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It wasn’t going well. I’d only just got the TVS Flame, and for once, we decided to get the photography out of the way before we put it through the test cycle, through performance runs and so forth. And not only had I almost crashed twice trying to get a half-decent stoppie out of the bike, I was now acutely aware of the greasy sensation that says, ‘You just lost the front, buddy boy.’ Blame slow reflexes or praise great machine control, but I did get something right. Which is probably what saved the slide. The TVS Flame did recover, no, I didn’t push it back up like Colin Edwards or any such. For a moment or two there, it teetered on the brink of the ‘smash Shumi to little bits’ line before recovering calmly like nothing happened. An unexplained 220 bpm from beating heart and an innocent looking TVS that says, ‘I didn’t do it.’
Okay, first of all, I’d like to clear something up. If you look at the test times, you will notice that the times aren’t all that great, especially the braking numbers. I’d like to clarify that the numbers are an anomaly caused by a damaged front tyre. Initially, we were a bit surprised at the lack of feel from the front, its constant threat of sliding right out too early and its inability to grip the road under really hard braking. Later, we found that the tyre, probably during transport, had suffered some sidewall damage. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to score a fresh front tyre. But I promise you fresh test numbers once we get a new front tyre. How ruined were the tyres? The braking times are in the same region as the drum-braked Access on our test bikes. Thankfully, BSM has ridden three other Flames before our test bike and we’ll use that as a basis to work around any damaged-tyre related problems. Sorry about this. To the Flame, then.
Let’s start from the usual place, the look, name, fit and build. I like the name, although that tag line is just too cheesy for words. ‘Aag lagegi?’ Please. Pyromaniac woulda sounded better. Anyhoo. The styling is cheeky for a humble commuter and the KTM-ish squared off lines do look rather good. Even in traffic, between the flush-mounted indicators and a distinctive bikini fairing, the Flame got a lot of attention. Good job there. Fit and finish are good too, but the plastic lid on the tank cubby hole feels like it’d scratch easily and the sidepanels are a fair fiddle to open. You want to check battery fluids? You’ll need time, patience, a screwdriver, a pan for a bunch of screws and then some. That said, build quality is TVS-typical good, and nothing will rattle easily on this one.
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