This June, my TVS Victor will complete 5 years of service, so I thought a review would help those wanting to buy a used TVS Victor (you can’t buy new since TVS has phased out its production), and will help some of you owning this vehicle decide the right time to sell it off. The TVS Victor is made to seem like a very reliable and efficient bike, providing “More smiles per hour” as Sachin would have liked to tell us in those ads. I would agree to a certain level that the bike is reliable. But so is every other non-computer-chip operated 4stroke, 100cc carb. engine. What differentiates one bike from the other, is the point.

The Victor is a 110cc carb. 4 stroke engine with 4 gears and with regular spoke wheels and drum brakes. On first looks, it doesn’t look a stunner, but you tend to get used to the looks and you start liking it with every passing day. The seats are plush and quite comfortable and the ‘pleather’ has lasted through these five years with not a wrinkle or tear. Alas, the comfort factor lasts only for a few minutes, as I discovered on longer rides, when my bum really starts to ache and pain to the point where I have to shift my position on the seat once every few minutes. Not good. The bike’s handling is average, as long as you don’t try gymnastics when you are maneuvering through a turn. Keeping the bike straight, I found out that the brakes work very well and the tires hold up without skidding or throwing you over. Unfortunately, the same doesn’t hold true for bends and curves as understood from my fall at 10kmph on a slight turn. Rides on my bike have never been the same again. Braking, like mentioned before, holds up quite well and has triggered many a question from pillion riders if I had disc brakes. Once,my bike had to come to a complete stop from 50kmph since some wise guy had decided to cross that road at that ultimate moment. I braked and kept the handle steady and that was all I required to stay alive and on the bike.

The ride quality of this machine is heavily dependent on its engine. The TVS Victor’s engine is not a very smooth running one, what with terrible vibrations at 45kmph and then at around 70kmph in its 4th gear.

On trips longer than 10 minutes, you really start to feel your fingers feeling numb from the vibrations reaching the handlebar from the engine, especially if you are riding at cruise speeds of around 40-45kmph in the city. This bike either has a terrible problem, or has been mounted on some terrible engine mounts since I am yet to see any bike vibrate so badly. The suspension, on this bike speaks quality and has never given me any trouble. All the attention it needed was the one change of fork oil at its regular interval. The shock absorbers in the rear and the front really do their job in absorbing the cruel road conditions in India and hold up even at high speeds. One complaint, again, is of the poor handling during turns, which might be partly because of the suspension, but I cannot be sure. The ride position of this bike is that of a regular city bike for rides under 20min. Any ride lasting longer will surely get your spine asking for rest and over time, a deserving massage.

I have ridden bikes comparable to the Victor – Hero Honda’s Splendor and the Passion, Bajaj’s Platina and Yamaha’s Libero and found all other bikes to be far smoother and to have much better handling than the TVS Victor. The Libero was one bike that impressed me the most with its ultra-smooth engine and the sweet purrs of the engine with every gear shift. Surely, a Yamaha bike.

Now, the economy. ‘Mileage kitna detaa hain?’ – is a typical question on the mouths of every Indian even if the bike in context were a Hayabusa. The Victor definitely lives upto expectations, but what else can you expect from a puny 110cc, if not some decent fuel economy? In the first two years, whenever I calculated, I observed very high fuel economy, in the range of 75-83 kmpl, 83 being the highest that I ever noted, during the second year. Over time, and as I moved to a bigger city with messy stop-n-go traffic, the fuel economy started to drop down to the levels of 60-65 kmpl, with 45 being the lowest when the vehicle was due for a service. There is nothing more evil for fuel-economy watchers than dirty air-filter and older oil. Other factors which come into play are air-pressure, amount of braking, excessive acceleration, pollutants/oxygen availability in the air, and more. The list will exhaust you.

