TVS Victor

The TVS Victor hasn’t received the BS6 update yet raising concerns about its future. With the Radeon doing good numbers, it seems TVS wants to position the Star City Plus as its premium commuter offering. Whether we get to see the Victor make a comeback in a 125cc avatar is something we will have to wait and watch . 

The new generation Victor brings back the nameplate which established TVS in the motorcycle segment. The motorcycle looks modern in every sense, thanks to sharp styling and contemporary features usually seen on one segment above. The 3-valve, single cylinder, 110cc engine offers one perfect blend of performance and fuel economy, while at the same time, it does have a plush feel  in its ride quality.

The TVS Victor belongs to the premium 110cc motorcycle, which has been popularized by the offerings from Honda. The flagship 110cc commuter from Honda, the Livo, is one direct competitor to the TVS Victor, offering similar levels of style, build quality and equipment.

When it comes to design, the new Victor is a far cry from the first generation model, which somewhat had a boxy and bland design. The overall design of the Victor is still functional, but it has now gone on to become something which is contemporary and attractive to look at, something which the previous generation models of the Victor lacked at.

Starting from the front, the new Victor comes with a rakish front fascia, which comes with an angular headlamp surrounded by big plastic bikini fairing, giving the motorcycle a large face, thus making us believe that it has a big bike persona to it. There is a distinct looking daytime running LED strip below the headlamp, a first-in-segment feature.

The fuel tank of the new Victor might remind you of that of the now-discontinued TVS Jive, which is substantially sizeable, making the motorcycle look stylish when viewed sideways. The side body panels and the rear tail section is all new – they do look as if the panels of the previous generation Victor have evolved nicely, with distinct angular lines. The tail lamp at the rear too looks like an evolution of that of the previous generation Victor, which looks big, but isn’t LED which we were expecting. The only grouse in the overall design are the skinny tyres, which rob of the muscular and modern appeal of the overall design.

The modernity and premium appeal of the TVS Victor continues towards the rider’s cockpit as well, with the motorcycle getting a part-digital instrument console. The Victor is only the second bike in its segment to get an analog tachometer and a digital screen for display of speedometer, fuel gauge, odometer and trip meters – the first being the Mahindra Centuro. The switchgear as well as rear view mirrors are straightly lifted off from the Apache RTR 160, which is a good thing, as it is the only motorcycle in its segment to feature an engine kill switch as well. 

TVS has made a number of efforts to position the Victor as a more premium offering over the Star City+, which is why along with the overall design and set of features, it has made changes to the basic powertrain as well. The Victor comes with the same four stroke, single cylinder, air cooled, 109.7cc engine from the Star City+, though it has been extensively reworked to max out different performance numbers from the engine. With a different 3-valve setup, the engine on the Victor produces 9.6PS of power and 9.4Nm of torque, which makes the Victor the most powerful motorcycle in its segment currently.

As reflected by the performance numbers, the Victor impresses you with its strong bottom-end and midrange power, as the motorcycle pulls off nicely, making it feel as if it is a 125cc engine. The engine is mated to a 4-speed gearbox, which has long ratios best suited for making it a commuting friendly motorcycle. As far as refinement is concerned, the Victor is right there at the top of the game along with its Japanese rivals, with the vibrations too kept well under control.

The new TVS Victor gets the same suspension setup as that of the Star City+, with the telescopic hydraulic forks at the front and five step adjustable series spring coil suspension at the rear. All the previous generations of the TVS Victor have been highly regarded for their ride quality and handling, with this new Victor benchmarking all of them as well as its competitors. The 17-inch alloy wheels are here shod with skinny tyres – they do provide sufficient grip, though we would have liked TVS to shod this bike with more appropriate and broad tyres.

The Victor is armed with the best braking setup in its segment, with the motorcycle getting the first-in-class 240mm petal disc brake at the front as an option, with the more basic variant getting a 130mm drum at front. The 110mm drum brake at the rear is standard.

The TVS Victor, being a family commuter, is constructed to offer a safe and reliable riding experience, which is made possible by its well-calibrated suspension assembly consisting of front telescopic fork suspension and rear 5-step adjustable spring coil units. The new models of the bike also come fitted with Auto Headlamp ON (AHO) feature, which allows a clear road visibility and reduces the rate of road accidents.