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Mod of small things
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Apache, Shaolin and Shogun - three radically light and quick TVS warriors
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The three bikes you see here are useless... for everyday transport, that is. But if you are the kind that lives on the fringe of thrill-seeking insanity, these machines are guaranteed to keep you in a lifetime of goose bumps.
Although you might not be able to identify the three modded bikes here, let us assure you, these are bikes you see every day. A TVS trio - Apache, Shaolin and Shogun, these lean machines have been worked over for drag racing events TVS participates in. While the first one, the Apache, is a four-stroke, the latter two are two-strokes and sadly, are not in production any longer.
TVS has concentrated on the Shaolin in particular. Squeezing out every inch of power from the 138.2cc bike is critical to fend off potent competition from the modified Yamaha RD 350s on the racing circuits. The Shaolin is unique in using lightweight aluminium for its axles and upper fork tube construction. Minimal weight is the order of the day. It's got additional holes drilled at every conceivable place, including the engine crankcase, swingarm and steering column headstock area.
Staying lean is important for the rider too. TVS racers survive on fruit juices and a meagre diet of chapatis and daal a few days before each event. Their normal body weight of 52 kg gets pared down to 48 on a race day!
Small is beautiful
The three bikes look extremely puny, a fact further accentuated by their thin wheels, which seem to have been taken from a bicycle. It seems that TVS engineers have taken immense attention in taking weight off every part of the bikes to attain the best power-to-weight ratio. All the bikes have miniscule fuel tanks that manage to contain just enough fuel for a run down the drag strip. Lights, indicators and other such frills have been completely removed to ensure that weight remains minimal.
While the Apache and Shaolin use extensively modified frames, the Shogun's frame bears a close resemblance to the street-legal bike it is based on. TVS has used a monoshock rear suspension on both the former bikes while the latter retains a dual shock. Foot-pegs are tiny and all possible parts are aluminium replacements. The gear and rear brake levers are alloy as well. Being powerful and super light, you'd expect the brakes to be super big units. Well, they are not. Again, weight, or its reduction was the priority and as a result, the bikes get rather meagre-spec 70mm drums in front and 110mm units in the rear.
What is hi-tech is the amount of work that has gone into the powertrains. The four-stroke Apache has completely altered inlet tract dimensions, heated up cam-lobes, as well as larger valve seat areas opening into the combustion chamber. All three bikes use specially tuned exhausts.
The secret to gaining better power for each kilo the bike carries are to be found in these areas - lightened crankshafts, gears, pistons and discarded oil pumps (on the two-strokes) and magnet coils. The gear ratios have also been altered to get the best out of these bikes over a 400-metre distance - it is in such a scenario that initial acceleration and a strong midrange become important.
After all the modifications, the Shaolin churns out 30bhp instead of the 11.8bhp the stock machine made. Couple this with the reduction in weight, and the power to weight ratio comes to an amazing 476 bhp per ton, making, quite predictably, for scintillating performance figures. A 0-60 kph, for instance comes in 2.6 seconds and the 0-100 kph is swatted aside in a mere 5.37 seconds! This is of course when piloted by TVS racers.
Even the Shogun manages to deliver good figures and performance. TVS engineers have managed to get 24bhp from its 108.3cc engine. The 0-60kph figure comes in 3.5seconds while it takes only 6.90 seconds to hit 100 from standstill.
These great bikes are a fine way of having fun, so if you have a Shaolin or Shogun, just try and find someone who'd give it the right tweak. You never know, the thrills that come your way might make you seek some more!
ASHISH MASIH
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