Quality of service, parts, and of the vehicle. The dealer where I bought my bike provided excellent service, and always made me a happy customer. There was another authorized TVS service shop nearby that also provided good customer service, and reliable vehicle repair. But that was Warangal. Come Hyderabad, and all I get are small, crampy service stations with technicians that look similar to those at the road-side repair shop. Not impressed.

The bike, in its first 3 years was a pleasure to ride, with minimum repairs and repairs came cheap. Soon enough, the vehicle started showing its age, with the plastic loosening at many a place, the one under the seat being the most irritating. The rear-view mirrors lose their rubber protectors, and the plastic turns an ugly grey from a beautiful black. The small storage space under the battery is protected by a cover with lock and key. This lock had to be replaced twice since it gets broken so very easily. The key, when it goes into the ignition and is turned on, cannot be usually removed without having to switch off the engine. Now, thats gone kaput too, since I can now ride the bike without the keys in the keyslot. Just turn the key to Ignition and pull it out. The tires on this bike held up their threads for a very long time, and I’m impressed with the quality of these TVS tires. I finally had to replace my rear tire before last year’s monsoon since I wouldn’t trust old tires on our country’s awesome ‘roads-to-be’ in the monsoons. The wheels, on the other hand, are a painful pair in the ass. I have had to true these wheels umpteen number of times, and these tend to bend and go out of shape with the slightest of the potholes our roads have to offer. Each time, I have to shell out something around Rs.50/- only to have to go back a few potholes later.  Poor quality. The battery from Amco-Yuasa is an impressive battery that lasted these 5 long years without the slightest glitch ever. The battery finally declared its demise after the past few months of non-use. The ball bearings at the fork and the front wheel also showed their age or rather their inability to handle high quality Indian roads since they had to replaced recently for a whopping Rs800/-.

Overall, the Victor is a sweet bike, meant for the ultimately delicate, mileage seeking, back-breaking-ready driver who might forego his right to better quality for a lower initial price and reliability, something which this bike ain’t got! I’d strongly suggest that you don’t buy a used Victor if its more than a couple of years old, and if you own one, then I recommend you sell it by the end of its 3rd or utmost 4th year and get one of ‘em new computer-controlled Bajaj bikes since they offer better value for money for the same fuel-economy and for similarly priced after-market parts and service.

I rarely write reviews and it is only when I find a quality product that I do. This is a review for the Casio F91W-1 watch – an ideal watch for those simply looking to keep time, but are also looking for a durable watch. I purchased this watch nearly 6 months ago from Amazon for $11. I was ideally looking for a digital watch that I could wear round the clock without worrying about water getting into it, or it being scratched. I found what I was looking for. The watch’s scratch proof plastic was put to test during these months of rough use in an environment that requires moving around large objects, and dealing with sharp edges and doors. I also wear it when I’m sleeping so I don’t have to fumble for my cellphone for time if I wake up in the wee hours of the night. Its also got a very useful yellow-green LED light that lets you see time in the dark. While this little light isn’t the brightest or the best, it does its job well of letting you keep time. I’ve read that this watch used to sport a regular bulb until a few years ago when it was replaced with an LED. Might save battery. But who cares, since its said that people have hardly had to replace the battery on theirs. According to reviews on Amazon, there are some who’ve used the watch for 10+ years not having to bother about batteries.

To summarise, this watch is a simple digital time keeper with extreme durability, reliability, and a battery that you’ll never have to worry about. For those looking for a better looking glow light in their watch, Casio also has a Illuminator – F105W – 1A. This is a slightly modified version of the classic F91W-1. My friend bought this a couple of days after I bought my Classic. Apparently, he was looking for something simple too. He keeps making fun of my rather boring LED and tries to show off his blue illuminator. I have to admit that it does look cool while still retaining its classic casio look.

Here are links to both these watches on Amazon:

<- Casio Men’s Classic Black Digital Resin Strap Watch #F91W-1

<-Casio Men’s Illuminator Digital Watch #F105W-1A