Take a look at the motorcycle above and what do you see? A sporty, high-performance naked bike with the rider dragging knee on the race track, right? Judging from the bike’s proportions, it seems that it’s probably rocking a 400-ish cc engine, perhaps one of those new small-displacement naked bikes that are all the rage these days, right?
But this bike isn’t any of these things.
Instead, it’s a commuter motorcycle from Indian manufacturer TVS. Dubbed the Apache RTR 160 4V, this thing is one of India’s most popular motorcycles. It was never really marketed as a sporty machine, rocking some pretty basic components like a steel frame and an air-cooled engine. But in its 2025 iteration, it seems that TVS is leaning in on its sporty side, perhaps in a bid to attract younger riders into the fold.
Beneath the surface, the TVS Apache RTR 160 4V is as standard as it gets. It’s the textbook definition of a commuter motorcycle—simple, easy to ride, upright ergonomics, and most of all, affordable. Over in India, this thing retails for 140,000 rupees, or the equivalent of about $1,700 USD. Heck, it’s even cheaper than a lot of the knockoff motorcycles you’ll find floating around on Amazon or eBay, and it’s from one of the biggest motorcycle manufacturers in the world.
The 2025 model year update gets a bunch of sporty touches, and it’s clear that TVS is milking them dry.
For starters, the bike now receives a gold-anodized inverted fork. Clearly, this has been fitted to make the bike look cooler more than anything else, and hey, it really gives this entry-level commuter a more premium feel. The bike’s angular bodywork and split LED headlight design are carried over from the previous model, but this time it gets a sleeker black and red color scheme.
And then there’s tech. I mentioned before that the Apache RTR was as simple as it gets. And for the most part, this is still true. But TVS has fitted it with features it believes will come in handy for daily commuters. These include TVS’ SmartXonnect, turn-by-turn navigation, and call and SMS alerts. Other than that, this thing is as simple as they get.
It’s powered by a workhorse of an engine, an archaic 160cc air-cooled thumper pumping out 17 ponies and 11 pound-feet of torque. Now, these are by no means performance-oriented figures, but in the densely populated streets and many twisty country roads of India, they’re surely enough to put a smile on your face.
Sources: NDTV, TVS Motor Company
