With new motorcycles getting bigger each year—and, by extension, progressively more expensive—it might just be up to small-capacity bikes to save the industry. But while Western manufacturers like Triumph and Harley-Davidson have only just started dipping their toes into these waters, companies in the East have made small bikes their bread and butter.
TVS Motor Company doesn’t produce a single bike over 312 cc. But they’re India’s third-largest motorcycle manufacturer, sell around three million units annually, and own Norton. They also helped develop the BMW 310 R and 310 GS—and then put that same motor in the TVS Apache RTR 310.
A sibling to the fully-faired RR 310 sportbike, the TVS Apache RTR 310 is a naked roadster with frenetic streetfighter styling.…