Here comes the first Indian bike to sport ABS and that’s the Apache RTR. From now on even bikes could be termed Fully Loaded. Sounds great Right?
When the ride is on a wet surface, the riders are damn sure about losing their control and there is no second thought on it. Still wanna ride without losing your control? The solution is ABS. Ducati Multistrada, Honda CBR10000RR and Suzuki Bandit are a few of the best motorcycles across the world known for their great performing ABS. Apache is one of the few best products from TVS Racing Team and is now even more refined with the addition of ABS to it.
Now, what does this ABS actually do? Well, in simple terms you ride your bike on a wet surface and brake hard and needless to say you would know what would be the consequences of it. Now, try doing the same with a bike fitted with ABS and you would be stunned to feel that your bike doesn’t stray out of your path even by a single mm.
The ABS for Apache RTR is designed and manufactured by the leading global component maker-Continental. The bike is fitted with a Hydraulic and Electronic Control Unit. This HECU is mounted just behind the engine. What is actually does is that it is fitted with a sensor which constantly monitors the speed of the wheel every 1/10th of a second (Sounds amazing). When the speed of the wheels falls drastically all of a sudden, it regulates a brake pressure which avoids wheel locking, which in turn leads to losing of control over your bike.
Let’s have a few figures to get a clear cut picture of its performance. Expert testers claim that without ABS, Apache RTR takes 2.74 seconds and covers 23.47 metres before coming to a halt from 60 kmph. With ABS, the figures are 2.49 seconds and covers 18.68 metres (only!) at the same speed. This is indeed a good set of figures to analyse.
The most characteristic feature here is that like all international models, this is also fitted with ABS On/Off mode switch which can be observed in the instrument cluster. Depending on your requirement, it could be either activated or deactivated.
Finally, to mention about the price, I personally feel that it would be priced atleast 10-12,000 bucks above the regular RTRs. But, all that you would get for that extra money is safety and a totally new experience of precise braking irrespective of it being used on roads or on tracks.
Regards,
Naren
