1. The Akula will be the first BMW-TVS bike to hit the Indian market.
TVS and BMW have joint hands in a bid to produce a lot of interesting bikes for the future. The first bike from this collaboration is the BMW G310R. Sadly, India will not be getting the bike with the BMW nameplate any soon. However, its TVS cousin is what will be coming to the Indian market. The bike was spied testing for the first time a few days ago and is expected to come next year. The Akula will have the same underpinnings as the G310R. This is an important platform for both the companies. The main aim of the collaboration is to produce sporty bikes between 200 cc and 500 cc.
2. TVS plans to stun the market with the Akula’s pricing.
Though the bike has a larger engine when compared to the KTM Duke RC 200, Rushlane is reporting that the Akula will be priced around Rs 1.5 lakhs. This means it will take on the RC 200 in terms of pricing which is phenomenal. This will surely give KTM sleepless nights.
3. The Akula could be the first affordable bike to feature ram air injection.
TVS has already incorporated the ram air intake in the Apache 4V as a way to improve the cooling system and help them skip out on liquid cooling. However, the same could also be used to increase power as well and TVS may use this technology to improve the output figures of the Akula.
As you know, in an engine, air is sucked into the combustion chamber where fuel is also brought and the combustion takes place. In a normal bike, the air intake is located near the engine of the bike. This means that as the air comes in, it gets heated due to the heat from the engine. Hot air has lesser density which means it has lesser oxygen as well. Lesser oxygen means that it will result in a drop in power. In a ram air injection, the air intake is placed away from the engine allowing cooler air to enter the combustion chamber. Cooler air has higher density and more oxygen adding more power to the bike. This feature is mainly seen only on high end bikes. It will be very interesting if they do bring this technology into lower-end bikes.
4. Aluminum trellis frame makes it race-ready.
This bike will feature a similar kind of frame as that present in the Yamaha R15. The position of the frame is such that it has a low centre of gravity. This will make it a better handling bike. Since TVS is looking at this bike as a track focused one, the one aluminium chassis is surely going to help that. It will also be lighter and stiffer aiding track usage.
5. TVS has developed Akula’s suspension in the race track.
TVS in their introduction video of the Akula said that this one is a track focussed bike mainly. TVS already has 33 years of racing experience. This racing experience is what will be used to make the Akula a more sporty and agile bike. They want to take on the KTM RC models with this bike and that is a big thing. Since TVS has spent so much time on the track with the development of the Akula, it will certainly have great dynamics. Given that this bike is being built by an Indian manufacturer, it is a big deal.
6.Carbon fiber body work seen on the concept.
The concept that was showcased at the 2016 Delhi Auto Expo had a carbon fiber body work. Sadly, that may not make it to the production version. The carbon fiber material will be replaced with plastic bits most likely. Overdrive magazine did report though that a limited run of complete carbon fiber units may make it to the market. This will be similar to the one seen at the Auto expo.
7.Launching in the second quarter of 2017
The Akula is currently being tested in the Indian market. It will therefore only be launched in the first quarter of 2017. The production ready version will feature the same 313 cc engine which does duty on the BMW G310R. It will produce 34 Bhp and 28 Nm. The engine will be mated to a 6 speed manual transmission. The engine will also be race tuned for sporty and enthusiastic ride.
8.Will be a global bike.
It’ll be built by TVS and will be sold not just in India, but globally too. TVS is one bike maker that has a global footprint. Currently it exports bikes and three wheelers to Spain, Latin America, UAE, Bangladesh, and a few African countries. Since the brand name is already popular, there is a chance that TVS may use its name to sell the bike in other global markets.
9.Many concept bits won’t make it to production
The concept that was shown at the Delhi Auto Expo in 2016 had a lot of cool stuff. Some of these however will not make it into production to keep costs competitive. When the bike was shown, it had a lot of machined aluminium bits which looked really cool. The advantage of that is light weight and high strength. Unfortunately, this will make the price go up which TVS is not willing to do. The rear end of the bike looks a lot like the R1’s tail section. That will stay, but it will not be detachable. Also, the Gyrocam is most likely going to be skipped out on.
Finally, Akula means shark in Russian.
This is the inspiration behind the bike’s racy form factor. The term ‘Akula’ means ‘shark’ and is also a class of submarines. Though we hope that TVS retains this name, in production form the Akula nameplate will most likely be dumped for a more traditional Apache RTR 300 name plate or it could even be called Akula RTR 300 if TVS wishes to retain the Akula name plate. Naming it RTR 300 will allow TVS to continue the lineage of the RTR brand name and will also help build the RTR brand name which is already common in India.
